http://firstparish.info/HelpingOut/Green_Sanctuary.html News related to climate change collected by David Landskov for Sustainable Arlington and for the Climate Change Group at First Parish UU of Arlington MA. Maximum of 7 items per day. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/cheap-natural-gas-jumbles-energy-markets-stirs-fears-it-could-inhibit-renewables/2012/01/08/gIQApLr5hQ_story.html For the past three years, promoters of shale gas and environmentalists opposed to coal-fired power plants have hailed the sudden abundance of U.S. natural gas as a bridge to a renewable-energy future. But natural gas has become so cheap that many energy experts and environmentalists now wonder whether it will turn into a long, bumpy detour. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/cheap-natural-gas-jumbles-energy-markets-stirs-fears-it-could-inhibit-renewables/2012/01/08/gIQApLr5hQ_story.html 03 Feb 2012 20:60 EST Daily Climate http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/139483/island-nations-want-climate-change-in-world-court Small island nations, whose very existence is threatened by the rising sea levels brought about by global warming, are seeking to take the issue of climate change before the International Court of Justice. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/139483/island-nations-want-climate-change-in-world-court 03 Feb 2012 20:50 EST Yahoo! News Search Results for climate change http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/02/01/climate-change-in-haiti/ Of the many countries at risk from the effects of climate change, small island states are widely considered to be among the most vulnerable. Not only are these countries exposed to direct impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise, they are also highly sensitive to existing environmental stresses that will be exacerbated by climate change. Overlapping factors such as high population densities, fragile ecosystems, overstressed water resources, and limited institutional capacity mean that small island states face serious challenges to their development in a changing climate. Haiti is a striking example of how this combination of physical exposure and socioeconomic conditions could lead to extreme climate change vulnerability. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/02/01/climate-change-in-haiti/ 03 Feb 2012 20:40 EST Climate Matters @ Columbia http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/02/03/global-warming-german-researchers-find-more-evidence-for-links-between-arctic-sea-ice-decline-and-european-weather/ German scientists say they've found more evidence showing links between declining Arctic sea ice and shifting weather patterns, with cold, snowy winters more likely in Europe following summers when Arctic sea ice is low. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/02/03/global-warming-german-researchers-find-more-evidence-for-links-between-arctic-sea-ice-decline-and-european-weather/ 03 Feb 2012 20:30 EST Daily Climate http://www.springerlink.com/content/2675k5x84nu55126/ Analysis of observations and climate model results shows that previously rare (5th percentile) summertime average temperatures are presently occurring with greatly increased frequency in some regions of the 48 contiguous United States. Broad agreement between observations and a mean of results based upon 16 global climate models suggests that this result is more consistent with the consequences of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations than with the effects of natural climate variability. http://www.springerlink.com/content/2675k5x84nu55126/ 03 Feb 2012 20:20 EST AGW Observer http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120202094608.htm Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold can also cause significant damage. Scientists have shown that cool temperatures can inflict more damage in the short term, but heat is more destructive in the long run. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120202094608.htm 03 Feb 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/climate-change-news _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=589 03 Feb 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/02/arctic_ocean_drilling.html Though the refrain "never again" was echoed time and again in the wake of the BP oil catastrophe, we are now facing a new oil spill threat. After spending over five years and $4 billion on the process, the Royal Dutch Shell Group is on the cusp of receiving the green light to begin exploratory drilling in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi Seas next summer. Though Shell emphasizes it would drill exploratory wells in shallow water rather than establishing deep-water production wells like Macondo, the fundamental characteristics of the vastly unexplored and uninhabited Arctic coastline may increase the likelihood of a spill and will certainly hamper emergency response capability. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/02/arctic_ocean_drilling.html 03 Feb 2012 10:70 EST Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/02/417733/house-gop-puts-public-transit-under-the-axe/ House leadership and the Ways and Means committee working on the five-year transportation spending bill have proposed eliminating guaranteed funding for the Mass Transit Account, while spending for highways would continue to receive protected funds for five-year spans. Funding for public transit systems would have to receive annual Congressional approval. "This incredible move would roll back 30-plus years of bipartisan federal transportation policy and reverse a decision made by President Reagan in the 1980s to fund our nation's transit system out of a small share of gas tax revenues," T4America's Stephen Lee Davis writes. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/02/417733/house-gop-puts-public-transit-under-the-axe/ 03 Feb 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/03/us-india-eu-airlines-idUSTRE8120NG20120203 The European Union (EU) is willing to consider whether India's efforts to reduce carbon emissions could qualify for waivers under an EU law that charges airlines for polluting, the 27-nation bloc's climate chief said on Friday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/03/us-india-eu-airlines-idUSTRE8120NG20120203 03 Feb 2012 10:50 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://grist.org/list/antarcticas-about-to-lose-a-new-york-city-sized-chunk/ Snaking across the floating tongue of the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, the crack is expected to create an iceberg 350 square miles (907 square kilometers)--versus 303 square miles (785 square kilometers) for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx combined, according to NASA. http://grist.org/list/antarcticas-about-to-lose-a-new-york-city-sized-chunk/ 03 Feb 2012 10:40 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/eu-climate-chief-seeks-doubling-of-global-clean-energy-at-rio.html European Union Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said countries meeting at a conference in June should pledge to double the share of renewable energy they use by 2030 and give all citizens access to sustainable power. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/eu-climate-chief-seeks-doubling-of-global-clean-energy-at-rio.html 03 Feb 2012 10:30 EST Climate Progress http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/02/1061106/-Climate-Emergency:-2-Million-Mexicans-Have-No-Water-Drought-Expanding-Across-Southern-US- Two million people have no water. Crops are wiped out in the northern half of the country. The worst drought in Mexico's history is likely to worsen until summer rains come devastating the northern half of Mexico, damaging Mexico's economy. Indigenous communities in rural northern Mexico have no water, no food and no crops. Communities have had no rain in 15 months. The Mexican government is mobilizing to bring food, water and jobs to the affected people. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/02/1061106/-Climate-Emergency:-2-Million-Mexicans-Have-No-Water-Drought-Expanding-Across-Southern-US- 03 Feb 2012 10:20 EST Climate Hawks http://e360.yale.edu/digest/indian_clean-energy_growth_was_fastest_in_world_in_2011_report_says/3317/ Renewable energy investments in India increased by more than 52 percent in 2011, the fastest growth among major global economies, according to a new report. More than $10.3 billion was invested in renewable energy projects in India last year, with about $4.6 billion targeting wind energy projects and another $4.2 billion going toward solar projects, the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) report said. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/indian_clean-energy_growth_was_fastest_in_world_in_2011_report_says/3317/ 03 Feb 2012 10:10 EST Yale Environment 360 http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=588 02 Feb 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/02/417390/offshore-wind-mid-atlantic/ Today the Obama administration moved forward with plans to develop the enormous offshore wind energy resources along the Mid-Atlantic coast, using a "Smart for the start" approach designed to expedite the siting process while incorporating strong environmental protections. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/02/02/417390/offshore-wind-mid-atlantic/ 02 Feb 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/02/1060897/-Heres-what-climate-change-looks-like These two maps are from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. This first one shows the location of each of the 129 daily low temperature records set or tied in the contiguous U.S. in January ... and the second one shows the location of each of the 3,078 daily high temperature records set or tied in the contiguous U.S. in January http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/02/1060897/-Heres-what-climate-change-looks-like 02 Feb 2012 10:60 EST Climate Hawks http://e360.yale.edu/digest/road-based_charging_network_could_charge_evs_while_they_drive/3314/ U.S. researchers have designed a wireless charging system for electric vehicles they say could ultimately lead to all-electric highways capable of charging cars and trucks as they drive down the road. The system, developed by a team at Stanford University, uses magnetic fields to transmit large electric currents between metal coils embedded a few feet apart under the surface of the road. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/road-based_charging_network_could_charge_evs_while_they_drive/3314/ 02 Feb 2012 10:50 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/02/ctl-20120201.html A new study by researchers at MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL), concludes that electric commercial vehicles can cost 9 to 12% less to operate than trucks powered by diesel engines when used to make deliveries on an everyday basis in big cities and when V2G (vehicle-to-grid) revenue is incorporated. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/02/ctl-20120201.html 01 Feb 2012 20:40 EST Green Car Congress http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/02/01/global-warming-drives-dramatic-changes-in-ocean-currents/ An ever-expanding network of sensitive measuring devices, including ocean buoys is enabling researchers to get a better handle on the magnitude and scale of global climate change, including a patterned emergence of ocean hotspots alongside currents that wash the east coast of the major continents. The warming in those areas far exceeds the average rate of ocean warming, according to research published the journal Nature Climate Change this week. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/02/01/global-warming-drives-dramatic-changes-in-ocean-currents/ 02 Feb 2012 10:30 EST Climate Progress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201105126.htm Even if the current weather situation may seem to go against it, the probability of cold winters with a lot of snow in Central Europe rises when the Arctic is covered by less sea ice in summer. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201105126.htm 01 Feb 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201105227.htm Tropical cyclones will cause $109 billion in damages by 2100, according to researchers in a new paper. That figure represents an increased vulnerability from population and especially economic growth, as well as the effects of climate change. Greater vulnerability to cyclones is expected to increase global tropical damage to $56 billion by 2100 -- double the current damage -- from the current rate of $26 billion per year if the present climate remains stable. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201105227.htm 01 Feb 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=587 01 Feb 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/high-level_panel_urges_phase-o.html Twenty-two high level representatives have just released their report -- Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing--which sets out specific recommendations to "put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy as quickly as possible." The report reinforces the push to phase-out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, speed up the deployment of renewable energy, and accelerate energy efficiency efforts. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/high-level_panel_urges_phase-o.html 01 Feb 2012 10:60 EST NRDC: News/Media Center Feed http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/01/416078/climate-scientists-rebuke-rupert-murdoch-wsj-denier-op-ed-like-dentists-practicing-cardiology/ In a scathing letter to the editor, thirty-eight of the world's top climatologists have rebuked Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal for its publication of a "scientist" op-ed denying the threat of manmade global warming. The letter, authored by climate scientist Kevin Trenberth and colleagues from the world's top science institutions, tells the Wall Street Journal editors to "Check With Climate Scientists for Views on Climate" http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/01/416078/climate-scientists-rebuke-rupert-murdoch-wsj-denier-op-ed-like-dentists-practicing-cardiology/ 01 Feb 2012 10:50 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-a-fundamental-health-risk-academic-20120131-1qqyk.html A leading Australian disease expert says prompt action on climate change is paramount to our survival on earth. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-a-fundamental-health-risk-academic-20120131-1qqyk.html 01 Feb 2012 10:40 EST http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/01/30/climate-change-has-helped-bring-down-cultures/ Humanity has weathered many a climate change, including the droughts of the late 19th century that helped kill between 30 and 50 million people around the world via famine. Such shifts have transformed or eliminated specific human societies, including the ancient Sumerians and the Ming Dynasty in China. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/01/30/climate-change-has-helped-bring-down-cultures/ 31 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Scientific American Topic - Global Warming http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171913.htm Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system", the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130171913.htm 31 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://e360.yale.edu/digest/wheat_yields_in_india__may_drop_as_region_warms_study_says/3309/ An analysis of satellite images has revealed that extreme temperatures are cutting wheat yields in northern India, indicating that the adverse impacts of rising temperatures on wheat production in warmer climes may be more severe than previously believed. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/wheat_yields_in_india__may_drop_as_region_warms_study_says/3309/ 31 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Yale Environment 360 http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=587 31 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/dod-could-put-7000-mw-of-solar-on-bases-013012/ A new study conducted by ICF International, a consulting firm on behalf of the Department of Defense, shows that the DOD could put 7 gigawatts of solar on its military bases in just California and Nevada. That's 30 times more energy than they need and enough power to meet 25 percent of California's renewable energy needs by 2015. http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/dod-could-put-7000-mw-of-solar-on-bases-013012/ 31 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2022 For the Arctic, which has warmed about twice as much as the rest of the planet, 2011 was the warmest year on record (between 64 degrees N and 90 degrees N latitude.) The year 2011 was also the 2nd wettest year over land on record, as evidenced by some of the unprecedented flooding Earth witnessed. The wettest year over land was the previous year, 2010. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2022 31 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/un-panel-urges-world-to-kick-off-energy-revolution-at-rio-summit-this-year/2012/01/30/gIQAq5FfcQ_story.html A high-profile U.N. panel headed by the presidents of Finland and South Africa hopes to spark an "ever-green" energy revolution later this year in Brazil using a general roadmap it presented Monday on how world leaders could wean the world off fossil fuels. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/un-panel-urges-world-to-kick-off-energy-revolution-at-rio-summit-this-year/2012/01/30/gIQAq5FfcQ_story.html 31 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Climate Progress http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/a-fresh-take-on-the-world-food-problem/ Genuine reforms are under way, the authors of a new report write, but they have been slow and halting. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/a-fresh-take-on-the-world-food-problem/ 30 Jan 2012 20:40 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/30/1 Certain disease outbreaks, including some of the worst pandemics of the 20th century, are linked to weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean, according to new research. Scientists said tracking these climate changes can help officials anticipate and plan for surges in illnesses. ... However, the planet's rising average temperature may alter these predictions. "It's important to distinguish this stuff from climate change. There, the whole system is moving into uncharted territory," said Aaron King, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of mathematics at the University of Michigan. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/30/1 30 Jan 2012 20:30 EST ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151054.htm The earth beneath our feet plays an important role in carbon storage -- a key factor in climate change -- and new research shows that in times of drought some types of soil perform better than others. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151054.htm 30 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151009.htm Tropical vegetation contains 21 percent more carbon than previously thought. "The paper is important for two reasons," said co-author and Woods Hole Research Center senior scientist Richard A. Houghton. "First, it provides a high-resolution map of aboveground biomass density for the world's tropical forests. Previous maps were of much coarser resolution and yielded wildly different estimates of both regional totals and spatial distribution. Second, the paper calculates a new estimate of carbon emissions from land-use change in the tropics." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120129151009.htm 30 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=586 30 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/29/413961/panic-attack-murdoch-wall-street-journal-finds-16-scientists-long-debunked-climate-lies/ A lot of folks have asked me to debunk the recent anti-truthful Wall Street Journal article with the counterfactual headline, "No Need to Panic About Global Warming." I'll combine my debunking with the rapidly growing list of debunkings from scientists and others. And I'll update this as new debunkings come in. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/29/413961/panic-attack-murdoch-wall-street-journal-finds-16-scientists-long-debunked-climate-lies/ 30 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/289404/20120130/climate-change-arctic-trigger-domino-effect-around.htm Professor Carlos Duarte, a leading scientist from The University of Western Australia, says human kind is set to face dire consequences as the first signs of climate change manifest in the Arctic. He says the region is approaching "a series of 'tipping points'" that could trigger a domino effect of climate change on Earth. http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/289404/20120130/climate-change-arctic-trigger-domino-effect-around.htm 30 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Climate Progress http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-un-development-idUSTRE80T10520120130 The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-un-development-idUSTRE80T10520120130 30 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-renewables-deals-idUSTRE80T00F20120130 Global renewable energy deals climbed 40 percent to a record high of $53.5 billion last year from $38.2 billion in 2010, as solar, wind and energy efficiency overtook hydropower as the main deal drivers for the first time, a report said on Monday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-renewables-deals-idUSTRE80T00F20120130 29 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://www.desmogblog.com/cornell-team-redux-shale-gas-disaster-climate Unconventional gas offers no advantage over other fossil fuels when considering its impact on the climate, according to a new report from a group of researchers at Cornell University. The Cornell Team, who made waves in the shale debate with groundbreaking research on methane leakage in gas production are challenging the gas industry's claim that gas offers a clean, environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional fossil fuels. The team, comprised of Robert Howarth, Anthony Ingraffea and Renee Santoro, recently released a companion study to their contentious April 2011 report, continuing to reveal that shale gas is inadequate as a bridge fuel and may be worse for climate change in the long run than coal. http://www.desmogblog.com/cornell-team-redux-shale-gas-disaster-climate 29 Jan 2012 20:30 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120108143601.htm Those making land use decisions to reduce the harmful effects of climate change have focused almost exclusively on greenhouse gases -- analyzing, for example, how much carbon dioxide is released when a forest is cleared to grow crops. A new study aims to present a more complete picture -- to incorporate other characteristics of ecosystems that also influence climate. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120108143601.htm 29 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120108143727.htm Unprecedented levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are disrupting normal patterns of glaciation, according to a new study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120108143727.htm 29 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=585 29 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/28/413955/james-hansen-on-cowards/ Global warming due to human-made gases, mainly CO2, is already 0.8 degrees C and deleterious climate impacts are growing worldwide. More warming is "in the pipeline" because Earth is out of energy balance, with absorbed solar energy exceeding planetary heat radiation. Maintaining a climate that resembles the Holocene, the world of stable shorelines in which civilization developed, requires rapidly reducing fossil fuel CO2 emissions. Such a scenario is economically sensible and has multiple benefits for humanity and other species. Yet fossil fuel extraction is expanding, including highly carbon-intensive sources that can push the climate system beyond tipping points such that amplifying feedbacks drive further climate change that is practically out of humanity's control. This situation raises profound moral issues as young people, future generations, and nature, with no possibility of protecting their future well-being, will bear the principal consequences of actions and inactions of today's adults.... The public has the right to know who is supporting the foot soldiers for business-as-usual and to learn about the web of support for the propaganda machine that serves to keep the public addicted to fossil fuels and destroys the future of their children. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/28/413955/james-hansen-on-cowards/ 28 Jan 2012 20:40 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/opinion/in-defense-of-clean-energy.html After months of standing by as Republicans tried to gut environmental laws and discredit his clean energy initiatives, President Obama took the offensive in his State of the Union address. He blasted Republicans for their single-minded commitment to fossil fuels, argued the case for a diversified energy strategy and dared to talk about climate change, a topic he has been silent on for months. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/opinion/in-defense-of-clean-energy.html 28 Jan 2012 20:30 EST NYT > Green Blog http://grist.org/renewable-energy/latest-clean-energy-faux-scandal-engulfs-gop-spokesman-mitch-daniels/ In a shocking turn of events, Republicans have turned on the very man they chose to speak for them this week in response to Obama's State of the Union address -- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He is taking a drubbing in the conservosphere, but what's most peculiar about the scandal that threatens to engulf him is that Republicans don't seem aware that they're attacking him. http://grist.org/renewable-energy/latest-clean-energy-faux-scandal-engulfs-gop-spokesman-mitch-daniels/ 28 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1249 David Archibald is a climate "skeptic" who has been CEO of multiple oil and mineral exploration companies operating in Australia, and currently is part of the scientific advisory panel for the Australian Climate Science Coalition (ACSC) - a group of Australian fake skeptics .... Archibald is a major proponent of the "it's the sun" myth, and from time to time will publish a paper in Energy&Environment (the controversial journal which publishes "skeptic" research which is too erroneous to meet the standards in standard peer-reviewed journals), claiming that a decline in solar activity will lead to substantial cooling over the next few decades. In this post we'll examine one such paper, Archibald (2009), in which Archibald claims that certain regions of the planet will cool 2.2 degrees C over solar cycle 24, which began in December 2008, and is expected to be a relatively weak cycle http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1249 28 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Skeptical Science http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=584 28 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126223609.htm The economic pain of a flattening oil supply will trump the environment as a reason to curb the use of fossil fuels, say scientists. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126223609.htm 28 Jan 2012 10:70 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/28/1059324/-Coal-Mega-Ports-planned-for-Northwest-could-surpass-CO2-impact-from-Keystone-XL- Environmentalists were relieved that building the Keystone XL Pipeline along its original proposed route was rejected by the Obama Administration. As TransCanada goes back to the drawing board to re-route the Proposed Keystone XL a potentially even bigger threat to the climate is going full speed ahead. The coal companies plan to ship vast quantities of coal from Wyoming's Powder Basin to Asia through two proposed coal mega ports in Washington, along with a couple of smaller coal export projects in the Pacific Northwest. On Thursday night in Oregon one coal export facility was approved by local officials despite overwhelming show of public opposition at a hearing on the project. The expansion of coal exports through the Pacific Northwest potentially could release more CO2 emissions than building the Keystone XL Pipeline. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/28/1059324/-Coal-Mega-Ports-planned-for-Northwest-could-surpass-CO2-impact-from-Keystone-XL- 28 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Climate Hawks http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/avalderrama/be_a_part_of_paces_revival.html Beginning Wednesday, an innovative energy-smart finance program for homeowners -- called Property Assessed Clean Energy or PACE -- has a chance for revival. Over the next 60 days (until March 26th, 2012), a broad bipartisan coalition of business leaders, environmentalists, property owners and federal, state, and local policymakers will finally have a chance to make their voices heard and explain to federal regulators why PACE makes economic and environmental sense. http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/avalderrama/be_a_part_of_paces_revival.html 28 Jan 2012 10:50 EST NRDC: News/Media Center Feed www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/27/1 U.S government trade agencies and members of Congress are quietly weighing in on allegations of corporate espionage involving China's largest wind turbine manufacturer. Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor Corp. is accusing China's Sinovel Wind Group, the world's second-largest wind turbine maker, of stealing valuable trade secrets, copying protected software used for controlling turbines and canceling purchase agreements with the U.S. technology company. www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/27/1 28 Jan 2012 10:40 EST ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/27/413667/scientists-beg-obama-to-slow-arctic-drilling-rush/ In his State of the Union address, President Obama announced he would push forward with new offshore drilling -- which includes the pristine waters of the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Cook Inlet off Alaska's coast. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) wrote a report in June 2011 that described dozens of areas that required further scientific research before taking the risks of disrupting the unique ecosystems on behalf of the oil industry. Now, nearly 600 scientists from around the world have signed an open letter urging President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to base Arctic drilling decisions on science, not politics. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/27/413667/scientists-beg-obama-to-slow-arctic-drilling-rush/ 28 Jan 2012 01:30 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california-adopts-robust-plan1365.html The California Air Resources Board (ARB) Friday approved a historic package of vehicle polices that will reduce air pollution and the adverse public health impacts of cars and trucks while accelerating the market for electric car technology. http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california-adopts-robust-plan1365.html 28 Jan 2012 01:20 EST Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175494/tomgram%3A_christian_parenti%2C_big_storms_require_big_government/ A Secret History of Free Enterprise and the Government That Made It Possible http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175494/tomgram%3A_christian_parenti%2C_big_storms_require_big_government/ 28 Jan 2012 01:10 EST TomDispatch - Blog http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=583 27 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/nyregion/in-greenhouse-gas-initiative-many-unsold-allowances.html Adjusting to shifts in the economy, states in the cap-and-trade system known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have slashed the number of allowances that electric power companies can buy to offset their emissions. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/nyregion/in-greenhouse-gas-initiative-many-unsold-allowances.html 27 Jan 2012 10:70 EST NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/27/412674/climate-science-legal-defense-fund-is-established/ As climate scientists come under personal, political, and even legal persecution for their research, the scientific community is starting to fight back. With the leadership of Dr. Scott Mandia, the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund has been established as a project of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "The Climate Science Defense Fund will play an active role in helping raise funds for their defense, serving as a resource in finding pro-bono representation, and providing support during difficult litigation proceedings." http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/27/412674/climate-science-legal-defense-fund-is-established/ 27 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/27/412655/coal-does-more-harm-than-good-in-kentucky-asthma-costs-lost-lives/ As the third-largest coal producer, Kentucky generates about 94% of its electricity from the resource. As a result, the state has some of the lowest electricity prices in the country. But that's not the true cost of energy. According to a health impact assessment by the Kentucky Environmental Foundation that examines research on the impact of coal in Kentucky, the health costs came in at more than $62 million in 2007 -- and that's just for asthma, which inflicts 1 in 10 Kentuckians and kills about 50 people in the state per year. Asthma rates for African Americans of high school age in Kentucky are at 22%. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/27/412655/coal-does-more-harm-than-good-in-kentucky-asthma-costs-lost-lives/ 27 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/wide_variety_of_threats_wiping_out_worlds_big_trees_expert_says/3307/ A litany of environmental threats, from forest fragmentation and logging to climate change and disease, are wiping out the world's biggest trees, according to a published report. In forest ecosystems worldwide, research shows that giant trees have become particularly vulnerable to a changing environment, ecologist and tropical forest expert William Laurance writes in New Scientist magazine. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/wide_variety_of_threats_wiping_out_worlds_big_trees_expert_says/3307/ 27 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=has-peak-oil-already-happened&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_ENGYSUS_20120126 A new analysis concludes that easily extracted oil peaked in 2005, suggesting that dirtier fossil fuels will be burned and energy prices will rise http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=has-peak-oil-already-happened&WT.mc_id=SA_CAT_ENGYSUS_20120126 26 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Scientific American Topic - Global Warming http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/26/412724/breaking-transcanadas-dirty-keystone-xl-jobs-claims-draw-sec-complaint/ TransCanada, the foreign tar sands company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, is facing a potential inquiry into whether it deliberately deceived investors by inflating the job-creation potential of the project. Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over TransCanada's "false or misleading statements about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project." In the complaint, Greenpeace shows evidence from TransCanada's Canadian filings and the State Department that the project would involve fewer than 1000 in-state jobs, and around 6000 total jobs. This evidence is contrasted with TransCanada's (TRP) repeated public pronouncements that pipeline construction would involve 20,000 American jobs http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/26/412724/breaking-transcanadas-dirty-keystone-xl-jobs-claims-draw-sec-complaint/ 26 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/25/1058508/-USDAs-New-Map-for-Gardeners-and-Farmers-Shows-a-Warming-America An updated map that will likely be familiar to anyone who has planted a packet of seeds was presented today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is the first new version of Plant Hardiness Zone Map since 1990. The government is "catching up with what the plants themselves have known for years now: The globe is warming and it is greatly influencing plants," Stanford University biology professor Terry Root told the Associated Press. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/25/1058508/-USDAs-New-Map-for-Gardeners-and-Farmers-Shows-a-Warming-America 26 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Climate Hawks http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=582 26 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.desmogblog.com/alec-model-bill-behind-push-require-climate-denial-instruction-schools Maneuvering to dupe schoolchildren is about as cynical as it gets. Neuroscience explains that young brains are like sponges, ready to soak in knowledge (and disinformation, for that matter), and thus, youth are an ideal target for the "merchants of doubt." The corporations behind the writing and dissemination of this ALEC model bill, who are among the largest polluters in the world, would benefit handsomly from a legislative mandate to sow the seeds of confusion on climate science among schoolchildren. http://www.desmogblog.com/alec-model-bill-behind-push-require-climate-denial-instruction-schools 26 Jan 2012 10:70 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/26/412173/study-broadcast-sources-keystone-xl-supporters-pipeline/ A Media Matters analysis shows that as a whole, news coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline between August 1 and December 31 favored pipeline proponents. Although the project would create few long-term employment opportunities, the pipeline was primarily portrayed as a jobs issue. Pro-pipeline voices were quoted more frequently than those opposed, and dubious industry estimates of job creation were uncritically repeated 5 times more often than they were questioned. Meanwhile, concerns about the State Department's review process and potential environmental consequences were often overlooked, particularly by television outlets. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/26/412173/study-broadcast-sources-keystone-xl-supporters-pipeline/ 26 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/california_clean_car_rules_to_boost_electric_and_hybrid_vehicle_sales/3305/ California regulators are expected to pass new rules today requiring that 15 percent of all new cars sold by 2025 be powered by electricity, hydrogen, or other reduced-emission sources. The new rules proposed by the California Air Resources Board would also require a 75-percent reduction in smog-creating emissions from new cars, SUVS, pickups and minivans, and a 50-percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 2025. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/california_clean_car_rules_to_boost_electric_and_hybrid_vehicle_sales/3305/ 26 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Yale Environment 360 http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/25/411601/conocophillips-q4-profits/ 1) ConocoPhillips has spent over $16 million lobbying Congress in 2011, ranking in as the fifth largest spender last year -- and number one in the oil and gas industry. 2) ConocoPhillips has contributed over $200,000 to federal campaigns in 2011, with 90 percent of the contributions going to Republicans. 3) ConocoPhillips used 88 percent of their 2011 profits -- $11 billion -- to buy back their own stock. That enriches their shareholders, but it doesn't add to oil supplies or investments in alternative fuels or other new technologies. 4) The five biggest oil companies -- BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell -- are likely to make $130 billion in profits in 2011. Added together, the Big Five oil companies are sitting on cash resources of $59 billion and made nearly $1 trillion in profits over the past decade. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/25/411601/conocophillips-q4-profits/ 25 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Progress http://grist.org/cities/this-old-house-why-fixing-up-old-homes-is-greener-than-building-new-ones/ A study released Tuesday finds that in almost every instance, remodeling an old building is greener than building a new one. Beyond that, it shows that reusing old buildings provides immediate results in the fight against climate change, while a relatively energy efficient new building won't pay climate dividends for decades. Taken to the scale of the city, the study has some fascinating implications. Cities, it turns out, serve as a sort of carbon sink -- the existing buildings hold a tremendous amount of "embodied energy." Conserving that energy by sparing these buildings from the wrecking ball does a lot of good for the planet, too. http://grist.org/cities/this-old-house-why-fixing-up-old-homes-is-greener-than-building-new-ones/ 25 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.climatecentral.org/videos/web_features/nasa-finds-2011-ninth-warmest-year-on-record/ From our friends at NASA comes this amazing 26-second video, depicting how temperatures around the globe have warmed since 1880. That year is what scientists call the beginning of the "modern record." You'll note an acceleration of those temperatures in the late 1970s as greenhouse gas emissions from energy production increased worldwide and clean air laws reduced emissions of pollutants that had a cooling effect on the climate, and thus were masking some of the global warming signal. http://www.climatecentral.org/videos/web_features/nasa-finds-2011-ninth-warmest-year-on-record/ 25 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Climate Central - Breaking News, Blogs & Features http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125142212.htm New research demonstrates that one suggested method of geoengineering the atmosphere to deal with climate change, injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere, probably would have limited success. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125142212.htm 25 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=581 25 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://e360.yale.edu/digest/president_obama_calls_for_all-of-the-above_us_energy_strategy/3304/ President Obama called for a comprehensive energy policy that would boost production of offshore oil and increase unconventional drilling for natural gas, while also building new clean energy projects on federal land and revising federal regulations to promote the growth of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/president_obama_calls_for_all-of-the-above_us_energy_strategy/3304/ 25 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/energy_plan_sotu.html President Barack Obama described a "Blueprint for an America Built to Last" in his State of the Union address last night. It is designed to keep alive the promise of "an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules." The plan includes a clean energy agenda that would help achieve this promise with well-paying jobs, lower energy bills, and cleaner air and water. Hopefully Republican congressional leaders will help him build it. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/energy_plan_sotu.html 25 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/business/global/signs-of-new-life-as-un-searches-for-a-climate-accord.html the recently concluded meeting in Durban, South Africa, which established a new mandate for concluding a binding agreement of some sort by 2015, has given the process new life and hushed many of its critics. For now. ... Robert N. Stavins, director of the environmental economics program at Harvard University, said that Durban had helped resuscitate an international effort that appeared close to collapse. He said that the tasks before it were still difficult -- producing meaningful emissions reductions quickly and at acceptable cost -- but, unlike previous promises, there was at least now a structure that binds all the major players. "Only time will tell whether the Durban Platform delivers on its promise," Mr. Stavins said, "or turns out to be another 'Bali Roadmap,' leading nowhere." http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/business/global/signs-of-new-life-as-un-searches-for-a-climate-accord.html 25 Jan 2012 10:40 EST http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/24/407765/natural-gas-is-a-bridge-to-nowhere-price-for-global-warming-pollution/ Way back in June 2009, I pointed out the value of gas in the context of a climate bill with a rising CO2 price -- see "Why unconventional natural gas makes the 2020 Waxman-Markey target so damn easy and cheap to meet." But the key point of that post was that you could put gas in existing, underutilized plants to replace existing coal power cheaply to meet the key 2020 target Obama. Building lots of new gas plants doesn't make much sense since we need to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades if we're to have any chance to avoid catastrophic global warming. And the last thing we want is new gas to displace new renewables, like solar and wind, which are going to be the some of the biggest, sustainable job creating industries of the century. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/24/407765/natural-gas-is-a-bridge-to-nowhere-price-for-global-warming-pollution/ 24 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Climate Progress http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/not-all-wetlands-are-created-equal/ Since the early 20th century, development has claimed over half the wetlands in North America, Europe, Australia and China. To repair the damage from those construction binges and regain the benefits of wetlands, restoration has become a booming business. Yet new research calls into question whether manmade versions can ever compensate for wetlands buried beneath parking lots and subdivisions. In an article published on Tuesday in PLoS Biology, scientists write that restoration efforts often fall short of returning wetlands to their former biological complexity and functioning. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/not-all-wetlands-are-created-equal/ 24 Jan 2012 20:20 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120122152615.htm Carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing over the past decades, causing Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic effects. This has led some to explore drastic ideas for combating global warming, including the idea of counteracting it by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. However, it has been suggested that reflecting sunlight away from Earth might itself threaten the food supply. New research examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120122152615.htm 24 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=580 24 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://e360.yale.edu/feature/building_a_better_bulb_lighting_revolution_advances/2487/ With the industry's support, new U.S. lighting efficiency standards went into effect this month. This move, along with similar actions in Europe and China, is helping spur new technologies that will change the way homes and businesses are illuminated. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/building_a_better_bulb_lighting_revolution_advances/2487/ 24 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/rising-wealth-of-asians-fishing-subsidies-straining-worlds-fish-resources/2012/01/24/gIQANuNuMQ_story.html Rising wealth in Asia and fishing subsidies are among factors driving overexploitation of the world's fish resources, while fish habitat is being destroyed by pollution and climate change, U.N. marine experts said Tuesday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/rising-wealth-of-asians-fishing-subsidies-straining-worlds-fish-resources/2012/01/24/gIQANuNuMQ_story.html 24 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123163358.htm Might a penguin's next meal be affected by the exhaust from your tailpipe? The answer may be yes, when you add your exhaust fumes to the total amount of carbon dioxide lofted into the atmosphere by humans since the industrial revolution. One-third of that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's oceans, making them more acidic and affecting marine life. A UC Santa Barbara marine scientist and a team of 18 other researchers have reported results of the broadest worldwide study of ocean acidification to date. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120123163358.htm 24 Jan 2012 10:50 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/408976/the-alarming-outlook-for-urban-water-scarcity/ By 2020, California will face a shortfall of fresh water as great as the amount that all of its cities and towns together are consuming today. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/408976/the-alarming-outlook-for-urban-water-scarcity/ 23 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/409099/arctic-temperatures-continue-rapid-rise-2011-breaks-record/ According to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the annual mean surface temperature (land and air) for the region north of 64 degrees N (the Arctic Circle is at 66 degrees 33 minutes N) in 2011 was 2.28 degrees C above that which characterized the 1951-1980 period. Temperatures in the region have been rising rapidly since the late 1970s and have not dropped below the long term mean since 1992 -- nearly 20 years. This year's annual mean temperature broke the record that was just set in 2010, when the temperature was 2.11 degrees C above 1951-1980 levels. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/409099/arctic-temperatures-continue-rapid-rise-2011-breaks-record/ 23 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Climate Progress http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/16/sewer-mining-coming-to-a-community-near-you/ Just as the name implies, sewer mining involves tapping into a wastewater collection system, siphoning some of the sewage off to a treatment facility, and then reusing the reclaimed water onsite for landscape irrigation, toilet flushing or other uses not requiring water pure enough to drink. http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/16/sewer-mining-coming-to-a-community-near-you/ 23 Jan 2012 20:20 EST National Geographic http://e360.yale.edu/digest/ocean_acidity_rise_unprecedented_in_past_21000_years_researchers_say/3300/ Carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activities over the last century have increased the acidity of the world's oceans far beyond the range of natural variations, which may significantly impair the ability of marine organisms such as corals and mollusks to form their skeletons or shells, a new study says. ... If human combustion of fossil fuels continues at current rates, saturation levels can be expected to decrease further, possibly reducing calcification rates of some marine organisms by more than 40 percent within the next century, researchers say. "Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century," said Axel Timmermann, a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and lead author of the study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/ocean_acidity_rise_unprecedented_in_past_21000_years_researchers_say/3300/ 23 Jan 2012 20:10 EST http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=579 23 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577177092687939480.html The U.S. Energy Information Administration is likely to raise by a substantial amount its existing estimate that U.S. oil production will grow by 550,000 barrels per day by 2020, to just over six million barrels daily. The forecast will include new production data from developing oil fields, including the Bakken shale area in North Dakota, which could hold as much of 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil. North Dakota's output of oil and related liquids topped 500,000 barrels per day in November, meaning that the state pumped more oil than Ecuador. In fact, U.S. oil production grew faster than in any other country over the last three years and will continue to surge as drillers move away from natural gas due to a growing gas glut, experts say. The glut has sent natural-gas prices to a 10-year low. The three oil giants will post billions more in profits than they did in the fourth quarter of 2010, thanks to higher oil prices. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577177092687939480.html 23 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/23/409065/eia-united-states-will-fall-far-short-of-obamas-2020-climate-pledge/ The Energy Information Administration (EAI) projects that the United States will fall far short of its commitments to greenhouse pollution reductions, putting the future prosperity of human civilization at risk. To give humanity a chance of keeping climate change at levels compatible with modern industrial civilization, global emissions need to peak before 2020, with the developed world peaking well before. In its 2012 Annual Energy Outlook, the EIA forecasts that natural gas consumption will surge as coal and oil use remains strong. Greenhouse gas emissions fell by 8 percent from 2005 levels in 2009, but that progress will reverse. The EIA projects that climate pollution will start rising again, leading to only a 7.5 percent reduction in 2020 and a 3.2 percent reduction in 2035 http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/23/409065/eia-united-states-will-fall-far-short-of-obamas-2020-climate-pledge/ 23 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Technique%20could%20boost%20crop%20yields/6036485/story.html Scientists in Britain and Japan on Sunday unveiled a fast-track method for breeding crops with higher yields or resistance to climate change. The method uses genetic information but not genetic modification. Japanese farmers who need salt-loving rice plants after last year's tsunami will benefit. "This is what's so exciting for the future," said Kamoun. "These technologies were not available just a few years ago. The full impact on improving crops and on agriculture is going to be tremendous, and it's very timely, given the challenge we have with food security." http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Technique%20could%20boost%20crop%20yields/6036485/story.html 23 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/408258/an-illustrated-guide-to-the-state-of-sustainability/ Last week, GreenBiz released its latest "State of Green Business" report. And it shows a very mixed picture for sustainability practices in the business community. In this post, we feature some of the best charts from the report on energy production, efficiency and corporate accounting. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/23/408258/an-illustrated-guide-to-the-state-of-sustainability/ 23 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Climate Progress http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/60887-amazon-basin-becoming-carbon-emitter Deforestation and climate change are having a psofound effect on the Amazon basin, shifting it from a carbon sink to a carbon emitter. The Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in the Amazon (LBA) evaluates the connections between climate change, agricultural expansion, logging, and fire risk. And, concludes the team, there are clear signs of transition to a disturbance-dominated regime in the southern and eastern portions of the Amazon basin. http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/60887-amazon-basin-becoming-carbon-emitter 23 Jan 2012 10:30 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-climate-arctic-pool-idUSTRE80L0MD20120122 A huge pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean is expanding and could lower the temperature of Europe by causing an ocean current to slow down, British scientists said Sunday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-climate-arctic-pool-idUSTRE80L0MD20120122 22 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/22/407968/thermoelectric-materials-waste-heat-harvesting/ New research could lead to more cost-effective materials for using waste heat for electricity and cooling -- opening up innovation in a new class of waste heat conversion technologies. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/22/407968/thermoelectric-materials-waste-heat-harvesting/ 22 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=578 22 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/waterpower-20120121.html The US Department of Energy (DOE) released two nationwide resource assessments showing that waves and tidal currents off the nation's coasts could contribute to the United States' total annual electricity production. These new wave and tidal resource assessments, combined with ongoing analyses of the technologies and other resource assessments, show that water power, including conventional hydropower and wave, tidal, and other water power resources, can potentially provide 15% of our nation's electricity by 2030. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/waterpower-20120121.html 22 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Green Car Congress http://www.cleanedge.com/views/index.php Boosting investment in infrastructure -- namely our energy system, telecommunication networks, and roads and rails -- has long been the remedy argued for by bright minds like Nobel laureate economists Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, and Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein. http://www.cleanedge.com/views/index.php 22 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Clean Edge Views http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/9d092c98-4184-11e1-8c33-00144feab49a.html The severe cold experienced in 2009 and 2010 could become a feature of northern hemisphere winters. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/9d092c98-4184-11e1-8c33-00144feab49a.html 22 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Financial Times (FT.com) - Energy http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/20/145524525/feeding-the-world-gets-short-shrift-in-climate-change-debate Weather changes wreak havoc on the global food supply. But efforts to reduce the impact of climate change on agriculture haven't gotten much attention in climate change talks. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/20/145524525/feeding-the-world-gets-short-shrift-in-climate-change-debate 22 Jan 2012 10:30 EST NPR - Environment http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights24 We distort reality when we omit the health and environmental costs associated with burning fossil fuels from their prices. When governments actually subsidize their use, they take the distortion even further. Worldwide, direct fossil fuel subsidies added up to roughly $500 billion in 2010. Of this, supports on the production side totaled some $100 billion. Supports for consumption exceeded $400 billion, with $193 billion for oil, $91 billion for natural gas, $3 billion for coal, and $122 billion spent subsidizing the use of fossil fuel-generated electricity. All together, governments are shelling out nearly $1.4 billion per day to further destabilize the earth's climate. http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlights/2012/highlights24 22 Jan 2012 10:20 EST EPI Releases http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/bal-20120120.html BAL's technology to ferment a seaweed feedstock to renewable fuels and chemicals has created an entirely new pathway for biofuels development, one that is no longer constrained to terrestrial sources. When fully developed and deployed, large scale seaweed cultivation combined with BAL's technology promises to produce renewable fuels and chemicals without forcing a tradeoff with conventional food crops such as corn or sugarcane. --ARPA-E Program Director Dr. Jonathan Burbaum http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/bal-20120120.html 22 Jan 2012 10:10 EST Green Car Congress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=577 21 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/21/408681/newt-gingrich-clean-energy-defunder-wins-south-carolina-primary/ No single politician since Ronald Reagan has done more to set back America's leadership in clean technology than Newt Gingrich. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/21/408681/newt-gingrich-clean-energy-defunder-wins-south-carolina-primary/ 21 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://forecast.uchicago.edu/moodle/ Almost 3000 non-science major undergraduates at the University of Chicago have taken PHSC13400, Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, since Ray Pierrehumbert and I (David Archer) first developed it back in 1995. ... I hear it is the largest class on campus, with 4-500 students a year out of an annual class of only around 1400. Now the content of this class is being served to the internet world at large: Open Climate 101. You can watch video lectures followed by quizzes to challenge and hopefully stimulate your understanding, and work your way through tutorials with interactive models and simple mathematical ideas. ... You can work at your own pace, on your own time. You don't get University of Chicago credit, but it's free, and if you get to the end of it you can download a certificate of accomplishment with your name and a verification code, signed by me. I hope people find it useful. http://forecast.uchicago.edu/moodle/ 20 Jan 2012 20:60 EST RealClimate http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201201206 AltaRock's Susan Petty discusses plans to turn hot rocks at a dormant volcano into a source of power. University of Maine's Habib Dagher talks about the potential of deepwater floating wind turbines. http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201201206 20 Jan 2012 20:50 EST Science Friday http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/tcep-20120118.html CPS Energy of San Antonio has signed a Power Purchase Agreement for approximately 200 MW of power from the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP), located just west of Midland-Odessa. The agreement marks the first US purchase by a utility of low-carbon power from a commercial-scale, coal-based power plant utilizing carbon capture. The 400-MW TCEP plant is an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) poly-generation facility capable of capturing 90% of the carbon dioxide it produces, as well as 99% of sulfur dioxide, 90% of nitrogen oxide, and 99% of mercury. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/tcep-20120118.html 20 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Green Car Congress http://www.skepticalscience.com/a-comprehensive-review-of-the-causes-of-global-warming.html Skeptical Science reviews the scientific literature, which shows humans are the dominant cause of global warming. http://www.skepticalscience.com/a-comprehensive-review-of-the-causes-of-global-warming.html 20 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Skeptical Science http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2012/01/19/the-global-energy-supply-is-getting-greener-its-just-not-happening-fast-enough/ First of all, BP expects us to use considerably more energy, projecting that demand will increase 39% between now and 2030, or about 1.6% a year. Nearly all of that growth will come from developing nations--especially titans like China and Russia--while developed nations like the U.S. may be approaching peak energy use, as both slower economic growth and increased energy efficiency reduces the need to use more power. That's largely positive--getting more economic activity out of less energy is always good--but it underlines how the geopolitics of energy are shifting. Once centered on the U.S. and Europe, now Asia, Latin America and parts of Africa will be demanding larger shares of the energy pie, which could prompt countries like China to take a more active role in safeguarding that supply. http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2012/01/19/the-global-energy-supply-is-getting-greener-its-just-not-happening-fast-enough/ 20 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Ecocentric - Time http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120120184233.htm Rising human carbon dioxide emissions may be affecting the brains and central nervous system of sea fishes with serious consequences for their survival, an international scientific team has found. Carbon dioxide concentrations predicted to occur in the ocean by the end of this century will interfere with fishes' ability to hear, smell, turn and evade predators, says a professor. "We've now established it isn't simply the acidification of the oceans that is causing disruption -- as is the case with shellfish and plankton with chalky skeletons -- but the actual dissolved CO2 itself is damaging the fishes' nervous systems." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120120184233.htm 20 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=576 20 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119152353.htm The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119152353.htm 20 Jan 2012 10:70 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/2-more-billion-dollar-weather-disasters/ Severe weather last July in in the Rockies and Tropical Storm Lee in August and September caused more than $1 billion in damages, bringing the total number of such events in 2011 to 14, NOAA says. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/2-more-billion-dollar-weather-disasters/ 20 Jan 2012 10:60 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/science/earth/vermont-cant-shut-down-nuclear-plant-judge-rules.html A federal judge on Thursday blocked Vermont from forcing the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor to shut down when its license expires in March, saying that the state is trying to regulate nuclear safety, which only the federal government can do. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/science/earth/vermont-cant-shut-down-nuclear-plant-judge-rules.html 20 Jan 2012 10:50 EST NYT > Green Blog http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/agriculture-and-climate-change-revisited/ Chagrined by the failure of delegates to embrace agriculture as a formal priority in climate change talks in Durban, a group of experts calls for more research and advocacy on the world's food system. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/agriculture-and-climate-change-revisited/ 20 Jan 2012 10:40 EST NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/19/407196/polysilicon-prices-to-drop-in-2012-bringing-solar-pv-prices-to-70-cents-a-watt/ The structural oversupply of solar modules on the global market has driven down prices for photovoltaic panels at an astonishing pace. And new analysis shows that decline will only continue into 2012. In 2011, the average selling price for crystalline silicon PV modules was cut in half -- falling from $1.80 at the beginning of the year to $0.90 in December, according GTM Research. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/19/407196/polysilicon-prices-to-drop-in-2012-bringing-solar-pv-prices-to-70-cents-a-watt/ 20 Jan 2012 10:30 EST Climate Progress http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20120105_PerceptionsAndDice.pdf "Climate dice", describing the chance of unusually warm or cool seasons relative to climatology, have become progressively "loaded" in the past 30 years, coincident with rapid global warming. The distribution of seasonal mean temperature anomalies has shifted toward higher temperatures and the range of anomalies has increased. An important change is the emergence of a category of summertime extremely hot outliers, more than three standard deviations (s) warmer than climatology. This hot extreme, which covered much less than 1% of Earth's surface in the period of climatology, now typically covers about 10% of the land area. We conclude that extreme heat waves, such as that in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 and Moscow in 2010, were "caused" by global warming, because their likelihood was negligible prior to the recent rapid global warming. http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2012/20120105_PerceptionsAndDice.pdf 20 Jan 2012 10:20 EST Dr. James E. Hansen's Email List http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119143328.htm While recent climate negotiations in Durban made incremental progress toward helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture's climate footprint, a group of international agriculture experts urges scientists to lay the groundwork for more decisive action on global food security in environmental negotiations in 2012. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119143328.htm 19 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=575 19 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/18/406532/home-insurance-premiums-spike-with-increasing-climate-disasters/ NPR reports that home insurance premiums are shooting up as much as 10 percent in response to the record number of tornadoes, floods, fires, blizzards and other heavy weather that hit the country in 2011. "We have, the last four years in a row, really seen extreme weather away from the coasts, away from seismically active areas, areas that historically haven't got that much attention, from a modeling perspective," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. "And that's likely to change." http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/18/406532/home-insurance-premiums-spike-with-increasing-climate-disasters/ 19 Jan 2012 10:70 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/19/406793/how-cbs-helped-bill-oreilly-spew-more-lies-about-clean-energy/ Last night Fox News' Bill O'Reilly told his viewers that the Obama administration "gave France 1.2 billion" in clean energy funding. It was completely false and something Fox could have avoided with a few minutes of fact-checking. But a chunk of the blame belongs to CBS, which enabled O'Reilly's misinformation with its own sloppy journalism. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/19/406793/how-cbs-helped-bill-oreilly-spew-more-lies-about-clean-energy/ 19 Jan 2012 10:61 EST Climate Progress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120118173240.htm For some time, researchers have explored flammable ice for low-carbon or alternative fuel or as a place to store carbon dioxide. Now, a computer analysis of the ice and gas compound, known as a gas hydrate, reveals key details of its structure. The results show that hydrates can hold hydrogen at an optimal capacity of 5 weight-percent, a value that meets the goal of a U.S. Department of Energy standard and makes gas hydrates practical and affordable. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120118173240.htm 19 Jan 2012 10:51 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/18/406090/obama-to-deny-keystone-xl-permit-transcanada-reapply-with-alternate-pipeline-route/ President Obama: "This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people. I'm disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision, but it does not change my Administration's commitment to American-made energy that creates jobs and reduces our dependence on oil. Under my Administration, domestic oil and natural gas production is up, while imports of foreign oil are down. In the months ahead, we will continue to look for new ways to partner with the oil and gas industry to increase our energy security -- including the potential development of an oil pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico -- even as we set higher efficiency standards for cars and trucks and invest in alternatives like biofuels and natural gas. And we will do so in a way that benefits American workers and businesses without risking the health and safety of the American people and the environment." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/18/406090/obama-to-deny-keystone-xl-permit-transcanada-reapply-with-alternate-pipeline-route/ 18 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/18/406678/in-rejection-letter-state-department-concludes-purported-keystone-xl-benefits-are-myths/ In a Congressionally mandated report on the reasons for rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the Department of State concludes that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has little to do with energy security or the economy. The pipeline, of great interest to the foreign tar sands company TransCanada and its investors, would have little benefit for Americans and many risks. The Keystone XL pipeline just won't change the economics of oil dependence in the United States http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/18/406678/in-rejection-letter-state-department-concludes-purported-keystone-xl-benefits-are-myths/ 18 Jan 2012 20:30 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/18/405857/leading-global-investors-call-the-false-dichotomy-between-economy-and-environment-nonsense/ GE started the Ecomagination program in 2005 and has since invested more than $5 billion renewable energy, efficiency and smart grid technologies. The company saw such a powerful business case for clean technologies, it plans to double investments in the sector to $10 billion by 2015. According to Vachon, the $85 billion in revenue from cleantech has doubled the performance of the rest of the company's portfolio. "Companies that don't get this, really risk becoming irrelevant to the marketplace. Whether you believe it for climate change or just the markets that are developing, it is our responsibility as businesses to be responsible to the design signal that the world is telling us," he said. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/18/405857/leading-global-investors-call-the-false-dichotomy-between-economy-and-environment-nonsense/ 18 Jan 2012 20:21 EST Climate Progress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120118123056.htm Engineering our way out of global climate warming may not be as easy as simply reducing the incoming solar energy, according to a climate scientists. Designing the approach to control both sea level rise and rates of surface air temperature changes requires a balancing act to accommodate the diverging needs of different locations. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120118123056.htm 18 Jan 2012 20:11 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=574 18 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://e360.yale.edu/digest/natural_gas_boom_to_slow_growth_of_us_renewables_report_says/3292/ The sheer abundance of recently discovered natural gas resources in the U.S. could drive down gas and electricity prices in the next few decades, yield an overall increase in energy use, and stunt the nation's still-emerging renewable energy sector, a new report says. ... By 2050, the report says, this growth could cause national energy use to increase, possibly leading to a jump in greenhouse gas emissions of 13 percent above 2005 levels. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/natural_gas_boom_to_slow_growth_of_us_renewables_report_says/3292/ 18 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.nrdc.org/media/2012/120118.asp The proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would increase oil prices for American consumers in the Midwest while adding to the profits of Canadian oil companies, according to a new study released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oil Change International, a Washington, DC-based group dedicated to exposing the true cost of fossil fuels. http://www.nrdc.org/media/2012/120118.asp 18 Jan 2012 10:60 EST NRDC: News/Media Center Feed http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/study-global-warming-related-sea-level-rise-poses-big-threat-to-washington-dc/2012/01/16/gIQAlMGb5P_blog.html Global warming-related sea level rise constitutes a major threat to the nation's capital, with the potential to inundate national monuments, museums, military bases, and parts of the Metro Rail system during the next several decades and beyond, according to a recent study published in the journal "Risk Analysis." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/study-global-warming-related-sea-level-rise-poses-big-threat-to-washington-dc/2012/01/16/gIQAlMGb5P_blog.html 17 Jan 2012 20:50 EST Climate Central - Breaking News, Blogs & Features http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/helping-teachers-stand-up-for-science/ The National Center for Science Education has added climate change to its mandate, offering teachers advice on how to counter pressure from school boards of parents to depart from the scientific consensus. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/helping-teachers-stand-up-for-science/ 17 Jan 2012 20:40 EST NYT > Green Blog http://e360.yale.edu/digest/china_sets_first-ever_cap_on_greenhouse_gas_emissions/3289/ The Chinese government has ordered five cities and two provinces to set caps on greenhouse gas emissions in preparation for a series of regional carbon markets. ... China as a whole, which has already passed the U.S. as the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has committed to reducing its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/china_sets_first-ever_cap_on_greenhouse_gas_emissions/3289/ 17 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Yale Environment 360 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-china-climate-idUSTRE80H06J20120118 Global warming threatens China's march to prosperity by cutting crops, shrinking rivers and unleashing more droughts and floods, says the government's latest assessment of climate change, projecting big shifts in how the nation feeds itself. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-china-climate-idUSTRE80H06J20120118 17 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120117161425.htm Data from end of the last Ice Age confirm effects of climate change on oceans The first comprehensive study of changes in the oxygenation of oceans at the end of the last Ice Age (between about 10 to 20,000 years ago) has implications for the future of our oceans under global warming. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120117161425.htm 17 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=573 17 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.asbcouncil.org/uploads/ASBCPublic_RelationstigercommRevised_Keystone_v4_accepted.pdf A coalition of businesses is the first such group to denounce the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline and is urging President Obama to reject the project and turn the nation's focus to alternative and renewable energy. The American Sustainable Business Council disputes Keystone's job numbers and energy security claims that most other business organizations tout when discussing the project. http://www.asbcouncil.org/uploads/ASBCPublic_RelationstigercommRevised_Keystone_v4_accepted.pdf 17 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/16/403627/efficiency-cut-energy-costs-create-million-jobs-by-2050/ America is thinking too small when it comes to energy efficiency ... according to a major new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The new report outlines three scenarios under which the U.S. could either continue on its current path or cut energy consumption by the year 2050 almost 60 percent, add nearly two million net jobs in 2050, and save energy consumers as much as $400 billion per year (the equivalent of $2600 per household annually). http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/16/403627/efficiency-cut-energy-costs-create-million-jobs-by-2050/ 17 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Climate Progress http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-climate-expose-north-america-east.html Researchers from MIT and Yale University have found that coastal regions of North America and the Caribbean, as well as East Asia, are most at risk for hurricane damage -- a finding that may not surprise residents of such hurricane-prone communities. However, the researchers say by the year 2100, two factors could more than quadruple the economic damages caused by tropical storms in such regions and around the world: growing income and global warming. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-climate-expose-north-america-east.html 17 Jan 2012 10:50 EST PHYSorg.com: Environment News http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/17/405124/anti-labor-koch-brothers-launch-6-million-solyndra-workers-attack-ad/ The Koch-backed Americans For Prosperity has rolled out its latest attack against the clean energy economy in its election-year campaign against President Obama. The petrochemical Tea Party group released a $6 million ad on Monday in battleground states Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Iowa, distorting the facts on the Solyndra solar company. The Kochs, who have hosted fundraisers for Mitt Romney and are notorious for their anti-worker actions, accuse Obama of "cronyism" and using workers as "pawns" in the ad. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/17/405124/anti-labor-koch-brothers-launch-6-million-solyndra-workers-attack-ad/ 17 Jan 2012 10:40 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate-change-school-20120116,0,2808837.story A flash point has emerged in American science education that echoes the battle over evolution, as scientists and educators report mounting resistance to the study of man-made climate change in middle and high schools. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-climate-change-school-20120116,0,2808837.story 17 Jan 2012 10:30 EST Daily Climate http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/alstom-20120117.html Alstom and the leading Scottish marine developer SSE Renewables have signed a new joint venture agreement to develop the Costa Head Wave Project, an up to 200 MW wave energy site located north of mainland Orkney, in The Crown Estate's Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic Area. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/alstom-20120117.html 17 Jan 2012 10:20 EST Green Car Congress http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/russia-warming-at-alarming-pace/articleshow/11521947.cms Temperatures in Russia in the past century rose at twice the rate of warming in the rest of the world, the emergencies ministry said. "Despite ongoing discussions in the scientific community about the nature and long-term outlook for global climate change, the fact of global warming itself is uncontroversial," the ministry said in its forecast of emergency situations in 2012. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/russia-warming-at-alarming-pace/articleshow/11521947.cms 17 Jan 2012 10:10 EST http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=572 16 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/16/404744/i-have-a-dream-king/ Science has mostly told us what it can about the fiercely urgent need to act swiftly to avoid adding the bleached bones and jumbled residues of our civilization to the pile. Our urgent need now is for much more persuasiveness. ... I have a dream of clean air and clean water for my daughter and all the children of the world. I have a dream of clean energy jobs for millions of Americans and tens of millions of people around the globe. I have a dream we saved this garden of Eden for generations to come, saved it from the greed and myopia of the 1%. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/16/404744/i-have-a-dream-king/ 16 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-keystone-pipeline-20120116,0,367991.story A provision attached to the recent payroll tax bill requires President Obama to decide by Feb. 21 on the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. But even if the administration rejects the project, it may not be enough to kill it, industry analysts said. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-keystone-pipeline-20120116,0,367991.story 16 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Daily Climate http://www.nrdc.org/media/2012/120113.asp NRDC is "Extremely Troubled" by Proposal to Move Agency to Interior http://www.nrdc.org/media/2012/120113.asp 16 Jan 2012 10:50 EST NRDC: News/Media Center Feed http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011GL050226.shtml Our analysis also leads to a relatively low and tightly-constrained estimate of Transient Climate Response of 1.3-1.8 degrees C, and relatively low projections of 21st-century warming under the Representative Concentration Pathways. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011GL050226.shtml 16 Jan 2012 10:40 EST AGW Observer http://www.springerlink.com/content/a6k337311391hn67/ "Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a major global problem. Yet economic assessments of its effects are currently almost absent. Unlike most other marine organisms, mollusks, which have significant commercial value worldwide, have relatively solid scientific evidence of biological impact of acidification and allow us to make such an economic evaluation. ... Because the ocean acidifies faster than the atmosphere warms, the acidification effects on mollusks would raise the social cost of carbon more strongly than the estimated damage adds to the damage costs of climate change." http://www.springerlink.com/content/a6k337311391hn67/ 16 Jan 2012 10:30 EST AGW Observer http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00259.1 "Increased understanding of these potential changes in extreme events will be important for local agriculture, natural ecosystems, and the human population." http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00259.1 16 Jan 2012 10:20 EST AGW Observer http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02640.x/abstract ... the metabolic theory of climate warming has profound implications for global biodiversity, since tropical insects and arachnids constitute the vast majority of animal species. ... Our findings suggest that reproduction may be the Achilles' heel of tropical ectotherms, as climate warming subjects them to an increasingly adverse thermal environment." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02640.x/abstract 16 Jan 2012 10:10 EST AGW Observer http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=571 15 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://energyselfreliantstates.org/content/solar-grid-parity-101 Solar grid parity is considered the tipping point for solar power, when installing solar power will cost less than buying electricity from the grid. It's also a tipping point for the electricity system, when millions of Americans can choose energy production and self-reliance over dependence on their electric utility. But this simple concept conceals a great deal of complexity. And given the stakes of solar grid parity, it's worth exploring the details. http://energyselfreliantstates.org/content/solar-grid-parity-101 15 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/us/new-texas-rule-to-unlock-secrets-of-hydraulic-fracturing.html Environmentalists and landowners in Texas will soon be able to go online and learn how much water has been used by oil and gas drillers in hydraulic fracturing. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/us/new-texas-rule-to-unlock-secrets-of-hydraulic-fracturing.html 14 Jan 2012 20:60 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.desmogblog.com/radionuclides-tied-shale-gas-fracking-can-t-be-ignored-possible-health-hazard So why is radiation not more prevalent in the discussion about fracking? We've learned over the past couple of years about other health impacts from fracking - such as the hundreds of cancer-causing chemicals used in the fracking process and the health effects such as lost sense of smell and taste, headaches, respiratory problems, and cancers reported by citizens near oil and gas drilling sites. News coverage of fracking dangers often focuses on the threat of water contamination, the toxic fluids used in fracking operations and how it isn't always disposed of properly, and the all-time favorite made world-famous by "Gasland": flaming water. Yet we don't hear a lot about how oil and gas fracking can concentrate existing radionuclides, presenting the risk of human contact through disposal or handling, posing another possible health risk for the public and workers in the industry http://www.desmogblog.com/radionuclides-tied-shale-gas-fracking-can-t-be-ignored-possible-health-hazard 14 Jan 2012 20:50 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/14/1047070/-Global-Warming-Creating-the-Conditions-for-a-Cronkite-Moment-Part-2:-This-is-solvable Yes, it is possible for us to avert the worst of global warming. Our children and grandchildren have a right to a livable planet, and we can deliver it to them. It can be done. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/14/1047070/-Global-Warming-Creating-the-Conditions-for-a-Cronkite-Moment-Part-2:-This-is-solvable 14 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Hawks http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/with-116-million-pledged-ecuador.html After receiving pledges totaling more than its goal of $100 million by a year-end deadline, the Ecuadorian government last week announced that it would move forward with the so-called Yasuni ITT Initiative. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/with-116-million-pledged-ecuador.html 14 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Daily Climate http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/12/2 "Televisions are a good place to start, in my mind, because they are a big part of [energy] demand," said Rick Duke, a deputy assistant secretary at DOE, noting that televisions use between 5 and 8 percent of the world's electricity. According to SEAD, this amounts to 168 terawatt-hours of electricity use annually, producing 27 megatons of carbon dioxide emissions. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/12/2 14 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tweaking-photosynthesis By altering how plants turn sunlight into chemical energy, scientists hope to produce biofuels that make economic sense http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tweaking-photosynthesis 14 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Daily Climate http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=570 14 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/404362/nome-fuel-delivery-arctic-drilling/ The unprecedented effort has captured worldwide attention and also brought serious concerns to light about the nation's insufficient resources and infrastructure in the Arctic. With the President of Royal Dutch Shell expressing confidence yesterday that his company will begin drilling in the fragile Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast this summer, addressing these concerns becomes even more urgent. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/404362/nome-fuel-delivery-arctic-drilling/ 13 Jan 2012 20:70 EST Climate Progress http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/shells-arctic-drilling-plan-clears-hurdle/ Opponents of Shell Oil's planned Arctic drilling lose a round before an Environmental Protection Agency appeals board. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/shells-arctic-drilling-plan-clears-hurdle/ 13 Jan 2012 20:60 EST NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/403620/congress-incentives-offshore-wind/ With a stronger commitment from Congress, Atlantic coastal states could advance projects that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower our dependence on foreign oil, and create jobs and industrial innovation from Maine to the Carolinas. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/403620/congress-incentives-offshore-wind/ 13 Jan 2012 20:50 EST Climate Progress http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2013 The year 2011 was the tenth warmest year on record for the globe, but the warmest year on record when a La Nina event was present. Seven nations and one territory broke all-time hottest temperature records. This is a far cry from 2010 (which tied for the warmest year on record), when twenty nations (plus one UK territory) set all-time hottest temperature records. One all-time coldest temperature record was set in 2011; this was the first time since 2009 one of these records was set. The all-time cold record occurred in Zambia, which ironically also set an all-time hottest temperature record in 2011. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2013 13 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/offshore_wind.html More than a decade ago, Denmark built the world's first offshore wind farm near Copenhagen. Since then offshore wind has been added to the energy portfolio of nine other countries in Europe and Asia. The East Coast of the United States, from the Mid-Atlantic region north through New England, possesses some of the world's most favorable environmental conditions to tap into this massive renewable energy resource. And even though public opinion throughout the region strongly supports such development, we have yet to begin construction on even a single turbine. With a stronger commitment from Congress, Atlantic coastal states could advance projects that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower our dependence on foreign oil, and create jobs and industrial innovation from Maine to the Carolinas. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/offshore_wind.html 13 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112193442.htm Scientists have detailed 14 key air pollution control measures that, if implemented, could slow the pace of global warming, improve health and boost agricultural production. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112193442.htm 13 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142226.htm Preserving diverse plant life will be crucial to buffer the negative effects of climate change and desertification in in the world's drylands, according to a new landmark study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142226.htm 13 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=569 13 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/403707/wind-jobs-at-vestas/ From now until the day Americans vote for president, every single candidate running for office will be talking about one thing: jobs. But while candidates ramble on about who's creating and who's killing jobs, they're ignoring the simple things that would actually help businesses create jobs -- particularly in the crucial clean energy industry. Exhibit A: Congress's refusal to extend the production tax credit (PTC) is about to kill tens of thousands of high-paying jobs in the wind industry and is already causing businesses to stall projects, reduce orders and decrease manufacturing activity. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/13/403707/wind-jobs-at-vestas/ 13 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-climate-winter-idUSTRE80C0A520120113 Warmer summers in the far Northern Hemisphere are disrupting weather patterns and triggering more severe winter weather in the United States and Europe, a team of scientists say, in a finding that could improve long-range weather forecasts. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-climate-winter-idUSTRE80C0A520120113 13 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/toward-a-national-coastline-policy/ The White House will work with the states and various groups to develop plans for the "sustainable use and long-term protection" of oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/toward-a-national-coastline-policy/ 12 Jan 2012 20:51 EST NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/12/403637/afl-cio-head-rich-trumka-congress-is-effectively-controlled-by-climate-change-deniers/ Speaking at the 2012 United Nations Investor Summit on Climate Risk & Energy Solutions, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka blasted climate deniers in Congress for threatening the free enterprise system and the future of civilization. Trumka began his speech laying out the stark challenge of global warming: a "stable climate is the foundation of our global civilization," and thus "the prerequisite for a profitable investment environment" http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/12/403637/afl-cio-head-rich-trumka-congress-is-effectively-controlled-by-climate-change-deniers/ 12 Jan 2012 20:41 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/soot-methane-reduction-global-warming_n_1202440.html An international team of scientists says it's figured out how to slow global warming in the short run and prevent millions of deaths from dirty air: Stop focusing so much on carbon dioxide. They say the key is to reduce emissions of two powerful and fast-acting causes of global warming -- methane and soot. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/soot-methane-reduction-global-warming_n_1202440.html 12 Jan 2012 20:31 EST Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142241.htm Wandering albatrosses have altered their foraging due to changes in wind fields in the southern hemisphere during the last decades. Since winds have increased in intensity and moved to the south, the flight speed of albatrosses increased and they spend less time foraging. As a consequence, breeding success has improved and birds have gained 1 kilogram. ... However, these positive consequences of climate change may last short if future wind fields follow predictions of climate change scenarios, researchers warn. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142241.htm 12 Jan 2012 20:21 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142232.htm Scientists have shown that a newly discovered molecule in Earth's atmosphere has the potential to play a significant role in offsetting global warming by cooling the planet. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142232.htm 12 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=568 12 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/12/403005/energy-efficiency-lives-debunking-rebound-effect-and-breakthrough-institute/ Our fact-checking revealed that empirical estimates of energy rebound cited by the Breakthrough Institute are over-estimated or wrong, and they contradict the technological reality of energy efficiency gains observed in many industrial sectors. For journalists, the Rebound Effect is a trap--it is a man-bites-dog story that never happened. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/12/403005/energy-efficiency-lives-debunking-rebound-effect-and-breakthrough-institute/ 12 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/angh-20120112.html Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, unveiled the route plan for the first phase of 150 new LNG fueling stations for America's Natural Gas Highway (ANGH). The company has identified 98 locations and anticipates having 70 stations open by the end of 2012 in 33 states. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/angh-20120112.html 12 Jan 2012 10:61 EST Green Car Congress http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/super-fracking-goes-deeper-to-pump-up-natural-gas-production.html As regulators and environmentalists study how hydraulic fracturing can damage the environment, industry scientists are studying "superfracking" -- ways to create longer, deeper cracks in the earth to release more oil and natural gas. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/super-fracking-goes-deeper-to-pump-up-natural-gas-production.html 12 Jan 2012 10:51 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/11/oil-lobby-money-obama-keystone New analysis of oil industry contributions to members of Congress has revealed the level of the oil lobby's financial firepower that Barack Obama can expect to face in the November elections if he refuses to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/11/oil-lobby-money-obama-keystone 11 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Daily Climate http://www.desmogblog.com/shale-gas-bubble-bloomberg-news-confirms-ny-times-finding-fracking-boom-bust While many major outlets have covered the myriad environmental and public health risks of fracking and related drilling practices, the NY Times and now Bloomberg have both exposed the fact that the economics of risky and expensive unconventional gas recovery simply don't match up with industry geologists' claims of a "nearly limitless" supply. http://www.desmogblog.com/shale-gas-bubble-bloomberg-news-confirms-ny-times-finding-fracking-boom-bust 11 Jan 2012 20:30 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/11/401093/realclimate-alarmed-by-arctic-methane/ Fortunately, the best NOAA analysis "suggests we have not yet activated strong climate feedbacks from permafrost and CH4 hydrates," a finding Climate Progress first reported 3 years ago. But much more rapid ice loss in the Arctic than expected, accompanied by rapid permafrost warming, has convinced leading experts now say that frozen carbon is likely to start being released at a large-scale in the next few decades -- some of it in the form of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 -- causing 2.5 times the warming of deforestation. That would complicate any efforts by humanity to reduce emissions and avert multiple, simultaneous catastrophes. This largely unmodeled amplifying carbon-cycle feedback is, obviously, worrisome and even alarming. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/11/401093/realclimate-alarmed-by-arctic-methane/ 11 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Climate Progress http://inhabitat.com/sweden-announces-plans-for-massive-700-megawatt-wind-farm-in-the-baltic-sea/ Eon Nordic just announced plans to construct a massive 700 megawatt wind farm in the Baltic Sea that will take advantage of the region's high localized winds. Once it is finished, the wind farm located in Sodra Midsjobanken, Sweden will be one of the largest offshore wind farms in the world. Currently the North Sea is a well-known site for offshore wind farms, but the Baltic Sea could possibly eclipse it -- the new farm will boast 180-230 wind turbines and cost approximately $2.79 million. http://inhabitat.com/sweden-announces-plans-for-massive-700-megawatt-wind-farm-in-the-baltic-sea/ 11 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World >> Renewable Energy http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=567 11 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2012 Rains unprecedented in 117 years of record keeping set new yearly precipitation totals in seven states during 2011, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center revealed in its preliminary year-end report for 2011. An extraordinary twenty major U.S. cities had their wettest year on record during 2011. ... Despite the remarkable number of new wettest year records set, precipitation averaged across the contiguous U.S. during 2011 was near-average, ranking as the 45th driest year in the 117-year record. This occurred because of unprecedented dry conditions across much of the South, where Texas had its driest year on record. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2012 11 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/11/402648/epa-unveils-interactive-map-of-americas-carbon-polluters/ In a major advance for concerned citizens, the Obama administration has unveiled an interactive website that displays the thousands of major greenhouse gas polluters across the United States. The new site, at ghgdata.epa.gov, features a Google map and charts driven by the greenhouse gas reporting database of facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse pollution. The EPA established the rule requiring this reporting in 2009, in response to a law passed under George W. Bush at the end of 2007. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/11/402648/epa-unveils-interactive-map-of-americas-carbon-polluters/ 11 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2012/2012-01-10-095.html The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's administrative stay on a rule that sets air toxics standards for boilers and commercial solid waste incinerators. In March 2011, the EPA published maximum achievable control technology, MACT, standards for emissions of mercury and air toxics standards for boilers. The final rule was issued on May 18, 2011. But almost immediately, the agency issued a notice of delay and began to reconsider the rule after affected industries complained that the standards were too onerous and would hurt their competitiveness. The Sierra Club in July petitioned the appellate court for review of EPA's delay notice. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2012/2012-01-10-095.html 11 Jan 2012 10:50 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/will-europes-airline-carbon-tax-actually-work/2012/01/10/gIQAHaT4nP_blog.html It's odd to think that a spat over carbon fees for airlines could lead to a global trade war. But that's looking quite possible. On Jan.1, a new E.U. law went into effect requiring all flights in and out of Europe to pay for their global-warming emissions. That's sat poorly with the rest of the world. China's four largest airlines have threatened not to pay -- risking an outright ban from European airports -- and China has reportedly blocked an Airbus order in retaliation. Russia, Brazil, India and Japan are all stridently opposed. And then there's the United States. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/will-europes-airline-carbon-tax-actually-work/2012/01/10/gIQAHaT4nP_blog.html 11 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Climate Progress http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/01/11/global-warming-researchers-document-profound-cascading-ecological-effects-as-rocky-mountain-snowpack-diminishes/ A steady decline in Rocky Mountain snowpack the past few decades has led to a classic cascading ecological effect, with "powerful" shifts in mountainous plant and bird communities, according to scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Montana. http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/01/11/global-warming-researchers-document-profound-cascading-ecological-effects-as-rocky-mountain-snowpack-diminishes/ 11 Jan 2012 10:30 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401981/obama-thanks-epa-staff-mentions-climate-change-in-passing/ President Barack Obama spoke to the staff of the Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday, thanking them for his work. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401981/obama-thanks-epa-staff-mentions-climate-change-in-passing/ 10 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Climate Progress http://www.desmogblog.com/unethical-oil-and-its-friends A year ago Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel announced a new foreign partner for its Northern Gateway Pipeline project. Daniel told a meeting in Whistler, BC that Sinopec, China's second largest oil company, was investing an undisclosed amount in the pipeline approval process in return for a guaranteed place on the pipeline and the right to pony up for an equity stake in the $5+ billion project. http://www.desmogblog.com/unethical-oil-and-its-friends 10 Jan 2012 20:10 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=566 10 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/doomsday-clock-ticks-closer-midnight The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) moved the Doomsday Clock one minute closer to midnight today. It now reads 11:55pm. Two years ago, when it appeared that world leaders might actually address the global threats around us, the BAS ratcheted the clock backward by a minute, to 11:54pm. Now that petite burst of optimism has dissolved. Why? http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/doomsday-clock-ticks-closer-midnight 10 Jan 2012 17:10 EST Blue Marble Feed | Mother Jones http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401186/climate-change-sea-level-rise-hockey-stick/ I spoke to Josh Willis, Oceanographer with NASA at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Josh is one of best known young ocean scientists on the planet. He pointed me to the recent Kemp et al study of tidal marshes on the US East coast, which has produced a long record of sea level over the last 2000 years, complete with a very Hockey-stickish uptick during the last 200 or so. Jason Box of the Byrd Polar Center at Ohio State was there, presenting evidence of acceleration in Greenland ice loss over the last 200 years. His bottom line: "If we talk 10 years from now, my expectation is that Greenland will be losing roughly double what it is now." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401186/climate-change-sea-level-rise-hockey-stick/ 10 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/renewable_energy_investment.html Fair, Effective, and Efficient Tax Policy Is Key for Driving Renewable Energy Growth http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/renewable_energy_investment.html 10 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-usa-natgas-health-idUSTRE8081N020120110 The public health effects of shale gas development need to be rigorously studied as production rapidly spreads in the United States, public health professionals and advocates said on Monday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-usa-natgas-health-idUSTRE8081N020120110 10 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401429/oil-more-toxic-study/ Bad news for the Gulf of Mexico: a study released this week sheds new light on the toxicity of oil in aquatic environments, and shows that environmental impact studies currently in use may be inadequate. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/10/401429/oil-more-toxic-study/ 10 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400795/network-news-coverage-of-climate-change-collapsed-in-2011/ As far as coverage of climate change on the evening broadcast news (NBC, CBS, and ABC), this year there were a total of 14 stories, for a total of 32 minutes and 20 seconds of coverage on the three evening news broadcasts. This is down from 32 stories with 90 minutes and 28 seconds of coverage last year, and way off from the peak in 2007, with 147 stories and over 386 minutes of coverage. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400795/network-news-coverage-of-climate-change-collapsed-in-2011/ 09 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Climate Progress http://www.grist.org/politics/2012-01-09-caving-on-keystone-still-a-dumb-idea The issue in question is whether there is in fact a choice between nixing the pipeline (like the administration has said it would) and getting Obama reelected. I don't think there is. I think the gun Jack Gerard is holding to Obama's head is firing blanks. http://www.grist.org/politics/2012-01-09-caving-on-keystone-still-a-dumb-idea 09 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/01/opinion-methane-release The climate change story has many frightening pieces. Methane venting from oceans and the Arctic has grabbed the public's imagination lately, but it is not the scariest part of the tale. - by David Archer http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/01/opinion-methane-release 09 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Daily Climate http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=565 09 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400458/cleantech-venture-investments-grew-2011-solar/ As emerging clean technology companies reach stages of growth that require enormous amounts of deployment capital, investment figures for 2011 reflect that market dynamic. Last year, global corporate and venture capital investments in cleantech grew 13% over 2010, reaching almost $9 billion, according to preliminary figures released from the Cleantech Group. Most of those investments are going to companies that have already picked up one or more rounds of funding, with 85% of dollars flowing into Series B rounds or later. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/09/400458/cleantech-venture-investments-grew-2011-solar/ 09 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/mountain_plants_disappearing_as_the_climate_warms_new_study_says/3278/ A new study says that a warming climate is having a more profound effect on the world's mountain vegetation than previously believed and that some alpine meadows could vanish altogether within a few decades. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/mountain_plants_disappearing_as_the_climate_warms_new_study_says/3278/ 09 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Yale Environment 360 http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/08/397294/climate-change-senator-ted-kaufman/ Will there ever be a debate about what should be done to deal with climate change? Oh, you don't "believe" in it? If you do not, please, suspend that belief system for just a few minutes and take a look at what the major scientific organizations in this country say. Go to their webpages. Examine the mountain of evidence that has convinced 97 to 98 percent of climate researchers that climate change is a stark reality, and that human behavior has been a contributing factor to it. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/08/397294/climate-change-senator-ted-kaufman/ 08 Jan 2012 20:40 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-earthquakes-becoming-serious-cause-concern For the fracking industry, 2012 is off to a shaky start...literally. On New Year's Eve 2011, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Ohio, one of the largest fracking-related quakes to date. According to reports, the quake was felt across hundreds of square miles in the state of Ohio, and scientists suspect it is related to hydraulic fracturing wastewater disposal near Youngstown, Ohio. http://www.desmogblog.com/fracking-earthquakes-becoming-serious-cause-concern 08 Jan 2012 20:30 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-gauge-climate.html Those making land use decisions to reduce the harmful effects of climate change have focused almost exclusively on greenhouse gases -- analyzing, for example, how much carbon dioxide is released when a forest is cleared to grow crops. A new study in Nature Climate Change aims to present a more complete picture -- to incorporate other characteristics of ecosystems that also influence climate. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-gauge-climate.html 08 Jan 2012 20:20 EST PHYSorg.com: Earth Sciences News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/08/399043/china-targets-1000-gw-wind-by-2050/ The Chinese government's latest five-year roadmap for renewable energy shows continued growth in the wind sector, with 100 GW of projects likely to be developed through 2015 -- the amount of capacity developed world-wide in 2008. And by 2020, Chinese officials say wind will be competitive with coal there -- an economic cross-over of absolute necessity, considering the baffling amount of coal being consumed in China. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/08/399043/china-targets-1000-gw-wind-by-2050/ 08 Jan 2012 20:10 EST http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=564 08 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2012-01-06-gainesville-florida-becomes-a-world-leader-in-solar You don't have to be big to go big on solar power. That's the lesson from the Gainesville Regional Utilities, the electric utility whose feed-in tariff solar policy has brought over 7 megawatts (MW) of solar to the city's 125,000 residents. The raw number isn't much, but it puts Gainesville among the world leaders in solar installed per capita, beating out Japan, France, and China (and besting California, which has 32 kilowatts (kW) per 1000 residents). http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2012-01-06-gainesville-florida-becomes-a-world-leader-in-solar 08 Jan 2012 10:71 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://blog.rmi.org/Iran_electric_cars_our_stuck_narrative With Iran threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, chokepoint for the passage of 17 percent of globally traded oil, this is a good time to introduce myself to Outlet readers. This set of issues--oil addiction and the vehicle-centric, land-abusing society it engenders--has a lot to do with why I joined RMI as editorial director after a 30-year newspaper career. http://blog.rmi.org/Iran_electric_cars_our_stuck_narrative 08 Jan 2012 10:61 EST RMI.org http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/01/republicans-vs-science-ranking-the-candidates.html The Republican Party has often been the party of science and technology. Abraham Lincoln created the National Academy of Sciences and earned a patent on shipping technology. The creationist Democrat William Jennings Bryan twice lost to the Republican William McKinley. Dwight Eisenhower was perhaps the most forceful Oval Office advocate for science and technology of the last century. By the nineteen-seventies, Republicans--particularly Richard Nixon--had begun to view scientists as agitating liberals. But through the Cold War, Republicans often backed the greatest scientific and technical schemes: from missile defense to the ARPANet. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/01/republicans-vs-science-ranking-the-candidates.html 08 Jan 2012 10:51 EST Daily Climate http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-weather-record-texas-idUSTRE80700920120108 It's official: 2011 was the driest year on record in Texas, according to the National Weather Service. It was also the second-hottest ever. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-weather-record-texas-idUSTRE80700920120108 07 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/climate_migration.html The costs and consequences of climate change on our world will define the 21st century. Even if nations across our planet were to take immediate steps to rein in carbon emissions--an unlikely prospect--a warmer climate is inevitable. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/climate_migration.html 07 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328466.200-air-battery-to-let-electric-cars-outlast-gas-guzzlers.html IBM claims to have solved a fundamental problem that may lead to the creation of a battery with an 800-kilometre (500-mile) range - letting EVs potentially compete with most petrol engines for the first time. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328466.200-air-battery-to-let-electric-cars-outlast-gas-guzzlers.html 07 Jan 2012 20:20 EST New Scientist - Environment http://www.desmogblog.com/introducing-deep-accountability I think it's time to explore what Deep Accountability would look like. I'll start here, with this Modest Proposal for University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor Karl Smith. He's the newest addition to the crowd that believes global climate disruption isn't a problem because we can all move to the top of the world. http://www.desmogblog.com/introducing-deep-accountability 07 Jan 2012 20:10 EST DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=563 07 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/ras-20120107.html A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters in the US found that 64% say global warming is at least a somewhat serious problem, including 30% who say it's very serious. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/ras-20120107.html 07 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Green Car Congress http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/opinion/one-bad-energy-subsidy-expires.html Now that the most polarized and paralyzed Congress in memory has managed to kill one of its most resilient boondoggles -- the three-decade-old, multibillion-dollar subsidy for corn ethanol -- we hope it has not exhausted its resolve and will take a hatchet to other harmful energy subsidies, chiefly those it gives to fossil fuels. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/opinion/one-bad-energy-subsidy-expires.html 07 Jan 2012 10:60 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-chevron-ecuador-idUSTRE8051Z620120106 A federal court judge on Friday denied a Chevron Corp bid to prevent Ecuadorean plaintiffs from collecting on an $18 billion damages award against the U.S. oil giant over pollution in the Amazon jungle. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-chevron-ecuador-idUSTRE8051Z620120106 06 Jan 2012 20:50 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/06/399350/hansen-extreme-heat-waves-texas-oklahoma-moscow-were-caused-by-global-warming/ "Climate dice," describing the chance of unusually warm or cool seasons relative to climatology, have become progressively "loaded" in the past 30 years, coincident with rapid global warming. The distribution of seasonal mean temperature anomalies has shifted toward higher temperatures and the range of anomalies has increased. An important change is the emergence of a category of summertime extremely hot outliers, more than three standard deviations warmer than climatology. This hot extreme, which covered much less than 1% of Earth's surface in the period of climatology [1951-1980], now typically covers about 10% of the land area. We conclude that extreme heat waves, such as that in Texas and Oklahoma in 2011 and Moscow in 2010, were "caused" by global warming, because their likelihood was negligible prior to the recent rapid global warming. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/06/399350/hansen-extreme-heat-waves-texas-oklahoma-moscow-were-caused-by-global-warming/ 06 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Progress http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1202 The most relevant figure when talking about global warming is the Earth's total heat content. Data from Church et al. (2011) recently updated this picture, showing that total global heat content continues its steady climb upwards. As Figure 1 shows, most of this heat (about 90%) has gone into the oceans, and the continuing rise of both global and ocean heat content is probably the best indicator that global warming hasn't even slowed down. http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1202 06 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Skeptical Science http://www.pewclimate.org/events/2012/02/climate-leadership-conference With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the headline sponsor, the first annual Climate Leadership Conference will be held from February 29-March 1, 2012, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. http://www.pewclimate.org/events/2012/02/climate-leadership-conference 06 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Center for Climate and Energy Solutions RSS Feed http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/latin-america-wild-weather_n_1190433.html From Chile to Colombia to Mexico, Latin America has been battered recently by wildfires, floods and droughts. For many witnessing the extreme weather in the region and around the world, the question that comes up again and again is whether climate change is playing a role. The response from experts: Probably. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/latin-america-wild-weather_n_1190433.html 06 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=562 06 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2010 Approximately half of the U.S. had temperatures at least 5 degrees F above average during the month of December, with portions of North Dakota and Minnesota seeing temperatures 9 degrees F above average. The strangely warm and dry start to winter is not limited to the U.S--all of continental Europe experienced well above-average temperatures during December. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2010 06 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/05/us/climate-research/index.html U.S. scientists want to expand research into climate change to focus on its social effects and ways to adapt to a changing planet, but tighter budgets may crimp those plans, the National Academy of Sciences reported Thursday. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/05/us/climate-research/index.html 06 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/rethinking-the-effects-of-aerosols/ A study projects that the elimination of direct atmospheric aerosols over the eastern United States would increase ground temperatures. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/rethinking-the-effects-of-aerosols/ 06 Jan 2012 10:50 EST NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/05/398406/after-earthquakes-ohio-decides-to-stop-fracking-process-to-help-stop-the-ground-from-shaking/ Ohio ended 2011 with a magnitude 4.0 earthquake on New Year's Eve, the second quake to strike the area within a week and the 11th of the year. That earthquake, the most recent and the strongest, was traced back to the fluid injection wells at a fracking site in Youngstown, Ohio. Indeed, all 11 earthquakes occurred "within two miles of the injection wells." Now, state officials are shutting down the injection wells and letting the waste fluids that were injected to "bubble back to the surface in an effort to relieve underground pressure." http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/05/398406/after-earthquakes-ohio-decides-to-stop-fracking-process-to-help-stop-the-ground-from-shaking/ 05 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Climate Progress http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175485/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben%2C_buying_congress_in_2012/ My resolution for 2012 is to be naive -- dangerously naive http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175485/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben%2C_buying_congress_in_2012/ 05 Jan 2012 20:30 EST TomDispatch - Blog http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/05/398600/report-future-of-global-climate-deal-dependent-on-2012-election/ World leaders struck a deal last month during the Durban United Nations conference that sets a path to a global climate deal by 2015 -- a precarious agreement including major developing countries like China and India. However, a report by the research branch of the HSBC bank predicts a deal would be trashed if President Obama is not reelected. With climate denial and opposition to emissions limits rampant in the GOP field, HSBC finds a global deal would be "almost impossible" if a Republican wins the White House http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/01/05/398600/report-future-of-global-climate-deal-dependent-on-2012-election/ 05 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104115100.htm Scientists are reporting discovery of an improved way to remove carbon dioxide -- the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming -- from smokestacks and other sources, including the atmosphere. The process achieves some of the highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever reported for real-world conditions where the air contains moisture. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104115100.htm 05 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=561 05 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/should-the-united-states-export-its-cheap-natural-gas-maybe-not/2012/01/04/gIQAjqI5aP_blog.html Last year, fuel was America's #1 export. But not everyone's so keen on watching the United States ship out all that energy to the rest of the world. Case in point: On Wednesday, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) fired off a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu asking him whether it was really such a swell idea for the United States to be exporting its newly abundant natural gas resources all over the globe. Some experts, after all, have raised concerns that such exports could have unexpected downsides. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/should-the-united-states-export-its-cheap-natural-gas-maybe-not/2012/01/04/gIQAjqI5aP_blog.html 05 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/05/1 ... energy efficiency could eventually attract the full might of the financial sector, fueling a mass renovation of the nation's buildings that has, so far, proven unattractive. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/05/1 05 Jan 2012 10:60 EST ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/05/398219/vote-4-energy-big-oil-pr-blitz-funded-by-american-families/ The American Petroleum Institute -- the lobbying arm of big oil and gas companies -- yesterday announced its "Vote 4 Energy" campaign that will promote its policy agenda in key electoral states including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. This campaign will more loudly promote the Big Oil agenda of more drilling, fewer safe guards, and retention of Big Oil tax breaks. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/05/398219/vote-4-energy-big-oil-pr-blitz-funded-by-american-families/ 05 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/feature/putting_a_price_tag_on_the_real_value_of_nature/2481/ How do you put a price on the value of nature? That's the question Indian banker Pavan Sukhdev and his colleagues are seeking to answer in their international project on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), which culminated in a major report issued last month. The challenge, as Sukhdev sees it, is how to address the "economic invisibility of nature." In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he cited crucial benefits from nature that are often overlooked, including the capacity of wetlands for filtering water, the role of forests in preventing erosion and flooding, and the importance of bees in pollinating crops. "When did the bees last send you an invoice for pollination?" he asks. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/putting_a_price_tag_on_the_real_value_of_nature/2481/ 05 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Yale Environment 360 http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/04/379694/iea-world-11-degree-warming-school-children-catastrophic/ The International Energy Agency was once a staid and conservative organization that people ignored because it was staid and conservative. Now people ignore the IEA because it has become a blunt truth teller on oil and climate. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/04/379694/iea-world-11-degree-warming-school-children-catastrophic/ 04 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Climate Progress http://www.earthtimes.org/climate/climate-change-extinction-risk/1737/ Many previous predictions of animal and plant extinction due to climate change have not taken the effects of movement and competition into account, say US ecologists. http://www.earthtimes.org/climate/climate-change-extinction-risk/1737/ 04 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Yahoo! News Search Results for climate change http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104142117.htm A new study allays concerns that melting Arctic sea ice could be increasing the amount of freshwater in the Arctic enough to have an impact on the global "ocean conveyor belt" that redistributes heat around our planet. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104142117.htm 04 Jan 2012 20:10 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=560 04 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/04/397583/white-house-messaging-issues-climate-change/ ... the White House uses the bully pulpit when it actually cares a great deal about an issue, which it obviously -- and nonsensically -- doesn't about climate change http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/04/397583/white-house-messaging-issues-climate-change/ 04 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.grist.org/climate-change/2012-01-03-are-u.s.-coasts-ready-for-sea-level-rise Let's say the rise in sea level that climate change will bring us -- from melting ice caps and expanding seas -- won't be "all that bad" by, oh, the year 2080. Maybe ... just half a meter (a little under 20 inches). We can deal with half a meter, right? Well, yeah -- if we're ready to "deal with" almost 50 percent more affected people and 73 percent more property losses from a typical Category 3 hurricane -- all because of the higher storm surge that'll come from that additional 20 inches of sea level. ("Storm surge," in case you don't know, describes the ocean water that a storm's winds bring ashore, in addition to what's usually there with normal tides.) http://www.grist.org/climate-change/2012-01-03-are-u.s.-coasts-ready-for-sea-level-rise 04 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/loker-20120104.html A team from the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, reports on an improved material for capturing carbon dioxide from the air--silica-organic hybrid adsorbents--in a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Reported capture values under humid conditions are among the highest reported for CO2 adsorption from the air. After capturing carbon dioxide, the materials give it up easily so that the CO2 can be used in making other substances, or permanently isolated from the environment. The capture material then can be recycled and reused many times over without losing efficiency. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/loker-20120104.html 04 Jan 2012 10:50 EST Green Car Congress http://inhabitat.com/can-indias-solar-energy-output-hit-33-4gw-by-2022/ As the world's second-most populous country and a growing global power, India would do well to think about its energy future, and it seems to be doing just that -- according to a report by Bridge to India, the country is aiming to install 33.4 GW of solar power nationwide. http://inhabitat.com/can-indias-solar-energy-output-hit-33-4gw-by-2022/ 04 Jan 2012 10:40 EST Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World >> Renewable Energy http://www.npr.org/2012/01/03/144654499/ecuadorean-court-upholds-ruling-against-chevron An appeals court in Ecuador upheld an $18 billion ruling against Chevron Corp. on Tuesday for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest more than two decades ago. ... The lawsuit deals with pollution of the rain forest by energy company Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2001. http://www.npr.org/2012/01/03/144654499/ecuadorean-court-upholds-ruling-against-chevron 04 Jan 2012 10:30 EST NPR - Environment http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/397048/mother-nature-is-just-getting-warmed-up-heat-records-exceed-cold-annual-ratio/ New U.S. daily high temperature records exceeded daily cold records in December by a ratio of 1.8 to 1, a margin of 80%. The overwhelming excess of heat records continued into New Year's Day, when the 116 high maximum records set or tied absolutely crushed the one lonely low minimum record.... The annual value [of the high/low record ratio] was 2.8 to 1, well above the 2.3 to 1 in 2010. Data from NOAA. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/397048/mother-nature-is-just-getting-warmed-up-heat-records-exceed-cold-annual-ratio/ 03 Jan 2012 20:20 EST Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396520/pipeline-inspector-whistleblower-keystone-xl-pipeline-disasterq/ Now a whistleblower is claiming that the company overseeing the development of the proposed project, TransCanada, also has a track record of undercutting quality at the expense of the environment -- further calling into question the decision by Congress to prevent a new federal environmental impact study for Keystone XL. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396520/pipeline-inspector-whistleblower-keystone-xl-pipeline-disasterq/ 03 Jan 2012 20:10 EST Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=559 03 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396546/silence-of-the-lambs-media-herd-coverage-climate-change-drops-again/ Media coverage of climate change continued to tumble in 2011, declining roughly 20 percent from 2010's levels and nearly 42 percent from 2009's peak, according to analysis of DailyClimate.org's archive of global media. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/03/396546/silence-of-the-lambs-media-herd-coverage-climate-change-drops-again/ 03 Jan 2012 10:70 EST Climate Progress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/li-20120103.html Increases in air pollution and other particulate matter in the atmosphere can strongly affect cloud development in ways that reduce precipitation in cool and relatively dry regions, but also can increase rain and the intensity of severe storms in warm and moist regions or seasons, such as the eastern half of the US during summer, according to a new study by researchers in the US and Israel. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/01/li-20120103.html 03 Jan 2012 10:60 EST Green Car Congress http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/03/1 In the race for bigger offshore wind turbines, what's under the water can be just as much trouble as what's above. Turbine makers are building giant machines that must withstand powerful storms in the inhospitable waters of the North Sea -- but they will also need to spend money on sturdy foundations, specialized installations and ships that can nail the turbines to the ocean floor at depths of 115 feet. But what if such turbines could be towed out to sea and simply tethered to the bottom of the ocean at virtually any depth, kept steady amid the waves by a flotation device? http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2012/01/03/1 03 Jan 2012 10:50 EST ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://inhabitat.com/inventors-of-stronger-than-steel-graphene-paper-receive-nobel-prize-and-knighthoods/ The green advantages are numerous. Instead of mining finite ores to create steel, graphene is harder, six times lighter and ten times higher in tensile strength. This could lead to ultra light aircraft and automobiles that would be able to carry less fuel and thus create less pollution. http://inhabitat.com/inventors-of-stronger-than-steel-graphene-paper-receive-nobel-prize-and-knighthoods/ 02 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World >> Renewable Energy http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/02/government-scientists-more-efficient-at-splitting-hydrogen/ Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory have just made a breakthrough in bringing the hydrogen economy closer, by splitting hydrogen ten times faster. http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/02/government-scientists-more-efficient-at-splitting-hydrogen/ 02 Jan 2012 20:30 EST CleanTechnica http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111129123255.htm A new study questions the cost-effectiveness of biofuels and says they would barely reduce fossil fuel use and would likely increase greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111129123255.htm 02 Jan 2012 20:20 EST ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/30/392291/the-debunking-handbook-part-5-filling-the-gap-with-an-alternative-explanation/ The Debunking Handbook is a guide to debunking myths, by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. This is part five of a five-part series originally published at Skeptical Science. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/30/392291/the-debunking-handbook-part-5-filling-the-gap-with-an-alternative-explanation/ 02 Jan 2012 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=558 02 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/02/another-obstacle-falls-as-massachusetts-supreme-court-throws-out-cape-wind-challenge/ It's just the latest phase in the long-running battle between Cape Wind and the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which, as its name suggests, is concerned about the impact of the proposed wind farm on the wildlife and scenery of the area. At least, that's the theory... in practice, some of the Alliance's backing comes from fossil fuel executives, not least a certain oil heir you might have heard of named William Koch. http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/02/another-obstacle-falls-as-massachusetts-supreme-court-throws-out-cape-wind-challenge/ 02 Jan 2012 10:71 EST CleanTechnica http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/business/energy-environment/after-three-decades-federal-tax-credit-for-ethanol-expires.html An unpopular subsidy that had long seemed untouchable is allowed to die amid concern for deficits and debt. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/business/energy-environment/after-three-decades-federal-tax-credit-for-ethanol-expires.html 02 Jan 2012 10:61 EST NYT > Green Blog http://www.robertstavinsblog.org/2012/01/01/the-platform-opens-a-window-an-unambiguous-consequence-of-the-durban-climate-talks/ Joe Romm: From the perspective of putting global emission on a path to avoid catastrophic climate change, Durban was a failure. But as I've said many times, that failure was "baked in" because, among others reasons, the two key players -- the U.S. and China -- simply refuse to act to stop the planet from baking. That said, Durban was consequential, and Harvard's Robert Stavins explains why. http://www.robertstavinsblog.org/2012/01/01/the-platform-opens-a-window-an-unambiguous-consequence-of-the-durban-climate-talks/ 02 Jan 2012 10:51 EST Harvard University - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - An Economic View of the Environment http://www.skepticalscience.com/science-and-distortion-stephen-schneider.html Not only is this a well produced video, it is also a balanced encapsulation of the reality of the climate situation and public debate. If you have friends who are just starting to become interested in the climate change issue, this would be an excellent place to point them for an introduction. http://www.skepticalscience.com/science-and-distortion-stephen-schneider.html 01 Jan 2012 20:40 EST Skeptical Science http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/01/us-nigeria-oil-spill-idUSTRE8000EN20120101 Nigerian villagers say oil washing up on the coast comes from a Royal Dutch Shell loading accident last month that caused the biggest spill in Africa's top producer in more than 13 years. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/01/us-nigeria-oil-spill-idUSTRE8000EN20120101 01 Jan 2012 20:30 EST Reuters: Green Business News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/392250/the-debunking-handbook-part-3-the-overkill-backfire-effect/ The Debunking Handbook is a guide to debunking myths, by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. It boils down the research on the psychological research on misinformation into a short, simple summary. This is part three in a five-part series cross-posted from Skeptical Science. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/392250/the-debunking-handbook-part-3-the-overkill-backfire-effect/ 01 Jan 2012 20:20 EDT Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/392266/the-debunking-handbook-part-4-the-worldview-backfire-effect/ The Debunking Handbook is a guide to debunking myths, by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. This Handbook boils down the psychological research on misinformation into a short, simple summary, intended as a guide for communicators in all areas (not just climate). This is part four in a five-part series cross-posted from Skeptical Science. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/392266/the-debunking-handbook-part-4-the-worldview-backfire-effect/ 01 Jan 2012 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=557 01 Jan 2012 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://cleantechnica.com/2011/12/31/obama-has-nearly-quadrupled-renewable-energy-on-public-lands/ With two years of the Obama administration, almost four times as much clean energy has been put on the grid on public lands as in all the previous 40 years. http://cleantechnica.com/2011/12/31/obama-has-nearly-quadrupled-renewable-energy-on-public-lands/ 31 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT CleanTechnica http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2102129,00.html Generous tax credits and subsidies -- especially since the 2009 stimulus -- have helped the U.S. renewable industry thrive, with wind power alone growing 37% annually over the past four years. But much of that government aid is set to expire at the end of the year, and if Congress doesn't act -- which seems increasingly unlikely in these politically dysfunctional days -- the U.S. renewable-energy industry could suffer a major crash in the years ahead. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2102129,00.html 31 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Ecocentric - Time http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/01/379550/one-third-world-energy-solar-2060-iea/ [W]hen an official at the IEA says we could get up to one third of our global energy supply from solar photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, and solar hot water by 2060, that's a fairly big piece of news. But even that projection may be conservative. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/01/379550/one-third-world-energy-solar-2060-iea/ 31 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/26/392209/the-debunking-handbook-first-myth/ The Debunking Handbook is a guide to debunking myths, by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. Although there is a great deal of psychological research on misinformation, unfortunately there is no summary of the literature that offers practical guidelines on the most effective ways of reducing the influence of misinformation. This Handbook boils down the research into a short, simple summary, intended as a guide for communicators in all areas (not just climate) who encounter misinformation. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/26/392209/the-debunking-handbook-first-myth/ 31 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/27/392237/debunking-handbook-backfire-effect/ The Debunking Handbook is a guide to debunking myths, by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky. It boils down the research on the psychological research on misinformation into a short, simple summary. This is part two of a five-part series cross-posted from Skeptical Science. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/27/392237/debunking-handbook-backfire-effect/ 31 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=556 31 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/31/power-plant-pollution-regulation_n_1176967.html A federal court Friday put on hold a controversial Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing power plant pollution in 27 states that contributes to unhealthy air downwind. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/31/power-plant-pollution-regulation_n_1176967.html 31 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-12-31-top-6-us-climate-policy-happenings-of-2011 The clearest objective benchmark is how well the U.S. is doing against the administration's target of reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Our assessment is that the administration is making progress to keep the 17 percent target within sight, but it will require a sustained effort in 2012 and beyond to reach the goal. http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-12-31-top-6-us-climate-policy-happenings-of-2011 31 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hx7l5K3XqXh2PZGUxjzyW2bLhphA The first statewide flood plan follows a call by Gov. Jerry Brown to refocus state efforts on preparing for the effects of a warming climate as floods from a faster-melting snowpack already place increased strain on the state's aging levees http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hx7l5K3XqXh2PZGUxjzyW2bLhphA 31 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Daily Climate http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/business/us-companies-file-complaint-over-chinas-steel-subsidies.html Four domestic companies that make most of the steel towers for wind turbines in the United States filed a trade complaint against China and Vietnam on Thursday. The action is a significant new skirmish in an emerging green energy trade war. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/business/us-companies-file-complaint-over-chinas-steel-subsidies.html 30 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/30/395849/top-10-states-hit-by-extreme-weather-in-2011/ While extreme weather knows no boundaries, and the impact of those events was felt coast to coast, Climate Central looked at the number of extreme events that affected each state to determine the 10 states that were clobbered the worst. According to Climate Central's analysis, Texas tops that list of hardest hit, with a costly -- and deadly -- combination of intense drought, a punishing heat wave, the worst wildfires in state history, and plenty of tornadoes. Rounding out the top 10 was Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/30/395849/top-10-states-hit-by-extreme-weather-in-2011/ 30 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Climate Progress http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2008 A remarkable blitz of extreme weather events during 2011 caused a total of 32 weather disasters costing at least $1 billion worldwide. Five nations experienced their most expensive weather-related natural disasters on record during 2011--Thailand, Australia, Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. According to insurance broker AON Benfield's November Catastrophe Report, the U.S. was hit by no less than seventeen punishing multi-billion dollar extreme weather disasters in 2011; NOAA's National Climatic Data Center official total is lower--twelve--but is likely to grow in number as additional damage statistics are tallied. Brazil experienced its deadliest weather-related natural disaster--a flash flood that killed 902 people in January, and the Philippines had its second deadliest flood ever, when Tropical Storm Washi killed over 1200 people in December. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2008 30 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/30/ecuador-paid-rainforest-oil-alliance Governments and film stars join alliance that raises $116m to compensate Ecuador for lost revenue from 900m barrels http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/30/ecuador-paid-rainforest-oil-alliance 30 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Daily Climate http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=555 30 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/395730/pbs-covers-link-between-2011s-mind-boggling-extreme-weather-and-global-warming-its-like-being-on-steroids/ PBS deserves a special mention for a segment that aired yesterday looking at how global warming is influencing extreme weather events. As Jeff Masters, co-founder of the Weather Underground (and periodic contributor to this blog) explained in the piece: "They all tend to get increased when you have this extra energy in the atmosphere. I call it being on steroids ... for the atmosphere." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/395730/pbs-covers-link-between-2011s-mind-boggling-extreme-weather-and-global-warming-its-like-being-on-steroids/ 29 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Climate Progress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/bp-20111229.html CoolPlanet BioFuels, Inc., a start-up company developing a technology that converts low-grade biomass into high-grade fuels, including gasoline, and carbon that can be sequestered (earlier post) announced that BP Technology Ventures has made an investment in the company's C Round of financing. CoolPlanet's renewable gasoline is chemically indistinguishable from gasoline derived from and can only be detected by radiocarbon isotope analysis. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/bp-20111229.html 29 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Green Car Congress http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/judge-enjoins-californias-low-carbon-fuel-standard/ A federal judge issues a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of California's low-carbon fuel standard, an important tool in meeting AB32, the state's landmark law to curb global warming. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/judge-enjoins-californias-low-carbon-fuel-standard/ 29 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/on-our-radar-scientists-appeal-to-g-o-p-candidates/ "Ignoring the issue of climate change places our health, our quality of life, our economic vitality, and our children's future at risk," scientists say in a statement. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/on-our-radar-scientists-appeal-to-g-o-p-candidates/ 29 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=554 29 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/transit-commuter-tax-benefit_n_1173057.html Tax breaks used by 2.7 million subway, light rail and bus riders across the country will be slashed next year, dealing struggling mass transit agencies another blow in the midst of deep budget cuts. Members of both the House and the Senate, most notably Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), had been working to keep the federal transit tax exception equal with the one drivers can use on parking. But Congress -- consumed by its divisive and ultimately inconclusive battle over the payroll tax -- did not act. In 2011, both drivers and mass transit riders received $230 monthly exception. Starting January 1, the tax break for drivers will go up to $240, due to a cost-of-living increase, but transit riders will be forced to make do with $125 per month in pretax money. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/transit-commuter-tax-benefit_n_1173057.html 29 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/business/oil-prices-predicted-to-remain-above-100-a-barrel-next-year.html Analysts say higher global demand and possible supply problems from Iran could keep the price for a barrel of oil in the triple digits. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/business/oil-prices-predicted-to-remain-above-100-a-barrel-next-year.html 29 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT NYT > Environment http://2greenenergy.com/inductive-charging-offers-advantages-in-electric-transportation/18551/ Momentum Dynamics offers breakthrough technology in inductive (versus conductive) charging. For those scratching their heads here, we find this concept implemented in today's electric toothbrushes, which are charged miraculously by merely replacing the brush -- sans metal contacts -- back into its base unit. Unbeknownst to the user, it sits there next to a modulating magnetic field that induces an electric current to flow into a conductive circuit within the toothbrush, recharging the battery. http://2greenenergy.com/inductive-charging-offers-advantages-in-electric-transportation/18551/ 29 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT 2GreenEnergy http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/the-puzzle-of-rising-methane/ Methane is already at two and a half times the level that prevailed in the atmosphere before the Industrial Revolution. After a hiatus, it has been rising again in the last few years for reasons that researchers do not fully understand. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/the-puzzle-of-rising-methane/ 29 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/392765/rush-limbaugh-climate-change-misinformer-of-the-year/ Limbaugh, whose radio show reportedly reaches roughly 14 million people per week, remains the most prominent and cocksure denier of human-induced climate change in the news industry. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/29/392765/rush-limbaugh-climate-change-misinformer-of-the-year/ 28 Dec 2011 20:31 EDT Climate Progress http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/2011-12-28-top-10-clean-energy-stories-of-2011 What an odd year. While businesses around the world were making record-level investments in renewables and efficiency, a growing number of conservative politicians and members of the American media punditry -- lead by the outrageously ignorant "reporting" by Fox News -- have been foolishly projecting (even cheering on) the demise of the sector. Aside from the mind-boggling disparity between the science and politics of climate change, I've never seen such a large gap between perception and what's actually happening on the ground. http://www.grist.org/renewable-energy/2011-12-28-top-10-clean-energy-stories-of-2011 28 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Grist - the latest from Grist http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/top-5-extreme-weather-events-of-2011-in-the-us-from-tornadoes-to-wildfires/2011/12/26/gIQAA4gYKP_blog.html But this was no ordinary year. At times it seemed as if Mother Nature was on steroids, slamming Americans with one deadly event after another (a good case can be made that Mother Nature is, in fact, on steroids, thanks to global warming). Consider this: according to NOAA, there were at least 12 events that cost a billion dollars or more, an all-time record (there were 14 such events by other measures). More than 1,000 people died from weather-related causes this year, most of them from tornadoes, and more than 8,000 people were injured, according to the National Weather Service. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/top-5-extreme-weather-events-of-2011-in-the-us-from-tornadoes-to-wildfires/2011/12/26/gIQAA4gYKP_blog.html 28 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Climate Central - Breaking News, Blogs & Features http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=553 28 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/more-views-on-global-warmin-and-arctic-methane/ Scientists and a filmmaker weigh in on the evidence for, and against, a substantial role for Arctic methane in gauging climate risk. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/more-views-on-global-warmin-and-arctic-methane/ 28 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT NYT > Environment http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/395548/satellite-photos-illustrate-dramatic-expansion-of-canadian-tar-sands/ Extraction of Alberta's energy-intensive tar sands has expanded steadily in recent years, with about 232 square miles now exposed by mining operations. That expansion is expected to double over the next decade, which could mean the destruction of 740,000 acres of boreal forest and a 30% increase in carbon emissions from Canada's oil and gas sector. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/395548/satellite-photos-illustrate-dramatic-expansion-of-canadian-tar-sands/ 28 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/394973/new-epa-mercury-rules-are-a-bona-fide-big-deal/ It's worth lifting our heads out of the news cycle and taking a moment to appreciate that history is being made. Finally controlling mercury and toxics will be an advance on par with getting lead out of gasoline. It will save save tens of thousands of lives every year and prevent birth defects, learning disabilities, and respiratory diseases. It will make America a more decent, just, and humane place to live. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/28/394973/new-epa-mercury-rules-are-a-bona-fide-big-deal/ 28 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Climate Progress http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1180 Peter Wehner has impeccable conservative credentials, having served under Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and most recently, as deputy assistant to Pres. George W. Bush. He resides at the "Ethics & Public Policy Center," a neo-con think tank. Wehner makes a nod to scientific uncertainties and the potential dangers of excessive government intervention. Climate hawks will find plenty to argue with here, but these caveats are worth considering because a) most have some merit, and b) they clarify exactly where many conservatives get stuck. If we don't address conservative reservations and fears directly, we're failing to get at the roots from which science denial stems. http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1180 28 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Skeptical Science http://e360.yale.edu/digest/map_projects_when_us_cities_will_achieve_grid_parity_for_solar/3265/ If energy cost trends remain consistent -- with the price of retail electricity rising and solar power falling -- solar energy could become cheaper than power from the grid in most major U.S. metropolitan areas by 2027, according to a recent projection. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/map_projects_when_us_cities_will_achieve_grid_parity_for_solar/3265/ 28 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/december/richter-climate-qanda-122711.html Stanford physicist's prescriptions include more natural gas and nuclear power, doubts about renewable energy goals, and a new way to gain political support. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/december/richter-climate-qanda-122711.html 27 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Yahoo! News Search Results for climate change http://www.sciencedaily.com-/releases/2011/12/111208121016.htm A groundbreaking study led by University of Miami (UM) scientist Shimon Wdowinski shows that earthquakes, including the recent 2010 temblors in Haiti and Taiwan, may be triggered by tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons), according to a presentation of the findings at the 2011 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. http://www.sciencedaily.com-/releases/2011/12/111208121016.htm 27 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=552 27 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.desmogblog.com/year-dirty-energy-koch-brothers Over the last 12 months, DeSmogBlog contributors have helped spread the word about some of the most dastardly deeds of Charles and David Koch. Here are some of the biggest stories we covered this year on the issue of corruption and dirty energy money. http://www.desmogblog.com/year-dirty-energy-koch-brothers 27 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/27/395419/southwest-drought/ The NY Times reviews two new books on Dust-Bowlification -- A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest, and Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/27/395419/southwest-drought/ 27 Dec 2011 10:41 EDT Climate Progress http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/27/conditions-of-life-how-climate-change-has-driven-evolution/ Although we've always known in a general way that mammals respond to climatic change over time, there has been controversy as to whether this can be demonstrated in a quantitative fashion. We show that the rise and fall of these faunas is indeed correlated with climatic change -- the rise or fall of global paleotemperatures -- and also influenced by other more local perturbations such as immigration events. http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/27/conditions-of-life-how-climate-change-has-driven-evolution/ 27 Dec 2011 10:31 EDT Ecocentric - Time http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/on-our-radar-philippine-flood-toll-at-1250/ Unusually heavy rains from a tropical storm resulted in landslides and flash floods that swept away whole villages. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/on-our-radar-philippine-flood-toll-at-1250/ 27 Dec 2011 10:21 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227093055.htm Climate changes profoundly influenced the rise and fall of six distinct, successive waves of mammal species diversity in North America over the last 65 million years, shows a novel statistical analysis by evolutionary biologists. Warming and cooling periods, in two cases confounded by species migrations, marked the transition from one dominant grouping to the next. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111227093055.htm 27 Dec 2011 10:11 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=551 26 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/26/394489/nasa-climate-change-may-flip-40-of-earths-major-ecosystems-this-century/ The results of studies that try to quantify the effects of climate change on biodiversity loss -- which include damage to the micro scale level of subspecies and genetic variation -- are perhaps most shocking. When, however, you focus on the response to climate change at the macro level, the ecosystem level, you get a better understanding of what is one of the major drivers of that biodiversity loss: forced migrations. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/26/394489/nasa-climate-change-may-flip-40-of-earths-major-ecosystems-this-century/ 25 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/13421/2011/acp-11-13421-2011.html "Improving observations of ocean heat content show that Earth is absorbing more energy from the Sun than it is radiating to space as heat, even during the recent solar minimum. The inferred planetary energy imbalance, 0.58 +- 0.15 W m-2 during the 6-yr period 2005-2010, confirms the dominant role of the human-made greenhouse effect in driving global climate change." http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/11/13421/2011/acp-11-13421-2011.html 25 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT AGW Observer http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1176 The climate is changing in Canada. New research indicates that large areas of Canada are approaching a threshold value where they may experience a rapid increase in the size of wildfires. Both the area burnt down annually and the average size of the fires would increase, write the researchers of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Michigan who undertook the research. http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1176 25 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Skeptical Science http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144289006/nigerian-oil-spill-contained-before-reaching-coast The worst Nigeria offshore oil spill in more than a decade has been contained before reaching the West African nation's coast, officials with Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Monday, less than a week after one of its lines bled crude into the Atlantic Ocean. http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144289006/nigerian-oil-spill-contained-before-reaching-coast 25 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT NPR - Environment http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=550 25 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/big-coal-threatened-more-cheap-natural-gas-epa-regulation.html Reliance on coal for electricity is markedly down and competition by cheap natural gas is the main cause, a quoted expert has stated in a WSJ article http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/big-coal-threatened-more-cheap-natural-gas-epa-regulation.html 24 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT TreeHugger http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/science/earth/climate-scientists-hampered-in-study-of-2011-extremes.html Facing political hostility and lacking adequate financing, scientists are struggling to report on the causes of a concentrated span of extreme weather in the United States. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/science/earth/climate-scientists-hampered-in-study-of-2011-extremes.html 24 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT NYT > Environment http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/24/394877/ghost-of-climate-yet-to-come/ Delay is very risky and expensive. In releasing its 2009 Energy Outloook, the International Energy Agency explained, "we need to act urgently and now. Every year of delay adds an extra USD 500 billion to the investment needed between 2010 and 2030 in the energy sector". In releasing its 2011 Energy Outloook, the IEA said "On planned policies, rising fossil energy use will lead to irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change" and "we are on an even more dangerous track to an increase of 6 degrees C [11 degrees F]." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/24/394877/ghost-of-climate-yet-to-come/ 24 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Climate Progress http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/24/1048568/-Climates-war-on-Christmas A war on Christmas is being waged, but not by secular humans. Climate change is affecting traditional symbols of the season. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/24/1048568/-Climates-war-on-Christmas 24 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Climate Hawks http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/doe-materials-20111224.html Several clean energy technologies--including electric vehicles, wind turbines, PV thin films and fluorescent lighting--use materials at risk of supply disruptions in the short term, with risks generally decreasing in the medium- and long-terms, according to the newly released 2011 Critical Materials Strategy report from the US Department of Energy (DOE). http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/doe-materials-20111224.html 24 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Green Car Congress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=549 24 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-epa-mercury-20111222,0,4420916.story In a shift for the administration, the EPA adopts tough limits on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants. Industry groups say the rules are too costly and could affect the nation's electrical grid. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-epa-mercury-20111222,0,4420916.story 24 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/lester-20111222.html A three-year study by a team of researchers based at MIT has concluded that fundamental changes are needed in the US energy-innovation system. Without systematic, transformative changes, the US is unlikely to succeed either in averting the worst economic and environmental consequences of climate change or in achieving a secure, affordable and reliable energy supply. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/lester-20111222.html 23 Dec 2011 20:60 EDT Green Car Congress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/21/393127/climate-story-of-the-year-warming-driven-drought-extreme-weather-emerge-as-threat-to-global-food-security/ This year has seen a great many important climate stories. ... "Feeding some 9 billion people by mid-century in the face of a rapidly worsening climate may well be the greatest challenge the human race has ever faced." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/21/393127/climate-story-of-the-year-warming-driven-drought-extreme-weather-emerge-as-threat-to-global-food-security/ 23 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/the_top_ten_trends_in_clean_technology_for_2011/3268/ The Web site, earth2tech, has named the top clean-tech trends of the year, with the plummeting cost of solar panels topping the list, followed by India's emergence as a renewable energy powerhouse. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/the_top_ten_trends_in_clean_technology_for_2011/3268/ 23 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/in-internal-canadian-documents-a-warning-on-oil-sands/ From potential contamination of a river to possible effects on public health, an agency ticked off risks from exploitation of oil sands that the government publicly dismisses. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/in-internal-canadian-documents-a-warning-on-oil-sands/ 23 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1178 When discussing climate science and looking at individual pieces of evidence and common myths, it's easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees. That's why The Big Picture is one of the pages featured prominently on the Skeptical Science homepage. However, we created that page over a year ago, so it's worthwhile to once again step back and take stock of what we know and what remains uncertain, and update the Big Picture http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1178 23 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Skeptical Science http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222103116.htm Ocean acidification research is a relatively new study topic as scientists have only appreciated the potential extent of acidification within the last decade. As greenhouse gas emissions have accelerated in the past century, the oceans have taken up about a third of the carbon dioxide produced by human activities. That excess beyond natural levels increases amounts of carbonic acid in seawater. New research shows that some organisms are already experiencing ocean acidification levels not predicted to be reached until 2100. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222103116.htm 23 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=548 23 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/23/394753/vermont-energy-secession-movement-90-renewables-by-2050/ Vermont isn't likely to secede from the U.S. But it is undertaking an ambitious renewable energy program that could at least put it on a path toward "energy secession" -- developing a road map for procuring 90% of its heat, electricity and fuels from renewables by 2050. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/23/394753/vermont-energy-secession-movement-90-renewables-by-2050/ 23 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/evatran-20111223.html Sears Home Services, the residential and commercial installation arm of Sears Holdings, recently entered an installation agreement with Evatran, the developer of Plugless Power inductive charging systems for electric vehicles. Plugless Power is a Level 2 (240V at 30A, 3.3 kW rated power output) system, with a transfer efficiency of 90%. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/evatran-20111223.html 23 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.africanews.com/site/Climate_change_to_heap_more_burden_on_women/list_messages/40699 Forty-year-old George Chambuluka married with seven children from Malawi's Lower Shire region (covering Chikhwawa and Nsanje Districts) sharing boundary with Mozambique abandoned his wife and children including his ailing 70-year-old frail, sick mother some weeks ago. He left home in search for work in Blantyre to solicit money for purchasing food for the family in Chikhwawa after burying his heard of five cattle. http://www.africanews.com/site/Climate_change_to_heap_more_burden_on_women/list_messages/40699 23 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Climate Progress http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/opinion/toward-healthier-air.html Resisting strenuous last-minute lobbying by some of the nation's biggest utilities, the Obama administration announced on Wednesday a final rule requiring power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants by roughly 90 percent within the next five years. This is a big victory for environmentalists and scientists who have worked for 20 years to regulate these pollutants -- and an even bigger one for the public. When fully effective, the rule could save as many as 11,000 premature deaths a year and avoid countless unnecessary illnesses. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/opinion/toward-healthier-air.html 22 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/22/394801/house-gop-obama-deny-keystone-xl-permit/ House Speaker John Boehner conceded to the inevitable and agreed to approve the Senate compromise that extends the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance two months. That bill also includes, at the GOP's insistence, a requirement that Obama make a decision within 60 days on the tar sands pipeline, which is likely fatal to Keystone XL http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/22/394801/house-gop-obama-deny-keystone-xl-permit/ 22 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Climate Progress http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2006 A white Christmas will be a rarity across most of the U.S. this year, as December temperatures have been more typical of November, and very little snow has fallen. Large portions of the eastern half of the country have been more than 4 degrees F above average so far in December, with temperatures averaging 8 degrees F above average over portions of North Dakota. This is quite a switch from the previous two winters, which were both much colder and snowier than average. All three winters featured La Nina conditions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, so that cannot explain the difference. A key reason for the December warmth this year and the cold and snowy Decembers of 2010 and 2009 is a weather pattern known as the Arctic Oscillation. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2006 22 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/22/394455/wind-contracts-in-brazil-power-auction/ In Brazil's latest power auction earlier this week -- a process in which developers bid for contracts with the country's national electricity agency -- more than 80% of contracts were for wind projects. This follows an auction in August that brought in power contracts for wind that were below the bidding price of natural gas plants. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/22/394455/wind-contracts-in-brazil-power-auction/ 22 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=547 22 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPmo7xWuZcG1DX0kvqUuplHznm4Qhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPmo7xWuZcG1DX0kvqUuplHznm4Q An oil spill near the coast of Nigeria is likely the worst to hit those waters in a decade, a government official said Thursday, as slicks from the Royal Dutch Shell PLC spill approached the country's southern shoreline. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPmo7xWuZcG1DX0kvqUuplHznm4Q 22 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT AP Top U.S. News http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-usa-china-solartre7bj1wm-20111220,0,1820137.story A coalition that says it represents 97 percent of the U.S. solar industry urged solar panel maker SolarWorld on Thursday to withdraw a petition asking President Barack Obama's administration to slap punitive duties on China for unfair trading practices. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-usa-china-solartre7bj1wm-20111220,0,1820137.story 22 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Climate Progress http://www.desmogblog.com/bp-accuses-halliburton-destroying-evidence-gulf-deepwater-horizon-disaster Just months before trials are set to begin, BP is accusing Halliburton of destroying evidence related to their shoddy cement work that helped cause last year's Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. According to Reuters, BP has officially filed their allegations with the courts, hoping to get the ball rolling on an investigation prior to trial. Halliburton was responsible for supplying the cement on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig's well, which was found to be substandard in investigations. http://www.desmogblog.com/bp-accuses-halliburton-destroying-evidence-gulf-deepwater-horizon-disaster 22 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/22/1 By essentially recycling the waste as electricity or converting it to biodiesel fuel, rather than putting it in a landfill, converting sewage into energy also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The global warming effect of methane produced by decaying landfills is about 20 times more powerful than that of carbon dioxide. The waste conversion process avoids these emissions by capturing the gas and turning it into a product. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/22/1 22 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1167 Fish were not thought to be at direct risk from acidification ... Although adult fish seem well-equipped to deal with low pH waters, or higher levels of CO2 in seawater, their egg and larval life stages, a typically vulnerable time for all marine life, may not be so fortunate. http://www.skepticalscience.com/news.php?n=1167 21 Dec 2011 20:31 EDT Skeptical Science http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2011/12/21/3 The Obama administration's push to boost automotive fuel efficiency might contain a loophole big enough for a fleet of new SUVs, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers. http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2011/12/21/3 21 Dec 2011 20:21 EDT Greenwire - The Leader in Energy & Environmental Policy News http://www.omaha.com/article/20111221/NEWS01/712219955/-1 In its report released Tuesday and comments during a press conference, it's clear the independent panel that reviewed the management of the Missouri River during this summer's extraordinary flooding is aware of changing climatic conditions. http://www.omaha.com/article/20111221/NEWS01/712219955/-1 21 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Daily Climate http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=546 21 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://e360.yale.edu/digest/new_power_plant_rules_are_unveiled_by_obama_administration/3263/ The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled long-awaited rules for the nation's 1,400 coal- and oil-fired power plants that will require much tougher pollution control equipment to reduce emissions of mercury, acid gases, and particulate matter. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/new_power_plant_rules_are_unveiled_by_obama_administration/3263/ 21 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/21/393713/climate-cognitive-dissonance-science-markets/ Earlier this month, Nicholas Stern -- respected U.K. economist and author of the famed Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change -- cast a spotlight on what he calls a "profound contradiction at the heart of climate change policy." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/21/393713/climate-cognitive-dissonance-science-markets/ 21 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Climate Progress http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/global/court-upholds-europes-plan-to-charge-airlines-for-carbon-emissions.html The European Union's highest court on Wednesday endorsed the bloc's plan to begin charging the world's biggest airlines for their greenhouse gas emissions from Jan. 1, setting the stage for a potentially costly trade war with the United States, China and other countries. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/global/court-upholds-europes-plan-to-charge-airlines-for-carbon-emissions.html 21 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://e360.yale.edu/digest/in_year_of_extreme_weather_texas_paid_highest_cost_report_says/3260/ In a year marked by an unprecedented number of extreme weather events in the U.S., from relentless droughts to deadly tornadoes, no state paid a higher price than Texas, a new report says. Of 12 weather events that caused more than $1 billion in damage nationwide in 2011, eight affected Texas, according to an analysis by Climate Central, a nonprofit journalism and research organization. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/in_year_of_extreme_weather_texas_paid_highest_cost_report_says/3260/ 20 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/dec/20/oil-sands-tar-canada-uk-lobbying-emissions While in public, administrators say the tar sands are "sustainable," in private they find there is "no credible scientific information" to support their claims. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/dec/20/oil-sands-tar-canada-uk-lobbying-emissions 21 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1220-hance_philippines_disaster.html As the Philippines begins to bury more than a 1,000 disaster victims in mass graves, Philippine President Benigno Aquino has ordered an investigation into last weekend's flash flood and landslide, including looking at the role of illegal logging. Officials have pointed to both climate change and vast deforestation as likely exacerbating the disaster. http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1220-hance_philippines_disaster.html 21 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT Climate Progress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220133913.htm Forest thinning to help prevent or reduce severe wildfire will release more carbon to the atmosphere than any amount saved by successful fire prevention, a new study concludes. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220133913.htm 20 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=545 20 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/20/us-alaska-npr-idUSTRE7BJ03Q20111220 ConocoPhillips on Monday won a key permit that will allow construction of an oil field that is expected to provide the first-ever production from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on the western North Slope. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/20/us-alaska-npr-idUSTRE7BJ03Q20111220 20 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Reuters: Environment http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/texas-forest-service-blames-unrelenting-drought-for-deaths-of-a-half-billion-trees-in-2011/2011/12/19/gIQA4zsJ5O_story.html A preliminary state estimate says as many as a half-billion trees died this year across Texas from the drought persisting across much of the state. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/texas-forest-service-blames-unrelenting-drought-for-deaths-of-a-half-billion-trees-in-2011/2011/12/19/gIQA4zsJ5O_story.html 20 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/wind_energy_heartland.html Congressional Inaction on Key Tax Credit Threatens to Undermine the Industry http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/wind_energy_heartland.html 20 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.pewclimate.org/us-states-regions/news/2011/12/new-colorado-fracking-rule-seen-model-other-states Michael Freeman, a staff attorney with Earthjustice, which represented environmental groups in negotiations - "Overall, we are pleased with the strength of this rule. ... While all sides made compromises in the rulemaking, the requirement for disclosure of all chemicals and concentrations in fracking fluids makes Colorado a leader in state disclosure policy." http://www.pewclimate.org/us-states-regions/news/2011/12/new-colorado-fracking-rule-seen-model-other-states 19 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Center for Climate and Energy Solutions RSS Feed http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2011/12/19/1 More than 40 percent of officials regulating oil and gas production in the top drilling states, records show, come from the industry they are charged with policing. It is a degree of self-regulation enjoyed by few other industries, if any. And it heightens suspicion among critics of the nation's drilling boom that companies are allowed to damage the environment with impunity. http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2011/12/19/1 19 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT http://inhabitat.com/researchers-create-super-efficient-solar-cell-emits-more-energy-particles-than-it-absorbs/ Monday morning saw a solar breakthrough at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where researchers created a quantum dot solar device that has a higher energized particle percentage output than its energized particle input. http://inhabitat.com/researchers-create-super-efficient-solar-cell-emits-more-energy-particles-than-it-absorbs/ 19 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World >> Renewable Energy http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=544 19 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/stop-the-solar-trade-war_b_1157573.html ... just as solar cell prices are coming down dramatically, and are starting to be cost competitive with fossil fuels, the United States shows signs of entering into a trade war with China over these cells. In early December, Matthew Wald of the New York Times reported that the United States International Trade Commission had made a preliminary determination that China was "dumping" low price and government subsidized solar panels on the U.S. market. If the Trade Commission finalizes this decision, then 2012 could see a dramatic increase in the price of solar power. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/stop-the-solar-trade-war_b_1157573.html 19 Dec 2011 09:60 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/18/391533/six-reasons-why-the-durban-decision-matters/ The fact is that not only did Durban produce a package of agreements essential for any hope of a meaningful contribution to mitigation and adaptation to climate change out of this forum, but it also avoided a disaster that would have sent this process back to where it started in 1992. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/18/391533/six-reasons-why-the-durban-decision-matters/ 19 Dec 2011 09:50 EDT Climate Progress http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/brazils-forest-policy-could-undermine-its-climate-goals/2011/12/14/gIQACzEy2O_story.html Brazil, caretaker of the world's largest rain forest, is about to enact broad new regulations that opponents say could loosen restrictions on Amazon deforestation and increase the country's greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/brazils-forest-policy-could-undermine-its-climate-goals/2011/12/14/gIQACzEy2O_story.html 19 Dec 2011 09:40 EDT http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/12/17/ap_enterprise_russia_oil_spills_wreak_devastation/ Environmentalists estimate at least 1 percent of Russia's annual oil production, or 5 million tons, is spilled every year. That is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak about every two months. Crumbling infrastructure and a harsh climate combine to spell disaster in the world's largest oil producer, responsible for 13 percent of global output. Oil, stubbornly seeping through rusty pipelines and old wells, contaminates soil, kills all plants that grow on it and destroys habitats for mammals and birds. Half a million tons every year get into rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean, the government says, upsetting the delicate environmental balance in those waters. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/12/17/ap_enterprise_russia_oil_spills_wreak_devastation/ 19 Dec 2011 09:30 EDT Boston.com - Science news http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111218221321.htm By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth's land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type -- such as forest, grassland or tundra -- toward another, according to a new NASA and university computer modeling study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111218221321.htm 19 Dec 2011 09:20 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/mu07000g.html Using data on monthly average temperatures across the global landmass, we find that the frequency of extreme high temperatures increased 10-fold between the first three decades of the last century (1900-1929) and the most recent decade (1999-2008). ... Using daily extreme temperature observations, we find that the frequency of extreme high temperatures is greater in the daily minimum temperature time-series compared to the daily maximum temperature time-series. http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/mu07000g.html 19 Dec 2011 09:10 EDT AGW Observer http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=543 18 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.desmogblog.com/report-partially-blames-federal-government-deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-explosion Perhaps one of the most honest assessments of last year's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion reveals the numerous failures of both industry and the federal government in the worst marine oil disaster in U.S. history. ... Noting again that it was sanctioned by the federal government, it's interesting that this was one of the first reports to explicitly implicate the federal government's irresponsible actions as a cause of the massive oil disaster that followed the explosion http://www.desmogblog.com/report-partially-blames-federal-government-deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-explosion 17 Dec 2011 20:70 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html A recent estimate suggests that permafrost, which underlies nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere, contains twice as much carbon as the entire atmosphere. Temperatures are warming across much of the region and signs are emerging that the frozen carbon may be becoming unstable. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/science/earth/warming-arctic-permafrost-fuels-climate-change-worries.html 17 Dec 2011 20:60 EDT Daily Climate http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/want-a-new-hard-drive-expect-to-pay-more-thanks-to-thailand-floods/ If a new PC or hard drive is on your holiday wish list, you may be in for a rude surprise: Supplies are running low and prices have skyrocketed, all because of an extreme weather event that took place halfway around the world. http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/want-a-new-hard-drive-expect-to-pay-more-thanks-to-thailand-floods/ 17 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT Climate Central - Breaking News, Blogs & Features http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215095501.htm Tackling rising CO2 emissions from the residential sector could make a vital contribution towards mitigating climate change, according to a new report. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215095501.htm 17 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2003 "The question is not whether sea ice loss is affecting the large-scale atmospheric circulation.... It's how can it not?" That was the take-home message from Dr. Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University, in her talk "Does Arctic Amplification Fuel Extreme Weather in Mid-Latitudes?", presented at last week's American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Dr. Francis presented new research in review for publication, which shows that Arctic sea ice loss may significantly affect the upper-level atmospheric circulation, slowing its winds and increasing its tendency to make contorted high-amplitude loops. High-amplitude loops in the upper level wind pattern (and associated jet stream) increases the probability of persistent weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, potentially leading to extreme weather due to longer-duration cold spells, snow events, heat waves, flooding events, and drought conditions. http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2003 17 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog http://cen.acs.org/articles/89/web/2011/12/Anode-Material-Help-Lithium-ion.html Electronic gadgets and electric vehicles would run longer if lithium-ion batteries could store more energy. Researchers have now made electrodes out of porous germanium that hold more than three times as much charge as their graphite counterparts do. http://cen.acs.org/articles/89/web/2011/12/Anode-Material-Help-Lithium-ion.html 17 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Daily Climate http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208121028.htm Tropical birds are moving to higher elevations because of climate change, but they may not be moving fast enough, according to a new study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208121028.htm 17 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=542 17 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70582.html Senate Democrats accepted a provision Friday forcing a decision in two months on the Keystone XL oil pipeline as part of the must-pass payroll tax cut package, leaving the White House on the brink of a meltdown with environmental groups. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70582.html 16 Dec 2011 20:60 EDT POLITICO.com: Congress http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/16/391105/global-warming-floods-cost-united-states-10-billion-in-2011/ CoreLogic "estimates flood losses in the U.S. this year at approximately $10.67 billion, based on various flooding and storm events recorded in the National Climate Data Center." The extreme flooding was caused by the most extreme hydrologic conditions in the United States in history -- most of the nation was in either extreme deluge or extreme drought. Global warming pollution has driven up temperatures, atmospheric water vapor, and storm intensity, creating a perfect storm of catastrophic floods across the United States. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/16/391105/global-warming-floods-cost-united-states-10-billion-in-2011/ 16 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/16/391272/myth-that-keystone-xl-creates-jobs-perpetuated-by-oil-lobby-parroted-by-congresss-oil-recipients/ ... studies conducted independently of TransCanada find much smaller jobs numbers, far from "tens of thousands." An oil contractor hired by the State Department reported it would create between 5,000 and 6,000 temporary jobs, while an independent study by Cornell University found it would create only 500 to 1,400 temporary jobs. Once the costs of the increased pollution and risk of oil spills is factored in, Cornell found, the jobs impact is likely to be negative. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/16/391272/myth-that-keystone-xl-creates-jobs-perpetuated-by-oil-lobby-parroted-by-congresss-oil-recipients/ 16 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-does-it-matter-when-we-cut-co2-emissions/2011/12/14/gIQAumxwtO_blog.html When it comes to tackling climate change, a few years' delay can make a huge difference. The recently concluded U.N. talks at Durban set a goal of reaching a new climate agreement by 2020. That doesn't sound like a huge difference, but it actually makes the task much, much harder. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-does-it-matter-when-we-cut-co2-emissions/2011/12/14/gIQAumxwtO_blog.html 16 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Daily Climate http://e360.yale.edu/digest/study_shows_large_potential_of_3d_solar_energy_generation/3256/ Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that replacing flat solar panels with three-dimensional structures could make photovoltaic systems as much as 20 times more effective. In a series of tests, the researchers found that such 3D structures are able to pick up light even when the sun is at lower angles, and that internal reflections within the 3D panels help increase the amount of captured light. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/study_shows_large_potential_of_3d_solar_energy_generation/3256/ 16 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111216084215.htm Large forest regions in Canada are apparently about to experience rapid change. Based on models, scientists can now show that there are threshold values for wildfires just like there are for epidemics. Large areas of Canada are apparently approaching this threshold value and may in future exceed it due to climate change. As a result both the area burnt down annually and the average size of the fires would increase, researchers say. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111216084215.htm 16 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=541 16 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/16/clean-air-at-last-the-epa-cracks-down-on-coal-pollution/ The mercury rule has been in the works for two decades, and year after year the power industry has managed to stave off implementation. But on Friday--under a court order--the EPA is expected to finally issue new regulations that will require power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxics within the next three years. The utility industry is already fighting back, claiming that the rules will destroy jobs, raise electricity prices and even lead to blackouts http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/16/clean-air-at-last-the-epa-cracks-down-on-coal-pollution/ 16 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Ecocentric - Time http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/12/theres-no-hiding-tar-sands-oil Keystone XL pipeline or no, America is awash with the dirty oil from Canada. Here's our interactive map revealing the refineries near you. http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/12/theres-no-hiding-tar-sands-oil 16 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Blue Marble Feed | Mother Jones http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/caperton_gcf.html The Green Climate Fund created at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, meeting in Durban, South Africa, last week will go a long way toward reducing ever-increasing emissions in developing countries by broadly distributing investment risks and encouraging an increased flow of private capital into the fight against climate change. Thanks to the American delegation at the conference, the fund has the right design in place to support projects effectively around the globe that will help avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change and help developed countries meet their pledges for the climate finance needed in the years to come. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/caperton_gcf.html 16 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/15/us-usa-spill-recommendations-idUSTRE7BD1JS20111215 U.S. offshore oil and gas drillers need to take a more systematic approach to safety in all aspects of their operations to prevent another catastrophe like last year's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a scientific panel said on Wednesday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/15/us-usa-spill-recommendations-idUSTRE7BD1JS20111215 16 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Reuters: Environment http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Quebec+trade+follows+Kyoto+reversal/5869801/story.html Environment Minister Pierre Arcand announced the official adoption of Quebec's cap-and-trade system to fight climate change Thursday -- three days after what Arcand called the federal government's "utterly regrettable" announcement that Canada will withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol. http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Quebec+trade+follows+Kyoto+reversal/5869801/story.html 16 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/big_oil_and_canada_thwarted_u_s_carbon_standards/singleton/ Emails show how a Washington lobbyist enlisted Canadian officials to beat back U.S. carbon standards http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/big_oil_and_canada_thwarted_u_s_carbon_standards/singleton/ 15 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/12/republicans-environment.html That's the Los Angeles Times editorial board opening its "Year in Review: Congress' 10 biggest enemies of the Earth," what they call "Observations and provocations from The Times' Opinion staff." http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/12/republicans-environment.html 15 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=540 15 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/14/386806/hansen-and-caldeira-on-sensitivity-paleoclimate-record-rapid-climate-changes/ Amounts of warming previously thought to be safe may instead trigger widespread melting of the world's ice sheets and other catastrophic impacts, scientists said ... . "There's evidence that climate sensitivity may be quite a bit higher than what the models are suggesting," said Ken Caldeira, a senior scientist at Stanford University's Carnegie Institution for Science. ... Accelerating melting on the world's ice sheets and other new observations have scientists concluding that even a two-degree Celsius rise in temperatures -- a benchmark long seen as safe in global climate talks and other emissions reductions scenarios -- could lead to an 80-foot rise in sea levels. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/14/386806/hansen-and-caldeira-on-sensitivity-paleoclimate-record-rapid-climate-changes/ 15 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/15/389926/2011-highest-oil-price-in-history/ The annual average oil price of global benchmark Brent crude for 2011 is by far the highest ever at $111, even when adjusted for inflation. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/15/389926/2011-highest-oil-price-in-history/ 15 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.treehugger.com/energy-disasters/chevron-admits-oil-leak-brazil-continuing.html Tuesday, the oil giant admitted that the situation is far from resolved as many had assumed. That's right, the leak continues, and Chevron's not sure when it can be stopped. http://www.treehugger.com/energy-disasters/chevron-admits-oil-leak-brazil-continuing.html 15 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT TreeHugger http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/14/389298/dying-aspens-climate-forest-die-off-global-change-droughtquot/ Over the past 10 years, the death of forest trees due to drought and increased temperatures has been documented on all continents except Antarctica. This can in turn drive global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by trees and by releasing carbon locked up in their wood. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/14/389298/dying-aspens-climate-forest-die-off-global-change-droughtquot/ 15 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/china_solar_energy_goal_is_increased_by_50_percent_by_2015/3254/ The Chinese government has increased its solar energy target for 2015 by 50 percent, setting a new goal of 15 gigawatts annually, state media reports. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/china_solar_energy_goal_is_increased_by_50_percent_by_2015/3254/ 15 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://e360.yale.edu/feature/after_durban_can_climate_smart_farming_help_africa_and_the_planet/2477/ One idea promoted at the Durban talks was "climate-smart agriculture," which could make crops less vulnerable to heat and drought and turn depleted soils into carbon sinks. The World Bank and African leaders are backing this new approach, but some critics are skeptical that it will benefit small-scale African farmers. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/after_durban_can_climate_smart_farming_help_africa_and_the_planet/2477/ 15 Dec 2011 10:20 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215094923.htm From a local perspective, a tree is a consumer of water, but on a broader regional scale, forests supply the atmosphere with moisture that will become rainfall, scientists find. The forests of the world supply a significant amount of moisture that creates rain. A new study reveals how this important contribution of forests to the hydrologic cycle is often overlooked in water resource policy, such as that of the EU. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215094923.htm 15 Dec 2011 10:10 EDT http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=539 14 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/14/1 The Golden State last week, as part of a revised plan to limit vehicle emissions, described a future where most gasoline engines would be eliminated in California by 2050. Automakers need to shift what they are selling, the state's Air Resources Board (ARB) said in its proposal for California to meet its goal of slashing greenhouse gas pollution. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/14/1 14 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/focus-20111214.html Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant is starting production of the 2012 Focus Electric--a five-passenger, battery-electric car Ford expects will achieve more than a 100 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) fuel economy rating. By comparison, the Nissan LEAF carries a 99 MPGe (combined) EPA rating, while the smaller i-MiEV carries a 112 MPGe (combined) rating. (1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh). http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/focus-20111214.html 14 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Green Car Congress http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/12/wind-industry-argues-for-tax-credit-extension.html A new study released by the American Wind Energy Assn. today said 54,000 jobs can be created and maintained if Congress acts to extend the Production Tax Credit, which is set to expire in 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/12/wind-industry-argues-for-tax-credit-extension.html 14 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111213/cap-and-trade-massachusetts-clean-economy-rggi-energy-efficiency-green-buildings-new-jersey-christie According to a recent study, cap and trade has created 3,800 jobs and nearly $500 million in economic activity for Massachusetts since 2008. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111213/cap-and-trade-massachusetts-clean-economy-rggi-energy-efficiency-green-buildings-new-jersey-christie 14 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT InsideClimate News http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/gulf-oil-lease-sale-draws-lawsuit-seeking-to-halt-drilling-1-.html Oil-lease auctions for the Gulf of Mexico should be halted because regulators failed to fully consider the risks revealed in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, according to a lawsuit filed by environmental activist groups. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/gulf-oil-lease-sale-draws-lawsuit-seeking-to-halt-drilling-1-.html 14 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/13/388226/bizarro-bjorn-lomborg-times-post-pollutionquot-solution-to-climate-change/ The NY Times, through blogger Andy Revkin, is pushing Bjorn Lomborg's alternative-universe "Post-Pollution" solution to global warming -- more research and development (R&D). Revkin is also misrepresenting a Center for American Progress report, which is why I am going to debunk this too-little, too-late strategy for the umpteenth time. As Andrew Light, the lead author of the CAP report, explains, "I think Andy read our piece too quickly" and "I'm disappointed to see once again here the false dichotomy" that "somehow an agreement on CO2 is mutually exclusive with a mechanism to grow clean technology and sustainable development solutions. It's a completely uninformed view." http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/13/388226/bizarro-bjorn-lomborg-times-post-pollutionquot-solution-to-climate-change/ 13 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Climate Progress http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/nrc-commissioners-spat.html The public dispute between four members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the agency's chairman is a sideshow obscuring the longstanding problem with the NRC, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Simply put, the agency has failed to ensure U.S. nuclear power is as safe as it should--and could--be. http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/nrc-commissioners-spat.html 13 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Union of Concerned Scientists http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=538 13 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://e360.yale.edu/digest/huge_methane_plumes_are_discovered_in_arctic_ocean/3248/ Russian scientists sampling the waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf have discovered enormous plumes of methane, some more than a kilometer wide, bubbling up from the thawing seabed. Igor Semiletov, an oceanographer from the Russian Academy of Sciences, said a research cruise late this summer detected more than 100 of these extensive methane "fountains" in an area of less than 10,000 square miles. Semiletov, who has been studying the region's seabed for 20 years, said the scale and volume of the plumes far surpasses anything he had seen previously and could indicate that slushy methane hydrates on the seabed are thawing at an intensifying rate as Arctic Ocean ice disappears and sea temperatures rise. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/huge_methane_plumes_are_discovered_in_arctic_ocean/3248/ 13 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/swissre-catastrophes-idUSWLA002720111213 Insurers look set to absorb natural catastrophe claims of over $100 billion in 2011, more than double the total for 2010, making it the second most costly natural disaster year on record, reinsurer Swiss Re said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/swissre-catastrophes-idUSWLA002720111213 13 Dec 2011 10:61 EDT Reuters: Green Business News http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/doeh2-20111212.html The US Department of Energy is awarding more than $7 million to fund four 3-year projects in California, Washington and Oregon to advance hydrogen storage technologies to be used in fuel-cell-electric vehicles. The selected organizations will provide close to $2 million in cost share. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/doeh2-20111212.html 13 Dec 2011 10:51 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/science/earth/canada-leaving-kyoto-protocol-on-climate-change.html In announcing the decision, government officials indicated that the possibility of huge fines for Canada's failure to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets had played a role. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/science/earth/canada-leaving-kyoto-protocol-on-climate-change.html 13 Dec 2011 10:41 EDT NYT > Environment http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212144242.htm Sure, solar only generates about 1 percent of the electricity in the US. But that will change in a few years, says Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of electrical engineering and materials science at Michigan Technological University. The ultimate in renewable energy is about to go mainstream. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212144242.htm 13 Dec 2011 10:31 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212132632.htm Many of the animal species at risk of extinction in the United States have not made it onto the country's official Endangered Species Act (ESA) list, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212132632.htm 13 Dec 2011 10:20 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/warming-world-abets-a-fish-parasite-study-suggests/ Tapeworm larvae grew four times faster in fish raised at 68 degrees Fahrenheit than in those raised at 59 degrees, researchers report. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/warming-world-abets-a-fish-parasite-study-suggests/ 13 Dec 2011 10:10 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=537 12 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-12/obama-winning-climate-debate-as-china-moves-toward-legal-accord.html The U.S., long accused of blocking progress in international climate talks, is winning a two-decade old debate about how to curtail global warming. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-12/obama-winning-climate-debate-as-china-moves-toward-legal-accord.html 12 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Daily Climate http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/12/387215/new-york-times-the-climate-crisis-is-simply-too-big-a-job-for-those-fighting-it-now/ With weary determination, COP17's climate negotiators brokered a deal after more than two weeks of grinding political debates. The despair, anger, and resignation felt by almost all parties at the Durban climate summit reflected the knowledge that the power vested in the environment ministers and climate envoys by their respective governments is insufficient to protect human civilization from the exponentially growing onslaught of fossil-fueled climate change. As the New York Times writes -- as a simple statement of fact -- it is "simply too big a job": Effectively addressing climate change will require over the coming decades a fundamental remaking of energy production, transportation and agriculture around the world -- the sinews of modern life. It is simply too big a job for those who have gathered for these talks under the 1992 United Nations treaty that began this grinding process. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/12/387215/new-york-times-the-climate-crisis-is-simply-too-big-a-job-for-those-fighting-it-now/ 12 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/12/387641/two-big-utilities-debunk-wall-street-journal-industry-lies-about-clean-air-reliability/ There are reports that on December 19th the Environmental Protection Agency will promulgate the long awaited standards to require coal fired power plants to reduce their mercury, arsenic, lead, and other toxic pollution. The dirtiest utilities and big coal companies have launched an eleventh hour pressure campaign to convince President Obama to delay or weaken the implementation of these safeguards that would prevent 1,400 premature deaths per month. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/12/387641/two-big-utilities-debunk-wall-street-journal-industry-lies-about-clean-air-reliability/ 12 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/11/387157/2c-or-not-2c-that-is-the-question-about-the-durban-deal/ ... we generally grade ourselves on the basis of what we think was plausibly achievable, not what is theoretically possible. On that basis, the Durban Agreement or Durban Platform was a pretty big success, committing the entire world -- not just rich countries -- to develop a roadmap for reductions, along with a serious Green Climate Fund. It's worth noting that the alternative was not a binding agreement to stabilize at 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) warming, but a complete collapse of the international negotiating process. On the other hand, from the perspective of what is needed to avert catastrophic climate change, the agreement was, sadly, lacking. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/11/387157/2c-or-not-2c-that-is-the-question-about-the-durban-deal/ 11 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/cop17-20111211.html Countries meeting in Durban, South Africa, managed to deliver an agreement after an extension to negotiations. Governments at the COP17 meeting decided to adopt some form of a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015. Work on this is to begin immediately under a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. Governments, including 35 industrialized countries, also agreed to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol--due to expire next year--from 1 January 2013. Parties to this second period will turn their economy-wide targets into quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives and submit them for review by 1 May 2012. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/cop17-20111211.html 11 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111206095649.htm New research shows accelerated melting of two fast-moving glaciers that drain Antarctic ice into the Amundsen Sea Embayment is likely in part the result of an increase in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111206095649.htm 11 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=536 11 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/10/1044137/-Climate-Deal-Cut,-Kyoto-Extended,-All-Nations-Have-Same-CO2-Limits Agreement was reached to extend the Kyoto climate protocols that apply to developed nations for 5 years and to implement new protocols that will be the same for all countries by 2020 at the latest. The three major greenhouse gas emitters, China, the United States and India will be included in the standards for the first time. Reaching agreement with the major emitters to follow one standard is a big step forward and a victory for the U.S. negotiator. A green fund to assist developing nations was agreed upon. The agreement is better than expected but falls short of what's needed to stop global warming according to environmentalists. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/10/1044137/-Climate-Deal-Cut,-Kyoto-Extended,-All-Nations-Have-Same-CO2-Limits 10 Dec 2011 20:71 EDT Climate Hawks http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/MarkeyReport.pdf In the wake of the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued a report, numerous letters, and introduced legislation, all aimed at highlighting potential safety vulnerabilities and accelerating the implementation of the needed safety enhancements. Congressman Markey was particularly concerned that the Commission was moving too slowly to adopt these new measures. http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/MarkeyReport.pdf 10 Dec 2011 20:62 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/poll-suggests-believers-can-be-swayed-on-nukes-environment/2011/12/07/gIQATBtEdO_story.html Most Americans believers do not see preventing climate change or the spread of nuclear weapons as "spiritual obligations," although they see both as important goals, according to a new poll. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/poll-suggests-believers-can-be-swayed-on-nukes-environment/2011/12/07/gIQATBtEdO_story.html 10 Dec 2011 20:52 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/08/385329/epa-mercury-rules/ We are a week away from the December 16th deadline for the Obama Administration to issue its final toxic air pollution reduction rules for coal fired power plants. This comes more than two decades after President George H.W. Bush signed this public health protection into law as part of the Clean Air Act of 1990. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/08/385329/epa-mercury-rules/ 10 Dec 2011 20:41 EDT Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/cost_of_solar_energy_lower_than_usually_reported_study_says/3244/ The cost of photovoltaic solar energy systems is not nearly as expensive as some energy analysts have projected, according to a new study from Queen's University in Ontario. In fact, Queen's researcher Joshua Pearce predicts that solar photovoltaic systems are approaching the "tipping point" at which they will be capable of producing energy at about the same price as traditional energy sources. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/cost_of_solar_energy_lower_than_usually_reported_study_says/3244/ 10 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1209-co2_air_capture.html Using existing technology to "scrub" carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere is far costlier than capturing emissions directly from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants, reports a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1209-co2_air_capture.html 10 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Daily Climate http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/385855/blue-carbon-oceans-in-climate-change/ The role of "blue carbon" in climate change is getting more interest from the international community. With a growing body of research exploring how an increase in atmospheric carbon is impacting the chemistry and biology of ocean ecosystems -- and thus influencing climate change -- people are starting to pay more attention. However, it's still not a well-explored concept outside the scientific community. At the COP climate talks in Durban, for example, there is endless talk about atmospheric carbon and about how to control terrestrial carbon emissions through deforestation programs like REDD+. But there are still very few mentions of oceanic carbon. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/385855/blue-carbon-oceans-in-climate-change/ 10 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=535 10 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/10/386864/deal-green-climate-fund/ The UN climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa have gone into emergency session on Saturday after negotiators worked through the night. Time is running out for parties to work out a second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol and a host of other issues, including technology, adaptation, and reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (or REDD). But it appears that negotiators are close to reaching an agreement on the Green Climate Fund. Implementing the Green Climate Fund in Durban would probably be the most important achievement to come out of this process, ensuring that significant financial resources are dedicated to help developing countries avoid the worst impacts of global warming through the rest of this decade. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/10/386864/deal-green-climate-fund/ 10 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://www.desmogblog.com/youth-delegate-anjali-appadurai-speaks-truth-power-conclusion-cop17-durban Perhaps the most powerful speech made in all of COP17 at Durban came at the very end, a statement by Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, who addressed the conference on behalf of the youth delegates. http://www.desmogblog.com/youth-delegate-anjali-appadurai-speaks-truth-power-conclusion-cop17-durban 09 Dec 2011 20:60 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/386591/durban-deadline-deal/ A showdown has emerged between the EU and other parties over their conditions for agreeing to a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The first commitment period will expire in 2012. If it is not renewed the fate of the instruments that support the world's fragile carbon market is uncertain. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/386591/durban-deadline-deal/ 09 Dec 2011 20:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.desmogblog.com/another-lng-deal-inked-fracking-export-bonanza-continues Two important investigative reports on the subject came out recently, one by Food and Water Watch and another by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Both of the reports show that, contrary to the claims made by the oil and gas industry that fracking for unconventional energy will "boost local economies," fracking is increasingly revealing itself as a boon for huge multinational corporations, often not even based in North America, but in foreign locales. "Foreign investment poured into American gas and oil shale fields through three quarters of 2011, amounting to $24.5 billion of the total $39.9 billion in deals," revealed the Tribune-Review. http://www.desmogblog.com/another-lng-deal-inked-fracking-export-bonanza-continues 09 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science http://e360.yale.edu/digest/exxonmobil_report_forecasts_major_shift_to_greener_vehicles_by_2040/3245/ A new report from ExxonMobil predicts that nearly half of the world's cars will either be hybrids or powered by alternative fuels by 2040. While hybrids now account for just about 1 percent of all vehicles worldwide, the oil giant forecasts that hybrids and alternative energy vehicles will move to the mainstream as governments increasingly push for better fuel efficiency. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/exxonmobil_report_forecasts_major_shift_to_greener_vehicles_by_2040/3245/ 09 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/pm-20111209.html Particulate matter is a complex blend of substances ranging from dry solid fragments, solid-core fragments with liquid coatings, and small droplets of liquid. These particles vary in shape, size and chemical composition, and can contain metals, soot, nitrates, sulfates and very fine dust. One source of particulate matter, including PM2.5 or fine-particulate matter, is exhaust from vehicles, especially from diesel engines. PM2.5 is particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/pm-20111209.html 09 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111209123214.htm An unusually hot melting season in 2010 accelerated ice loss in southern Greenland by 100 billion tons -- and large portions of the island's bedrock rose an additional quarter of an inch in response. That's the finding from a network of nearly 50 GPS stations planted along the Greenland coast to measure the bedrock's natural response to the ever-diminishing weight of ice above it. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111209123214.htm 09 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=534 09 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2131487/pressure-mounts-india-china-durban-summit-prepares-night Stand-off continues as diplomats prepare to extend summit into Saturday http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2131487/pressure-mounts-india-china-durban-summit-prepares-night 09 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT News - BusinessGreen http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203501304577084594165136990.html Abundant Fuel Expected to Dethrone Coal as Top U.S. Power Generator by 2025 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203501304577084594165136990.html 09 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/385883/climate-change-threatens-western-water-supplies/ Western states that rely on snowpack for their water supplies are going to face a challenging future because of climate change, a senior Department of Interior official warned a Senate subcommittee Thursday. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/09/385883/climate-change-threatens-western-water-supplies/ 09 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Climate Progress http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/09/us-climate-vulnerable-states-idUSTRE7B80GS20111209 So while climate change delegates haggle over deadlines, binding targets and finance, some of the world's poorest states are warning that rising sea levels and storms will sweep them away unless the world agrees to tackle global warning. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/09/us-climate-vulnerable-states-idUSTRE7B80GS20111209 09 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Reuters: Green Business News http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/08/385603/epa-fracking-groundwater-pollution-wyoming-gas-field/ The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking -- a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells -- may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. The draft finding could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the process. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/08/385603/epa-fracking-groundwater-pollution-wyoming-gas-field/ 08 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Climate Progress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208173647.htm New research into the Earth's paleoclimate history suggests the potential for rapid climate changes this century, including multiple meters of sea level rise, if global warming is not abated. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208173647.htm 08 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208152021.htm Scientists have used satellite data to confirm that more than 20 years of warming temperatures in northern Quebec, Canada, have resulted in an increase in the amount and extent of shrubs and grasses. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111208152021.htm 08 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=533 08 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/07/383613/obama-4-billion-for-energy-efficient-building-upgrades/ Last week President Obama, with the help of former President Bill Clinton and other partners including the Center for American Progress, flexed some executive power to leverage $4 billion in government and private sector funds to finance energy efficiency building projects across the United States -- creating jobs, reducing pollution, and cutting energy costs. With commitments to retrofit over 4 billion square feet of commercial real estate, American construction and manufacturing workers will be getting back on the job -- at zero cost to taxpayers. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/07/383613/obama-4-billion-for-energy-efficient-building-upgrades/ 08 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-07/u-s-delay-on-climate-pact-spurs-backlash-from-eu-to-barbados.html President Barack Obama's position that dangerous global warming can be averted without deeper cuts in fossil fuel emissions before 2020 is stirring backlash in nations from Norway to Barbados. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-07/u-s-delay-on-climate-pact-spurs-backlash-from-eu-to-barbados.html 08 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/durban-climate-summit-developing-countries-to-get-green-climate-fund/articleshow/11026369.cms The developing countries appear to have got their way with the Green Climate Fund. The financial mechanism, which will channel funds to developing countries to tackle climate change, was stuck in a logjam. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/durban-climate-summit-developing-countries-to-get-green-climate-fund/articleshow/11026369.cms 08 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/08/cutting-down-the-amazon-brazil-takes-a-step-backwards-on-deforestation/ After years of allowing clear-cutting and rapid deforestation in the Amazon, Brazil has managed to save its forests. But a new law landing on the president's desk could undo much of that--and open the door to the bad old days of massive deforestation. http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/08/cutting-down-the-amazon-brazil-takes-a-step-backwards-on-deforestation/ 08 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Ecocentric - Time http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/extreme-weather-disasters-2011_n_1134364.html With an almost biblical onslaught of twisters, floods, snow, drought and wildfire, the U.S. in 2011 has seen more weather catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in damage than it did in all of the 1980s, even after the dollar figures from back then are adjusted for inflation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration added two disasters to the list Wednesday, bringing the total to 12. The two are the Texas, New Mexico and Arizona wildfires and the mid-June tornadoes and severe weather. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/extreme-weather-disasters-2011_n_1134364.html 07 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/whitefoot-20111207.html The current vehicle footprint-based Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards create a financial incentive for automakers to increase vehicle size, except under certain limited conditions of consumer preference for vehicle size, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers Kate Whitefoot and Steven Skerlos. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/whitefoot-20111207.html 07 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Green Car Congress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/project_uses_satellite_data__to_better_predict_flooding_in_south_asia/3242/ A new NASA project will use satellite data to better monitor how much water is fed into river systems across the Himalayan region through snow and glacier melt, an initiative that could help provide early warnings on flooding and drought across South Asia. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/project_uses_satellite_data__to_better_predict_flooding_in_south_asia/3242/ 07 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Wednesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=532 07 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/07/1 Amid pleas for action and ambition by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as African and small island nation presidents, countries here are playing a game of brinkmanship over the fate of the Kyoto Protocol and waiting to see who will blink first. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/07/1 07 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferkho/2011/12/06/global-clean-energy-investments-surpass-1-trillion/ Global investors have spent more than $1 trillion dollars on clean energy since 2004, Bloomberg New Energy Finance announced Tuesday. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferkho/2011/12/06/global-clean-energy-investments-surpass-1-trillion/ 07 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://scienceprogress.org/2011/12/solving-climate-change-will-help-temper-rising-health-care-costs/ The National Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, identified six natural disaster events thought to be exacerbated by climate change. http://scienceprogress.org/2011/12/solving-climate-change-will-help-temper-rising-health-care-costs/ 07 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Science Progress http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/07/383712/koch-political-group-brags-about-bullying-gop-lawmakers-into-denying-climate-science/ In its cover story this week, the National Journal explores a curious phenomenon: while the science supporting climate change has only gotten stronger, the onetime Republican consensus on the issue has fallen apart. The reason, quite simply, is the right-wing polluter Koch Industries and its political front group Americans for Prosperity. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/07/383712/koch-political-group-brags-about-bullying-gop-lawmakers-into-denying-climate-science/ 07 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.iea.org/press/pressdetail.asp?PRESS_REL_ID=429 The IEA's annual World Energy Outlook, released in November, sent a stark message to the participants at the COP 17 climate negotiations in Durban by concluding that the world is locking itself into an insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system. If bold policy actions are not put in place over the next several years, it will become increasingly difficult and costly to meet the goal set at last year's talks of limiting a global temperature increase to 2 degrees C. http://www.iea.org/press/pressdetail.asp?PRESS_REL_ID=429 06 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT IEA Latest Information http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/06/383341/climate-pearl-harbors-from-procrastination-to-action/ Unfortunately for the nation and the world, there is no American Churchill on climate. Quite the reverse: 1) One of the two major political parties in this country has chosen to double down on denial 2) The other political party has a remarkable number of feckless people on this crucial issue, including its nominal leader 3) We have an extraconstitutional, supermajority 60-vote requirement in the U.S. Senate for legislation, that gives the minority a stranglehold on our future -- That lack of statesmenship means the country is not going to act on the basis of the increasingly dire warning of scientists http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/06/383341/climate-pearl-harbors-from-procrastination-to-action/ 06 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Climate Progress http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/05/1 DURBAN, South Africa -- Along the coast of the shark-infested Indian Ocean where the United Nations global warming negotiations are being held, the United States increasingly is being viewed as a pariah. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/05/1 06 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Tuesday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=531 06 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/6/indigenous_activists_from_canada_protest_tar This morning in Durban, South Africa, a group of youth and indigenous activists from Canada gave delegates to the U.N. climate talks mock gift bags containing samples of fake tar sands along with tourism brochures for Canada and Canadian flags. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/6/indigenous_activists_from_canada_protest_tar 06 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Democracy Now! http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/06/382799/diane-rehm-show-durban/ While governments from around the world have reached a consensus at the causes of global climate change, they have not agreed on a binding treaty to deal with it. One week into the Durban Climate Talks, we take a look at what's at stake and what can be achieved. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/06/382799/diane-rehm-show-durban/ 06 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Climate Progress http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/05/381681/un-climate-official-blasts-us-climate-policy/ Christiana Figueres, the top United Nations diplomat tasked with managing the international climate negotiations process, is blasting the U.S. for its inability to act on climate change. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/05/381681/un-climate-official-blasts-us-climate-policy/ 05 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Climate Progress http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=three-quarters-of-climate An independent study quantifies the human and natural contributions, with solar radiation contributing only minimally. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=three-quarters-of-climate 05 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Scientific American Topic - Global Warming http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205170101.htm Two talks at a scientific conference this week will propose a common root for an enormous deluge in western Tennessee in May 2010, and a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama in April 2011. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205170101.htm 05 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205102637.htm The ranges of species will have to change dramatically as a result of climate change between now and 2100 because the climate will change more than 100 times faster than the rate at which species can adapt, according to a newly published study that focuses on North American rattlesnakes. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205102637.htm 05 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Monday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=530 05 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/05/380958/economists-obama-create-jobs-national-parks-monuments-and-wilderness-areas-2/ Today over 100 economists from top universities, economic firms, counties, and other groups sent a letter to President Obama urging him to protect more national parks, national monuments, and wilderness areas. The signatories make the case that because the western United States is shifting from a resource extraction-based economy to one founded in tourism and the migration of Americans wanting to live close to wide open spaces, protected places are valuable economically. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/05/380958/economists-obama-create-jobs-national-parks-monuments-and-wilderness-areas-2/ 05 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577040193380778150.html Overall, clean-technology investments in the U.S. surged 73% in the most recent quarter from the third quarter of last year, to $1.1 billion, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource. The number of deals increased 36% from a year earlier, to 76. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577040193380778150.html 05 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Climate Progress http://e360.yale.edu/digest/co2_emissions_in_2010_show_biggest_increase_ever_recorded/3237/ Global carbon emissions soared 5.9 percent in 2010, the largest increase ever recorded, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists that tracks carbon emissions. The increase comes after a short-lived decline in emissions in 2008 and 2009 and is a sign that global CO2 emissions are once again on the rise as world economies bounce back from recession. http://e360.yale.edu/digest/co2_emissions_in_2010_show_biggest_increase_ever_recorded/3237/ 05 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Yale Environment 360 http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/05/the-science-is-bad-on-carbon-emissions-the-politics-are-worse/ However you slice it, the scientific news has not been good on the pace of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The weekend saw a pair of new studies that confirmed the fact that--far from curbing greenhouse gas emissions--we're warming the atmosphere faster than ever, even as the slow-moving U.N. climate talks underway now at Durban underscores how difficult the political challenge of cutting carbon emissions is proving to be. http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/12/05/the-science-is-bad-on-carbon-emissions-the-politics-are-worse/ 05 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT Ecocentric - Time http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/preparation-for-climate-displacement-too-slow-experts-say Climate impacts such as worsening droughts, flooding, storm surges and sea level rise could displace tens of millions of people by mid-century, scientists predict. But national and international rules governing resettlement of forced environmental migrants, and how they will be treated under the law, remain at a worryingly early stage, migration experts said at the U.N. climate talks in Durban. http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/preparation-for-climate-displacement-too-slow-experts-say 05 Dec 2011 10:30 EDT http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/05/381882/cardinal-failure-at-durban-would-be-a-moral-apartheid/ During a special Mass at Emmanuel Cathedral in Durban, Cardinal Rodriguez noted "Just as South Africa's Apartheid era policies sought divisions along race lines, today the world's environment and energy policies divide man from nature". http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/05/381882/cardinal-failure-at-durban-would-be-a-moral-apartheid/ 05 Dec 2011 10:20 EDT ThinkProgress >> Green http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYxy7ueLXqcNX6HVSK4otuaG1VsQ Glaciers in the Himalayas have shrunk by as much as a fifth in just 30 years, scientists have claimed in the first authoritative confirmation of the effects of climate change on the region. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYxy7ueLXqcNX6HVSK4otuaG1VsQ 05 Dec 2011 10:10 EDT Climate Progress http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Sunday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=529 04 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/gallup-.html A Pew Research poll finds that the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence of global warming has increased modestly over the past two years. Currently, 63% say there is solid evidence that the earth's average temperature has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In October 2009, 57% expressed this view. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/gallup-.html 04 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/04/us-climate-emissions-idUSTRE7B30LJ20111204 Global carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about three percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, adding fresh urgency to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South Africa. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/04/us-climate-emissions-idUSTRE7B30LJ20111204 04 Dec 2011 10:61 EDT Reuters: Green Business News http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/noaa-20111204.html An international team of scientists who monitor the rapid changes in the Earth's northern polar region say that the Arctic is entering a new state, one with warmer air and water temperatures, less summer sea ice and snow cover, and a changed ocean chemistry. This shift is also causing changes in the region's life, both on land and in the sea, including less habitat for polar bears and walruses, but increased access to feeding areas for whales. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/noaa-20111204.html 04 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT Green Car Congress http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111204144648.htm Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by 49 percent in the last two decades, according to the latest figures by an international team of scientists. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111204144648.htm 04 Dec 2011 10:40 EDT ScienceDaily: Global Warming News http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-fg-climate-change-20111204,0,384046.story Environmentalists and other nations say U.S. policy changes raise questions about whether it is committed to substantially cutting emissions and aiding developing nations in their efforts to do so. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-fg-climate-change-20111204,0,384046.story 03 Dec 2011 20:30 EDT Yahoo! News Search Results for climate change http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/simon-zadek/durban-climate-change_b_1123242.html History may vindicate the view that the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks were the most successful failure of modern times. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/simon-zadek/durban-climate-change_b_1123242.html 03 Dec 2011 20:20 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/us/politics/dan-boren-oklahoma-lawmaker-shares-in-gas-field-bounty.html The spreading wealth from gas fields has also benefited Representative Dan Boren, a Democrat who has deep family ties to the industry -- and has acted as one of its best friends on Capitol Hill. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/us/politics/dan-boren-oklahoma-lawmaker-shares-in-gas-field-bounty.html 03 Dec 2011 20:11 EDT NYT > Green Blog http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Saturday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=528 03 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/business/energy-environment/chinese-imports-hurt-us-solar-companies-trade-commission-says.html The International Trade Commission said that imported solar panels from China were being sold in the United States at less than fair value. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/business/energy-environment/chinese-imports-hurt-us-solar-companies-trade-commission-says.html 03 Dec 2011 10:50 EDT NYT > Business http://inhabitat.com/president-obama-announces-4-billion-in-energy-upgrades-to-existing-buildings/ Thursday, President Obama and former president Bill Clinton announced a combined $4 billion commitment in public and private funding for energy upgrades to existing buildings. The cash is pledged as part of the President's Better Buildings Challenge, which was announced earlier this year to motivate buildings to become 20% more efficient by 2020. The President, by way of a Presidential Memorandum, committed to $2 billion in upgrades to federal buildings over the next two year, which will save much more in the long run in reduced energy costs. That commitment was met by $2 billion in private sector funding to make 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college and school buildings more energy efficient. http://inhabitat.com/president-obama-announces-4-billion-in-energy-upgrades-to-existing-buildings/ 02 Dec 2011 20:40 EDT Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World >> Renewable Energy http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/02/380970/newest-boiler-rule-applies-to-one-percent-of-industry/ The latest EPA rule reducing the level of mercury, lead and other pollutants emitted by industry boilers only applies to 1 percent of the industry, the EPA announced today. Still, industry has heavily opposed the relatively minor burden with vast health benefits, and House GOP have already voted to delay and weaken new standards. http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/12/02/380970/newest-boiler-rule-applies-to-one-percent-of-industry/ 02 Dec 2011 20:30 EST ThinkProgress >> Green http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/02/381130/dirty-utilities-cry-wolf-electricity-reliability/ The December 16 deadline approaches for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue its final rule to reduce airborne toxic chemicals from coal-fired power plants. Mercury and Air Toxics Standards would require the first reductions of dangerous emissions of mercury lead, arsenic, and acid gases. The EPA notes these safeguards will prevent 17,000 premature deaths annually, as well as avoid 12,000 hospital visits and 120,000 cases of aggravated asthma every year. The economic benefits could outweigh the costs by up to $14-to-$1. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/02/381130/dirty-utilities-cry-wolf-electricity-reliability/ 02 Dec 2011 20:20 EST Climate Progress http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/02/1 The World Bank failed to follow several of its own policies when it approved a $3.75 billion loan for the South African utility Eskom to build one of the world's biggest coal plants, an independent audit obtained by ClimateWire found. http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2011/12/02/1 02 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ClimateWire - The Politics and Business of Climate Change http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Friday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=527 02 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/02/380400/koch-denial-backfires-independents-other-republicans-split-with-tea-party-on-global-warming/ Now a new Pew poll provides further support for that finding. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of moderate or liberal Republicans who say there is "solid evidence" the earth is warming jumped 22 percentage points, from 41% to 63% -- 15 percentage points just since last year (from 48 to 63). http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/02/380400/koch-denial-backfires-independents-other-republicans-split-with-tea-party-on-global-warming/ 02 Dec 2011 10:70 EDT Climate Progress http://www.iea.org/index_info.asp?ID=2258 The challenges of providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy sources face energy producers and consumers alike. A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlights how they can be addressed successfully using green growth policies. http://www.iea.org/index_info.asp?ID=2258 02 Dec 2011 10:62 EDT IEA Latest Information http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/ucs-opposes-anti-si-bills-0576.html The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is urging members of Congress to oppose a trio of seemingly innocuous bills that could threaten federal agencies' ability to create rules based on the best-available science. http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/ucs-opposes-anti-si-bills-0576.html 02 Dec 2011 10:52 EDT Union of Concerned Scientists http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/01/379503/wind-jobs-coalition-tax-credits/ Every couple of years we go through the same thing: Key tax credits for the wind industry come close to expiring, Congress does nothing until the last minute (if anything), and we see disruption in the wind sector. Rather than grovel on Capitol Hill, a coalition of wind energy companies is hitting back with a more aggressive message through the Save USA Wind Jobs campaign. The group features a range of blade and turbine manufacturers, truckers, components producers, developers, maintenance companies, and advocacy organizations. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/01/379503/wind-jobs-coalition-tax-credits/ 02 Dec 2011 10:42 EDT Climate Progress http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/01/britain-to-exceed-target-to-slash-carbon-emissions_n_1123581.html The UK is on track to exceed targets to slash emissions by a third by 2020 -- and would have met the goal even without the recession, the Government has said. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/01/britain-to-exceed-target-to-slash-carbon-emissions_n_1123581.html 02 Dec 2011 10:33 EDT Green on HuffingtonPost.com http://www.climatecentral.org/news/global-warming-has-pushed-the-arctic-into-a-new-normal Since 2006, the Arctic has been less Arctic -- warmer, and with less snow and ice than the region used to have -- according to the latest comprehensive analysis of the Arctic environment released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). http://www.climatecentral.org/news/global-warming-has-pushed-the-arctic-into-a-new-normal 01 Dec 2011 20:21 EDT Climate Central - Breaking News, Blogs & Features http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201142800.htm Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels plunged by 40 percent before and during the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet 34 million years ago, according to a new study. The finding helps solve a long-standing scientific puzzle and confirms the power of CO2 to dramatically alter global climate. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201142800.htm 01 Dec 2011 20:10 EDT ScienceDaily: Latest Science News http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=26 _ Thursday News Below _ http://sustainablearlington.org/sa15/sa-blog/global-warming-news?start=526 01 Dec 2011 20:00 EDT Sustainable Arlington http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/groups-frame-climate-as-a-moral-cause/2011/11/30/gIQAFABdEO_story.html A broad coalition of civic leaders, elected officials, and labor, environmental and social activists launched a campaign Wednesday aimed at convincing U.S. politicians that they should curb greenhouse gas emissions for moral and ethical reasons. The Climate Ethics Campaign -- which kicked off with a Capitol Hill news conference headlining Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) -- comes as negotiators are struggling to make progress at U.N. climate talks in Durban, South Africa. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/groups-frame-climate-as-a-moral-cause/2011/11/30/gIQAFABdEO_story.html 01 Dec 2011 10:60 EDT Climate Progress http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/11/the-coming-green-wave-ocean-farming-to-fight-climate-change/248750/ With nearly 90 percent of large fish stocks threatened by over-fishing and 3.5 billion people dependent on the seas as their primary food source, ... ocean farming advocates have concluded that aquaculture is here to stay. But rather than monolithic factory fish farms, they see the oceans as the home of small-scale farms where complementary species are cultivated to provide food and fuel -- and to clean up the environment and fight climate change. http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/11/the-coming-green-wave-ocean-farming-to-fight-climate-change/248750/ 01 Dec 2011 10:51 EDT The Atlantic: Life