A Communications Scholar Analyzes Bill McKibben's Path on Climate

New York Times: Bill McKibben and I have been on parallel but very different journeys related to human-driven global warming since the greenhouse effect first became front-page news back in the late 1980s (examples here and here). (Our video chat above was done in December for my Pace University blogging class.) Years ago, McKibben shifted from writing to advocacy and movement building with the creation of 350.0rg. With his peripatetic campus-focused campaign for divestment in stocks of fossil fuel companies...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/a-communications-scholar-analyzes-bill-mckibbens-path-on-climate/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/owNBkStl2-o

Obama Interior Pick Championed Outdoor Jobs Over Oil

Bloomberg: As she stood before governors from western U.S. states last June, Sally Jewell made a pitch that was self-evident and revolutionary: Public lands are an economic boon. "Protecting America's parks, waters and trails is about protecting the economy, the communities and the people whose lives depend on the ability to play outside," Jewell, president of Recreational Equipment Inc., told the 22-member governors' group at a resort in Washington's Cascade mountains. Selling fleece jackets, fishing...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/obama-interior-pick-championed-outdoor-jobs-over-oil.html
Enclosure: http://www.bloomberg.com/image/iUHgfZxGvFx0.jpg

Emerging economies facing 'extreme risk' despite natural disaster respite

BusinessGreen: It will come as little consolation to the victims of Hurricane Sandy or Typhoon Bopha, but 2012 was the least deadly year for natural disasters in the past decade, according to new figures from risk management firm Maplecroft. The company today reports that fewer than 10,000 people lost their lives as a result of natural disasters last year, meaning fatalities stood at nine per cent of the decadal average of 106,000 deaths a year. The number of recorded natural disaster also fell to 251 events,...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2252988/emerging-economies-facing-extreme-risk-despite-natural-disaster-respite?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Emerging+economies+facing+%27extreme+risk%27+despite+natural+disaster+respite

New material using doped carbon allows fuels to be produced while reducing CO2 emissions

ScienceDaily: After more than 10 years' work, scientists at the University of Granada have a developed a carbon gel that enables carbon dioxide to be turned into hydrocarbons by electro-catalytic transformation. Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have developed a new material using doped carbon that allows low-cost energy to be produced and also reduces the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. The recently-patented material is a gel that enables the CO2 to be turned back into hydrocarbons...

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307124550.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
Enclosure: http://images.sciencedaily.com/2013/03/130307124550-large.jpg

Scientists Find an Abrupt Warm Jog After a Very Long Cooling

New York Times: There`s long been a general picture of the climate of the Holocene, the period of Earth history since the last ice age ended around 12,000 years ago. It goes like this: After a sharp stuttery warm-up following that big chill - to temperatures warmer than today - the climate cools, with the decline reaching bottom around 200 years ago in the period widely called the "little ice age." (A graph produced by Robert Rohde for his Global Warming Art Web site years ago nicely captures the general picture.)...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/scientists-find-an-abrupt-warm-jog-after-a-very-long-cooling/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/PgnMuKuVXzU

Enbridge CEO Says Ready to Spend to Expand U.S. Pipeline Network

CNBC: Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said the company has $15 billion in hand to put into pipeline expansion. The boom in U.S. and Canadian oil production has resulted in more oil than can be pumped through existing pipelines, and Enbridge has actively been working to help provide a network that would take crude to the coasts. The U.S. was ill prepared for the mid-continent boom since oil traditionally went inward from the coasts to the center of the country, he said. Monaco expects a regulatory decision...

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100529201

Shale Gas Boom Drives Surge in Propane-Fueled Vehicles

Yale Environment 360: The U.S. satellite TV provider DISH Network Corporation has announced it will introduce 200 propane-fueled vans to its fleet in 2013, another sign that propane, like natural gas, is offering an increasingly cost-effective transportation fuel alternative to gasoline and diesel. While there are already more than 13 million propane-fueled vehicles worldwide, propane historically has been considered a niche fuel because of high production costs. But driven by the surge in domestic shale oil and gas production,...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/shale_gas_boom_drives_surge_in_propane-fueled_vehicles/3784/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

Is South Dakota ‘Open for Business’ for Wind Developers?

Midwest Energy News: A South Dakota legislative conference committee agreed Thursday on an economic development proposal that could help the state`s wind industry catch up to its potential. Taxes on wind farm construction in South Dakota are currently the highest in the region --up to ten times higher than in Iowa, Minnesota or North Dakota. The proposal lawmakers agreed to on Thursday would let developers apply to the state`s economic development board for up to a full refund of the state`s 4 percent sales tax...

URL: http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/03/08/is-south-dakota-open-for-business-for-wind-developers/
Enclosure: http://www.midwestenergynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/south-dakota-wind-farm-460x301.jpg

NY Assembly Passes Two Year Fracking Moratorium, Senate Expected to Follow

EcoWatch: In a roll call vote of 95-40, the New York State Assembly has passed a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the toxic horizontal drilling process through which oil and gas is procured that`s found within shale rock basins across the country and the world. The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed off by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would close the state`s doors to the oil and gas industry`s desire to begin operating in New York`s portion of the Marcellus Shale basin until...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/ny-fracking-moratorium/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/silver.jpg

Engineering breakthrough promises significantly more efficient solar cells

ScienceDaily: A new technique developed by University of Toronto Engineering Professor Ted Sargent and his research group could lead to significantly more efficient solar cells, according to a recent paper published in the journal Nano Letters. The paper, "Jointly-tuned plasmonic-excitonic photovoltaics using nanoshells," describes a new technique to improve efficiency in colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics, a technology which already promises inexpensive, more efficient solar cell technology. Quantum dot photovoltaics...

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307145716.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
Enclosure: http://images.sciencedaily.com/2013/03/130307145716-large.jpg

Illinois deal on fracking could be national model

Associated Press: After years of clashing over the drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the oil industry and environmentalists have achieved something extraordinary in Illinois: They sat down together to draft regulations both sides could live with. If approved by lawmakers, participants say, the rules would be the nation's strictest. The Illinois model might also offer a template to other states seeking to carve out a middle ground between energy companies that would like free rein and...

URL: http://hosted2.ap.org/OHCOL/8ef5320729ce4298abefc1903704c7d5/Article_2013-03-07-Gas%20Drilling-Cooperation/id-937da8cecfe94e87b991eebe80221524

Canada: Environmental Justice and the Keystone XL Pipeline

EcoWatch: On March 1, in an unexpected move, President Obama's U.S. Department of State released its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline section that will cross the U.S. and Canadian border in Montana and travel into Steele City, Nebraska. First and foremost, the SEIS report defies common sense with the statement that reads "the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands," and gravely understates...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/environmental-justice-keystone-xl/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/tailings-oil-uncontained.jpg

Fairbanks scientist plans epic Arctic climate change study by snowmachine, kite-skis

Alaska Dispatch: Kenji Yoshikawa will soon sleep on brilliant, blue-white landscape that has never felt the imprint of his boots. Beginning on spring equinox, the permafrost scientist and a partner will attempt to drive snowmachines from Prudhoe Bay to Canada's Baffin Island. While traveling a distance equal to Seattle to Tokyo to Seattle over land and sea ice, Yoshikawa will camp outside villages in an Arctic Oven tent. Along the way, he'll stop at village schools in Canada's far north, drill holes in the ground...

URL: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130309/fairbanks-scientist-plans-epic-arctic-climate-change-study-snowmachine-kite-skis

A bigger, badder climate ‘hockey stick’

Climate Desk: Back in 1999, Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann released the climate change movement's most potent symbol: The "hockey stick," a line graph of global temperature over the last 1,500 years that shows an unmistakable, massive uptick in the 20th century when humans began to dump large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It's among the most compelling bits of proof out there that human beings are behind global warming, and as such has become a target on Mann's back for climate denialists...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/a-bigger-badder-climate-hockey-stick/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
Enclosure: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/shutterstock_12107893.jpg?w=250&h=166

Ecuador: Saving Yasuni: Can a revolutionary plan protect the rainforest from commercial exploitation?

Independent: The flight from Quito to Coca, a small oil town in the Ecuadorian Amazon, takes off a couple of hours late, so we don't reach Coca until around noon. Then we have to take a helicopter up the Napo river to reach Añangu, in the heart of Yasuni, the extraordinary national park that is among the most biodiverse places on the planet. If all had gone to plan, we would have been in our seats long before the president and his party arrived. As it is, as we hover over the endless jungle, I can see that...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/saving-yasuni-can-a-revolutionary-plan-protect-the-rainforest-from-commercial-exploitation-8523192.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8527086.ece/BINARY/original/5531947.jpg

Ban on Radioactive Fracking Waste Passed by Putnam County, NY Legislators

EcoWatch: A coalition of health and environmental groups gathered in Carmel, New York yesterday following the meeting of the Putnam County Board of Legislators to congratulate the legislators for voting to prohibit the sale, application and disposal of waste products in the County from natural gas drilling operations. Advocates working together with Putnam County legislators to address the dangerous exposures associated with radioactive toxic waste pause for a photo with Putnam County legislators who unanimously...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/ban-radioactive-fracking-waste/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/putnam.jpg

UK incinerator plans? They're just rubbish

Independent: A wave of new publicly-funded incinerators being built to burn rubbish could be mothballed before they are even turned on, amid claims there will not be enough waste to fuel them. The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has begun withdrawing funding for new incineration plants with predictions there will be nothing for them to burn. Support for a scheme in Liverpool was withdrawn last month, following the removal of funding for projects in North and West Yorkshire. The UK already...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/uk-incinerator-plans-theyre-just-rubbish-8527830.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8527919.ece/BINARY/original/home-incineratorgetty.jpg

Maryland Senate passes bill for offshore wind project

Associated Press: A measure to help develop a wind project off the coast of Ocean City by requiring electricity suppliers to buy offshore renewable energy credits passed the Maryland Senate on Friday. The measure that passed 30-15 has been a priority for Gov. Martin O'Malley, who pushed unsuccessfully for the bill for two years before finally finding success with a scaled-back proposal. The bill was already passed this session by the House of Delegates, which will only have to sign off on several small changes...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Senate-passes-bill-for-offshore-wind-project-4339617.php

Food forecast may have China worried over global warming

Columbus Dispatch: Last week's announcement by China's Ministry of Finance that the country will introduce a carbon tax, probably in the next two years, did not dominate the international headlines. It was too vague about the timetable and the rate at which the tax would be levied, and fossil-fuel lobbyists were quick to portray it as meaningless. But the Chinese are deadly serious about fighting global warming, because they are really scared. A carbon tax, though deeply unpopular with the fossil-fuel industries,...

URL: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/03/09/food-forecast-may-have-china-worried-over-global-warming.html

Cold-weather lizards facing climate crunch

Summit Voice: Lizards that give birth to live young may be headed for a climatic cul-de-sac in the next 50 years, according to a new study by scientists with the University of Exeter and the University of Lincoln. "Climate change must not be underestimated as a threat to modern patterns of biodiversity," said University of Exeter biologist Dr. Dave Hodgson. "Our work shows that lizard species which birth live young instead of laying eggs are restricted to cold climates in South America ... high in the Andes...

URL: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/03/09/cold-weather-lizards-facing-climate-crunch/
Enclosure: http://summitvoice.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/horned-lizard-512-x-219.jpg?w=468&h=200

U.S. Pacific Commander warns that climate change is top threat

Boston Globe: America's top military officer in charge of monitoring hostile actions by North Korea, escalating tensions between China and Japan, and a spike in computer attacks traced to China provides an unexpected answer when asked what is the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific region: climate change. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, in an interview at a Cambridge hotel Friday after he met with scholars at Harvard and Tufts universities, said significant upheaval related to the warming...

URL: http://bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/03/09/admiral-samuel-locklear-commander-pacific-forces-warns-that-climate-change-top-threat/BHdPVCLrWEMxRe9IXJZcHL/story.html
Enclosure: http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_371w/Boston/2011-2020/2013/03/09/BostonGlobe.com/National/Images/515984993.jpg

Bombay duck is dying. Blame fishing, warming

Times of India: Overfishing together with climate change is altering the kind and amount of fish found on the Maharashtra coast. Indiscriminate, excess fishing has significantly reduced the catch of local favourites, like Bombay duck and pomfret, over the past decade, with the drop being up to 55% in some species, according to new data from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). Meanwhile, rising sea temperatures have boosted small fish populations, like oil sardines and mackerels, expanding...

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Bombay-duck-is-dying-Blame-fishing-warming/articleshow/18871711.cms

United States: No reason to hold back climate change report

Island Packet: Shelving a report on climate change and its potential impact on South Carolina's natural resources makes no scientific or political sense for an agency whose purpose is to watch over those resources. In explaining why the report by a team of scientists wasn't released for more than a year after it was completed, John Evans, the chairman of the state Department of Natural Resources board, said the report was "for information only" and didn't require action. But that's exactly what the report's...

URL: http://www.islandpacket.com/2013/03/09/2411308/no-reason-to-hold-back-climate.html

Canada: Bitumen's extraordinary and popular delusions

The Tyee: It has been an extraordinary couple of weeks for bitumen mania and related delusions as Canadian politicians and oil executives rally around the Keystone XL pipeline the way drunken bankers once talked up the ill-fated South Sea Company in the 18th century. Canada's Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver who hawks bitumen better than a seasoned tulip speculator, even dubbed the tarry junk crude a "greener alternative" in a Chicago speech. The very next day Oliver told a Houston crowd they had...

URL: http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/03/09/Bitumens-Extraordinary-Delusions/
Enclosure: http://thetyee.cachefly.net/Opinion/2013/03/08/levitation.jpg

Shrinking ice worries Great Lakes scientists

Lansing State Journal: The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bristol Bay has battled pretty much everything the Great Lakes can think up. They've battled 14-foot swells that left even experienced guardsmen heaving in the head. They've rescued stranded animals that floated out too far and barges stuck in shallow shores. The one thing they don't see as much of — at least not anymore — is ice. One of the Detroit crew's primary responsibilities is icebreaking during the winter — clearing Great Lakes waterways of...

URL: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/needlogin?type=login&redirecturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lansingstatejournal.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D2013303060050%26nclick_check%3D1
Enclosure: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/videonetwork/2207728494001/A-timelapse-of-9-years-of-ice-cover-on-the-Great-Lakes

Climate change requires landscape-level conservation plans

Summit Voice: Species vulnerable to climate change impacts in the Canadian Rockies will need room to roam, according to a new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. The report outlines a safe haven strategy designed around an assessment of six iconic species: Bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, grizzly bears, wolverines, mountain goats and bighorn sheep -- five of which were ranked as highly vulnerable to projected changes. The area in question is located between Glacier National Park in...

URL: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/03/09/climate-change-requires-landscape-level-conservation-plans/
Enclosure: http://summitvoice.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/mtn-goat.jpg?w=468

Study: Wind Power ‘May be Less Than Thought’

Climate Central: Wind power may in some conditions manage to produce less energy than its supporters believe it can, two U.S. researchers suggest. In the latest contribution to the debate over wind's potential, they say they have found evidence that some of the largest wind farms may cause effects which substantially reduce their generating capacity. The research, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, suggests that the generating capacity of large-scale wind farms has been overestimated....

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/study-wind-power-may-be-less-than-thought-15673?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/sized/images/uploads/news/3-1-13_CNN_windpower-425x253.png

We're Screwed: 11000 Years' Worth of Climate Data Prove It

The Atlantic: Back in 1999 Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann released the climate change movement's most potent symbol: The "hockey stick," a line graph of global temperature over the last 1,500 years that shows an unmistakable, massive uptick in the twentieth century when humans began to dump large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It's among the most compelling bits of proof out there that human beings are behind global warming, and as such has become a target on Mann's back for climate...

URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/were-screwed-11-000-years-worth-of-climate-data-prove-it/273870/
Enclosure: http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/assets_c/2013/03/marcott-A-1000-thumb-615x413-115438.jpg

An Australian summer that refuses to throw in the towel

Sydney Morning Herald: This summer has been called everything from "extreme" to "angry" and for large swathes of the country those adjectives still apply. Cities such as Melbourne and Adelaide are midway through long heatwaves with no relief expected until Thursday. Nationally, summer was the hottest since consistent records began in 1910. The big dry now extends across much of southern Australia and even the Top End is looking at its driest "wet" season in two decades. Along the east coast, communities from the...

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/a-summer-that-refuses-to-throw-in-the-towel-20130308-2fpyq.html
Enclosure: http://media.smh.com.au/news/environment-news/the-heat-on-melbournes-streets-4092831.html

Jobs report: the energy connection to growth

Christian Science Monitor: Friday's jobs report bore good news. The US economy added 236,000 jobs in February and employment dropped to 7.7 percent. While no one sector can take credit for the promising jobs report, America can thank the energy sector for part of the boost. The contribution comes from many areas: oil and gas extraction employment is up 10,000 jobs over the past year; utilities, up 6,000 jobs; coal employment, by contrast, down 5,000. Renewables are also growing slowly. But the jobs impact from the energy...

URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0309/Jobs-report-the-energy-connection-to-growth
Enclosure: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0308-jobs/15231325-1-eng-US/0308-jobs_full_380.jpg

Fracking health study results likely years off

Associated Press: A health study cited by leading environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as pivotal in helping persuade Gov. Andrew Cuomo to hold off on plans for limited gas drilling is likely years away from conclusions about whether the technology involved is safe, according to the project's leaders. With New York entering the fifth year of review of the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, growing calls to wait for the Geisinger Health System study to be finished could push a final decision back...

URL: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/09/3276216/fracking-health-study-results.html
Enclosure: http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2013/03/09/11/39/6-PzKhl.Em.55.jpeg

No, Minister Oliver, the oil sands have not become 'green'

Globe and Mail: Many Canadians must have wondered if George Orwell was alive and well this week as they read that the Alberta oil sands were being pitched to U.S. officials as "green" by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. "Canada is the environmentally responsible choice for the U.S. to meet its energy needs in oil for years to come," the minister told an audience in Chicago - a message he repeated over and over in his U.S. tour, part of a calculated mission to associate Alberta bitumen with ecological...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/no-minister-oliver-the-oil-sands-have-not-become-green/article9503879/
Enclosure: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/107/commentary/article9503878.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/joe-oliver.JPG

Dams may unleash torrent of ill will

San Francisco Chronicle: Here come those dastardly dams! In Asia, Africa and the Middle East, nations are aggressively building hydroelectric dams, seemingly heedless of the potentially disastrous effects on the countries downstream. As examples, Laos broke ground on a Mekong River dam that's causing concern bordering on fury in Cambodia and Vietnam. India is enraged about a new Chinese dam going up on the Brahmaputra River. And Ethiopia's new dam on the Nile is angering Sudan, while Egypt has threatened war. What's...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/brinkley/article/Dams-may-unleash-torrent-of-ill-will-4340372.php
Enclosure: http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/13/02/66/2895243/5/628x471.jpg

Southface Energy Institute Hosts the Greenprints Conference

Subtitle:&nbsp_place_holder;

Greeenprints is scheduled for March 13-14 in Atlanta, Georgia

Images:&nbsp_place_holder;

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/southface-energy-institute-hosts-greenprints-conference)

The 16th annual [Greenprints conference](http://www.greenprints.org/) will be held on March 13-14, 2013 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.

Sponsored by the Southface Energy Institute, the educational conference is aimed at "sutainability professionals." This year's speakers will include Rob Watson, Bill Reed, Chris Nelson, and John Tooley — as well as two speakers familiar to GBAGreenBuildingAdvisor.com readers: Carl Seville and Martin Holladay.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/southface-energy-institute-hosts-greenprints-conference

Southface Energy Institute Hosts the Greenprints Conference

Subtitle:&nbsp_place_holder;

Carl Seville and Martin Holladay will speak at the Greeenprints conference in Atlanta

Images:&nbsp_place_holder;

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/southface-energy-institute-hosts-greenprints-conference)

The 16th annual [Greenprints conference](http://www.greenprints.org/) will be held on March 13-14, 2013 at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta.

Sponsored by the Southface Energy Institute, the educational conference is aimed at "sutainability professionals." This year's speakers will include Rob Watson, Bill Reed, Chris Nelson, and John Tooley — as well as two speakers familiar to GBAGreenBuildingAdvisor.com readers: Carl Seville and Martin Holladay.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/southface-energy-institute-hosts-greenprints-conference

U.S. Trade Deficit Increases by the Billions as Oil Imports Rise

Fox: Due to a big jump in oil imports and slump in exports, the U.S. trade deficit widened in January to $44.4 billion. On Thursday the Commerce Department said the deficit rose by 16.5 percent from December. U.S. exports dropped 1.2 percent to $184.5 billion, reflecting declines in sales to Europe, China, Japan and Brazil. Imports rose 1.8 percent to $228.9 billion as oil imports surged 12.3 percent. Yet despite the wider deficit in January, economists still believe the deficit this year will narrow...

URL: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/money/2013/03/07/us-trade-deficits-increases-by-billions-as-oil-imports-rise/
Enclosure: http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn-latino/news/660/371/oil%20drill.jpg?ve=1

Two Years After Fukushima, Japan's Nuclear Lobby Bounces Back

Reuters: The crowds of anti-nuclear protesters have dwindled since Japan's "Summer of Discontent" last year, and a new government is keen to revive the country's atomic energy industry, but Morishi Izumita says he is not about to throw in the towel. "We can't give up. I'm here every week," said 64-year-old Izumita, one of hundreds gathered outside the prime minister's office one Friday nearly two years after a huge earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/07/japan-nuclear-discontent-idUSL4N0BW2XZ20130307

Alberta’s loathed ‘bitumen bubble’ slams Canada’s rich province

Globe and Mail: In yesterday's budget, Finance Minister Doug Horner projected that Western Canadian Select, whose price has been well below global benchmarks because of pipeline constraints exacerbated by the shale boom in the United States, will continue to trade at a marked discount. WCS, as it's known, is forecast to sell at an average 27-per-cent below West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, in the 2013-14 fiscal year. That's projected to shrink to 19 per cent by the next fiscal year, and it's hitting the province...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/oil-price-woes-for-alberta-lifes-a-bitumen/article9500410/

U.S. Drought Intensifies in Texas and Florida

Climate Central: Drought expanded in two key areas of the country last week -- Florida and West Texas -- where several weeks of low rainfall have allowed already dry conditions to intensify, according to an update to the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday. While much of the East Coast has seen heavy precipitation over the past two weeks, very little of that has extended into the Florida peninsula. According to the Drought Monitor, "abnormal dryness' pushed into all of southern Florida, while conditions of...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/u.s.-drought-intensifies-in-texas-and-florida-15708
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/news/DM2.jpg

Safety Breaches Seen Plaguing U.S. Nuclear Reactors: Report

Bloomberg: Almost one-in-six U.S. nuclear reactors experienced safety breaches last year due in part to poor oversight by federal regulators, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Incidents including a cooling water leak and unusual wear on steam generator tubes were reported at 16 units owned by companies including Entergy Corp. (ETR) and Edison International (EIX), the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based environmental group said in its third annual report on reactor safety released today. "The...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/safety-breaches-seen-plaguing-u-s-reactors-in-report.html

China delays carbon tax

Mongabay: China will not introduce a carbon tax in 2013, reports Bloomberg. A carbon tax proposed under the country's most recent five-year plan was expected to go into effect in 2011, but Jia Kang, the head of research at China's Ministry of Finance, said the tax will not be introduced this year. The carbon tax is intended to reduce China's greenhouse gas emissions, which are the highest in the world and have been outpacing the country's breakneck speed of economic growth. Public awareness of emissions...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0307-china-no-carbon-tax.html
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Senate Foreign Relations Chief Menendez Plans Keystone XL Hearing

The Hill: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Thursday that he intends to hold a hearing on the State Department's review of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. "I am sure that at some point we will," Menendez told The Hill in the Capitol. "We want to review their process, especially as they go into the next phase," he said of the State Department's review of TransCanada Corp.'s proposed pipeline. The hearing would ensure an even greater spotlight on...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/286847-senate-foreign-relations-chief-menendez-plans-keystone-pipeline-hearing

Canada's Arctic glaciers headed for unstoppable thaw: study

Reuters: Canadian glaciers that are the world's third biggest store of ice after Antarctica and Greenland seem headed for an irreversible melt that will push up sea levels, scientists said on Thursday. About 20 percent of the ice in glaciers, on islands such as Ellesmere or Devon off northern Canada, could vanish by the end of the 21st century in a melt that would add 3.5 cm (1.4 inch) to global sea levels, they said. Governments are trying to understand every likely centimeter of sea level rise caused...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/canadas-arctic-glaciers-headed-unstoppable-thaw-study-190610158.html
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Canadian glaciers face 'big losses'

BBC: The glaciers of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago will undergo a dramatic retreat this century if warming projections hold true. A new study suggests the region's ice fields could lose perhaps as much as a fifth of their volume. Such a melt would add 3.5cm to the height of the world's oceans. Only the ice of Greenland and Antarctica is expected to contribute more. The assessment is reported in the Geophysical Research Letters journal. "This is a very important part of the world where there...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21699115#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66249000/jpg/_66249631_jan2_devonisland_alexgardner.jpg

Warming Lakes: Climate Change Threatens the Ecological Stability of Lake Tanganyika

National Geographic: Tropical lakes in East Africa don't grab headlines the way polar bears do, but climate change is having an effect on them, too. Although the changes are not as visible as melting polar ice caps, they are no less real. As in many lakes around the world, water temperature is on the rise in Lake Tanganyika. This and other climate-related factors are causing subtle but significant changes that threaten the ecological stability of the lake and the livelihoods of people who depend on it. With air...

URL: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/07/warming-lakes-climate-change-threatens-the-ecological-stability-of-lake-tanganyika/
Enclosure: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/files/2013/03/fish-600x450.jpg

Canadian Arctic May Lose 20% of Glaciers by 2100, Study Shows

Bloomberg: A fifth of Canada's Arctic glaciers may disappear this century, raising sea levels as their retreat becomes harder to reverse, scientists said. An increase in average global temperatures of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) would be sufficient to melt the ice from glaciers on Canada's northern islands, according to a statement e-mailed today by the British Antarctic Survey, whose researchers contributed to the study. The Arctic has become a harbinger of climate change, with the effects of...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/canadian-arctic-may-lose-20-of-glaciers-by-2100-study-shows.html
Enclosure: http://www.bloomberg.com/image/ifkPW6l1SnVk.jpg

Sardines in India latest indicator of how your food is on the move

Christian Science Monitor: On an early Friday morning, the wholesale fish market at Mumbai's historic Sassoon Dock is in full, cacophonous swing. As fishermen unload their catch, local fish-sellers, restaurant cooks, and housewives swarm the slick wharf, haggling over their favorites – salmon, pomfret, and king mackerel. There are fewer takers for a new fish on the ice block – the small, oily sardine. Until two decades ago, these fish were found only off the southwest coast of India, but warming seas have expanded their...

URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2013/0307/Sardines-in-India-latest-indicator-of-how-your-food-is-on-the-move
Enclosure: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0307-world-osardines/15209569-1-eng-US/0307-world-osardines_full_380.jpg

Nigeria: African Countries Tackle Water Scarcity to Combat Climate Change

Daily Trust: African countries are creating more reliable and accurate climate information, and building more durable, climate-resilient infrastructure across the sectors as part of strategies to cushion the impact of climate change. A statement issued by the United Nations backed Climate Investment Fund (CIF) said that the African strategy was supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the CIF with the intention of responding to complex problems that climate change was creating on their combined sectors...

URL: http://allafrica.com/stories/201303071190.html

Dunkin' Donuts to adopt palm oil policy to address deforestation concerns

Mongabay: Doughnut and coffeehouse giant Dunkin' Donuts has agreed to source 100 percent of its palm oil under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), though the company has yet to set a date for the move, reports the New York State Comptroller's office. The fast-food chain has been the target of environmental campaigners who have linked palm oil production to the destruction of tropical rainforests and other environmental ills in Malaysia and Indonesia. The move came after New York State Comptroller...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0307-dunkin-donuts.html
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Big Social Costs Tallied in Regions With Scant Energy Access

New York Times: After reading this Guardian article - "Energy poverty deprives 1 billion of adequate health care, says report" - I dug into the underlying analysis this morning. The report, by the British nonprofit group Practical Action, is a valuable effort to assess the full costs of inadequate energy access through indirect impacts on hospitals, schools and the like. Click here for the executive summary. The Guardian story focuses on the impact on health care. Here`s an excerpt: In India, nearly half of all...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/big-social-costs-tallied-in-regions-with-scant-energy-access/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/03/08/blogs/dotenergy/dotenergy-blog480.jpg

Keystone Pipeline Decision May Influence Oil-Sands Development

Bloomberg: A U.S. decision on whether to approve TransCanada Corp. (TRP)'s Keystone XL pipeline has the potential to accelerate -- or slow --investments in Canada's oil sands. A decision on the 875-mile (1,408 kilometer) U.S. portion of the pipeline, designed to carry 830,000 barrels of crude a day to Gulf Coast refineries, is expected later this year. Stopping the pipeline would mean continued discounted prices for Canadian crude, making it harder for producers to sell their commodity at a profit and potentially...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/keystone-pipeline-decision-may-influence-oil-sands-development.html

Big Melt Expected for Canadian Arctic Glaciers

LiveScience: A fifth of Canada's Arctic Archipelago glaciers may disappear by the end of the century, contributing 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters) to sea-level rise, new research finds. For the study, published online Thursday (March 7) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists used computer models to predict how the glaciers would respond to future climate change. The results were not reassuring. "Even if we assume that global warming is not happening quite so fast, it is still highly likely that...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/big-melt-expected-canadian-arctic-glaciers-222929231.html
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Obama meets on energy, climate change, immigration

USA Today: While talking to congressional Republicans about budget issues, President Obama is trying to recruit allies for other agenda items, including energy, climate change and immigration. Obama met Thursday night with "business and thought leaders" on clean energy and climate change and met Friday morning with "faith leaders" about immigration, the White House announced today. The energy discussion included new sources of natural gas, increased efficiency of energy use and development of renewables...

URL: http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/03/08/obama-josh-earnest-energy-immigration-energy/1973761/
Enclosure: http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/theOval/2013/03/08/ap-obama-violence-against-women-tribes_002-4_3_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81

Interior Department Nominee Questioned on Public Lands Development

New York Times: Sally Jewell, President Obama's nominee for interior secretary, deflected many of the questions she faced at her confirmation hearing Thursday but made clear she supports expanded oil and gas development on public lands and waters, including exploratory drilling off the North Slope of Alaska and seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean. "Leaning into oil and gas development is an important part of the mission of the Bureau of Land Management and also of the Department of Interior," Ms. Jewell said,...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/us/politics/sally-jewell-rei-chief-executive-appears-before-senate-panel.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/03/08/us/ENVIRO/ENVIRO-popup.jpg

Day of reckoning comes for China’s solar industry

Quartz: Is Suntech too big a Chinese brand to fail? On March 15, the cash-strapped solar company--until recently the world's biggest photovoltaic panel maker--faces a $541 million payment on convertible notes, a quarter of the $2 billion in debt it has incurred. Whether Suntech can strike a deal with its bondholders or secure a government bailout will set the stage for the collapse or consolidation of the Chinese solar industry. Other photovoltaic giants, including Trina Solar and JA Solar, also face...

URL: http://qz.com/59666/suntech-china-solar-industry-collapse/
Enclosure: http://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/suntech-factory.jpeg?w=880

New Type of Bacteria Reportedly Found in Buried Antarctic Lake

LiveScience: A new type of microbe has been found at a lake buried under Antarctica's thick ice, according to news reports. The find may unveil clues of the surrounding environment in the lake, according to scientists. The bacteria, said to be only 86 percent similar to other types known to exist on Earth, was discovered in a water sample taken from Lake Vostok, which sits under more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) of Antarctic ice. The freshwater lake has likely been buried, unaltered, under the ice for the past...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/type-bacteria-reportedly-found-buried-antarctic-lake-235152174.html
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Large Rise in CO2 Emissions Sounds Climate Change Alarm

Climate Desk: The chances of the world holding temperature rises to 2C – the level of global warming considered "safe" by scientists – appear to be fading fast with US scientists reporting the second-greatest annual rise in CO2 emissions in 2012. Carbon dioxide levels measured at at Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii jumped by 2.67 parts per million (ppm) in 2012 to 395ppm, said Pieter Tans, who leads the greenhouse gas measurement team for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The record...

URL: http://climatedesk.org/2013/03/large-rise-in-co2-emissions-sounds-climate-change-alarm/
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New light shed on role of climate in influenza transmission

ScienceDaily: Two types of environmental conditions -- cold-dry and humid-rainy -- are associated with seasonal influenza epidemics, according to an epidemiological study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center. The paper, published in PLOS Pathogens, presents a simple climate-based model that maps influenza activity globally and accounts for the diverse range of seasonal patterns observed across temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. The findings could be...

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130307190635.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29

Activism and policy are not the same thing

Grist: I was on vacation earlier this week (snowboarding in Utah, while I still can) and missed the latest round of VSP scolding about the Keystone XL campaign. There was New York Times columnist Joe Nocera, who despite being thoroughly debunked and humiliated regarding his last column, continued his jihad against climate scientist James Hansen. And there was the Washington Post editorial board, which once again lectured environmentalists that they are "fighting the wrong battles." To be honest, I`m...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/activism-and-policy-are-not-the-same-thing/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
Enclosure: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/tar-sands-protest.jpg?w=250&h=166

Climate change is making animals shrink

Grist: Humans might adapt to climate change through some mixture of mitigation, adaptation, and suffering (like relocating Coney Island several miles into interior Brooklyn, or saying goodbye to chocolate). But the animal kingdom? Many species are already coping with rising temperatures by physically getting smaller [$ub req]. The reasons are complex and vary between species, but the CliffsNotes version is this: Animals (especially cold-blooded ones) often develop faster metabolisms in warmer temperatures,...

URL: http://grist.org/slideshow/climate-change-is-making-animals-shrink/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed
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Al Gore Envisions 'The Future'

National Public Radio: In his new book The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, former vice president Al Gore takes a sweeping census of the variables affecting the future of life on Earth, including everything from robosourced labor and millisecond stock trading to genetic engineering and water shortages, and of course, climate change.

URL: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173821492/al-gore-envisions-the-future?ft=1&f=1025
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Scientists Say Earth Hotter Now Than Most of Past 11,300 Years

Bloomberg: The Earth is warmer now than during 70 to 80 percent of the time stretching back to the last Ice Age, according to researchers from Oregon State and Harvard universities who studied data from more than 73 global sites. The findings also show that temperature-change rates are accelerating, Shaun Marcott, a scientist at Oregon State in Corvallis and one of the paper's authors, said yesterday in an interview. The study was published today by the journal Science. The research is the longest global...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/earth-warmer-than-in-most-of-the-past-11-300-years.html
Enclosure: http://www.bloomberg.com/image/i5T82rIJbQWE.jpg

Carbon footprint of grid-scale battery technologies calculated

ScienceDaily: Americans take electrical power for granted whenever they flip on a light switch. But the growing use of solar and wind power in the United States makes the on-demand delivery of electricity more challenging. A key problem is that the U.S. electrical grid has virtually no storage capacity, so grid operators can't stockpile surplus clean energy and deliver it at night, or when the wind isn't blowing. To provide more flexibility in managing the grid, researchers have begun developing new batteries...

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130308111310.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
Enclosure: http://images.sciencedaily.com/2013/03/130308111310.jpg

Greedy Lying Bastards: New Film Exposes Climate Denial Machine

EcoWatch: Greedy Lying Bastards is a new film hitting mainstream theaters nationwide this weekend. If you like DeSmogBlog, you`re going to love this film. Here`s the Rotten Tomatoes review, including theater times. (Feel free to add your own star rating!) The film, produced by actress Daryl Hannah and directed by Craig Rosebraugh, essentially tells the DeSmogBlog story. Greedy Lying Bastards chronicles the dirty money trail from tobacco companies paying for fake experts to attack the science linking...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/greedy-bastards-climate-denial/
Enclosure: http://www.exposethebastards.com/

Poland aims to pave way for 2015 climate deal

Associated Press: Hoping to win over EU critics of Poland's recent stance on climate change, the environment minister said Friday that the coal-powered nation will make every effort to pave the way for a lasting deal in 2015 when it hosts a U.N. global warming conference in November. Last year, Poland vetoed the EU's road map for emissions reductions beyond 2020, drawing sharp criticism from environmental groups and EU officials. Poland relies on coal for more than 90 percent of its electricity. Aiming to protect...

URL: http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2013/03/08/poland-aims-pave-way-for-climate-deal/prJRbpBOgcAnmAadRkjxoM/story.html

Warmer climate to open new Arctic shipping routes by 2050: study

Reuters: The quickest way to get goods from Asia to the U.S. East Coast in 2050 might well be straight across the Arctic, where a warming climate is expected to open new sea routes through what is now impenetrable ice, a study reported on Monday. Most shipping traffic between these two centers currently goes through the Suez or Panama canals, and that is likely to continue even as melting Arctic sea ice makes the far north more accessible. But increasingly warm temperatures also could make the Northwest...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/08/us-climate-arctic-shipping-idUSBRE92718420130308?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
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The melting of Canada's glaciers is irreversible

New Scientist: See Canada's glaciers while you still can. Their melting is irreversible, according to projections based on real-world data and validated by satellite images. By the end of the century, a fifth of the Canadian ice sheet - the world's third largest - could be gone for good, raising average global sea levels by 3.5 centimetres. If the whole ice sheet melts, it would raise the global sea level by about 20 centimetres, a fraction of the 70 and 7 metre rises expected respectively if Antarctica and...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23254-the-melting-of-canadas-glaciers-is-irreversible.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNSNS%7C2012-GLOBAL%7Cclimate-change
Enclosure: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn23254/dn23254-1_300.jpg

Documentary 'Greedy Lying Bastards' targets climate-change deniers

Politico: The new documentary "Greedy Lying Bastards' takes on contributors to and deniers of climate change and accuses many in the energy industry of lying and putting profits before people. And although director Craig Rosebraugh says it's an unfortunate coincidence, he says that recent events could have helped the marketing of the film. "I don't think we could have asked for a better time to release the film,' Rosebraugh told POLITICO, noting that "thankfully -- if you can call it thankfully -- the...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/film-targets-climate-change-deniers-88629.html?hp=r7

Across U.S., Health Concerns Vie with Fracking Profits

Inter Press Service: Peter "Pete" Seeger is a 93-year old U.S. folk legend who resides near Wappingers Falls in southern New York. He can be spotted occasionally on the traffic-heavy Route 9, flanked by world peace signs and armed with a banjo. Activists behind a New York Police Department vehicle at an anti-fracking demonstration in Manhattan, New York City organized by CREDO Action and New Yorkers Against Fracking. The demonstration was aimed at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was holding a policy summit in...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/across-u-s-health-concerns-vie-with-fracking-profits/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2013/03/frackingrallly.jpg

Bangladesh: Fear, instability driving early marriage around the world, report says

CNN: Humaiya Akhter is 16 years old and already six of her friends are married. Some have children. She is from the village of Tajpur in the Joypurat district of Bangladesh, a country where 66% of girls are married before 18 years of age, according to children's charity World Vision. Her grandmother was married at the age of nine and her mother at the age of 16, and Humaiya is determined to break the cycle. She now campaigns locally against child marriage and has helped girls in her community to...

URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/08/world/early-marriage-report/index.html?hpt=ias_t2
Enclosure: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130308151730-humaiya-akhter-story-top.jpg

Recent heat spike unlike anything in 11,000 years

Associated Press: A new study looking at 11,000 years of climate temperatures shows the world in the middle of a dramatic U-turn, lurching from near-record cooling to a heat spike. Research released Thursday in the journal Science uses fossils of tiny marine organisms to reconstruct global temperatures back to the end of the last ice age. It shows how the globe for several thousands of years was cooling until an unprecedented reversal in the 20th century. Scientists say it is further evidence that modern-day...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/recent-heat-spike-unlike-anything-11-000-years-191131579.html
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Increasing number of Americans believe climate change is real

Mongabay: An increasing number of Americans believe there is evidence for climate change, reveals a new poll conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan. According to the poll, two-thirds of Americans - including 51 percent of Republicans - think global warming is occurring. 42 percent believe that Earth is warming primarily as a consequence of human activities, while 37 percent attribute rising temperatures to a combination of natural patterns and human activity. Only 19 percent ascribe recent...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0308-climate-change-poll.html
Enclosure: http://closup.umich.edu/files/nsee-climate-belief-fall-2012.pdf

Why Disasters Like Sandy Hit the Elderly Hard

LiveScience: Heat waves, storm flooding aggravated by rising sea levels and other extreme events associated with climate change can affect everyone when they hit, but the danger isn't shared equally. One segment of the population -- the elderly -- is particular vulnerable when disaster strikes. In Louisiana, about 71 percent of those who died as a result of Hurricane Katrina were older than 60, and nearly half were older than 75, according to a 2006 federal report. About two weeks after Hurricane Sandy...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/why-disasters-sandy-hit-elderly-hard-173639955.html
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The need to jump-start REDD to save forests

Mongabay: At least US$7.3 billion has been pledged for REDD+ over the period from 2008 to 2015, with $4.3 billion pledged for REDD+ readiness during the fast-start period alone (2010-2012). In addition to these funds, private investors, private foundations, and others have been channeling financial support to developing countries for REDD+ and related programs for several years now. Despite the great momentum REDD+ has achieved, information regarding which activities are being implemented as well as the...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0308-swf2013-jenkins-redd.html
Enclosure: http://s3.amazonaws.com/mongabay/sabah/600/sabah_1413.jpg

Keystone XL Pipeline Path Marks New Battle Line in Oklahoma

National Geographic: Elisabeth Leja is 74. She is a retired math teacher who does water aerobics and walks every day for her health. In February, Leja chained herself by the neck to a giant excavator in central Oklahoma that was digging the way for the Gulf Coast segment of the Keystone XL pipeline. Sitting a few weeks later on a sunny patio at her home in Norman, Oklahoma, Leja said she volunteered for the act of civil disobedience because she believes oil from Canada's tar sands is toxic and a major contributor...

URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/03/130308-keystone-xl-pipeline-battle/
Enclosure: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/650/cache/new-battle-line-keystone-xl-pipeline-worker_65065_600x450.jpg

Join the Solar Freedom Cause to Reduce Rooftop Installation Costs by 50%


The issue: Although panel prices have plummeted in the past five years, installling a rooftop system in the U.S. costs twice as much as it does in Germany. The cause: According to Solar Freedom Now, a new grassroots organization led by industry veterans Barry Cinnamon, Ron Kenedi, Jesse Pichel, Paula Mints, and Tom McCalmont, it all boils down to "

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/join-the-solar-freedom-cause-to-reduce-rooftop-installation-costs-by-50?cmpid=rss

Is SolarCity a Wise Investment?


As a result of a disappointing earnings release, SolarCity (SCTY) took a shellacking on Thursday. The stock traded down 17.6 percent to the low of the day, and closed down 14.4 percent. Still, the stock is up 6.5 percent for the month, and the savvy investor would have gained 78 percent if they bought SCTY on the first day of trading in December 2012.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/is-solarcity-a-wise-investment?cmpid=rss

Hanergy Sees Thin-Film Solar Gaining Market Share


Hanergy Holding Group Ltd., a Chinese thin-film solar panel maker, expects the technology it has backed to take a greater share of the market that's dominated by silicon-based cells as the biggest manufacturers stumble.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/hanergy-sees-thin-film-solar-gaining-market-share?cmpid=rss

It's Rocky, but the Transition to Clean Energy is Well Underway


The sequester. Continued Congressional gridlock. Declining levels of venture capital funding. High-profile bankruptcies. The boom in low-cost natural gas. As the Obama administration seeks to find its footing for a second term, there appear to be plenty of reasons to hold a very bleak outlook for clean tech in the U.S. and beyond.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/its-rocky-but-our-transition-to-clean-energy-is-well-underway?cmpid=rss

China Drives Record Solar Growth While Panel Makers Wilt


The $77 billion solar-energy industry is forecast to expand the most since 2011, as China becomes the biggest market for the first time and drives annual global installations to a record.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/china-drives-record-solar-growth-while-panel-makers-wilt?cmpid=rss

Suntech Settles Dispute with Global Solar Fund: Shinier Days Ahead?


Sunnier days ahead for Suntech? With only a week before a key deadline for a big debt repayment, solar panel maker Suntech (NYSE: STP) appears to have cleared a major hurdle for a rescue plan by settling a big dispute with one of its major partners. I suspect that settlement with GSF, a builder of solar plants in Europe, was a major condition by Su

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/suntech-settles-dispute-with-global-solar-fund-shinier-days-ahead?cmpid=rss

Building the Chacayes Hydropower Plant and Contributing to Cleaner Energy in Chile


A year has passed since Pacific Hydro started operation of its 111-MW Chacayes run-of river plant in Chile. The US$450 million hydroelectric facility plays an important role in the country's energy supply mix, as Chile is facing the need to increase its energy in the context of the country's development and economic growth.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/building-the-chacayes-hydropower-plant-and-contributing-to-cleaner-energy-in-chile?cmpid=rss

Spray Foam Insulation is Not a Magic Bullet

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It's time for me to rag on something besides batt insulation

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[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/spray-foam-insulation-not-magic-bullet)

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/spray-foam-insulation-not-magic-bullet)

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/spray-foam-insulation-not-magic-bullet)

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/spray-foam-insulation-not-magic-bullet)

In case you haven't noticed, I've been pretty hard on batt insulationInsulation, usually of fiberglass or mineral wool and often faced with paper, typically installed between studs in walls and between joists in ceiling cavities. Correct installation is crucial to performance. in the [ past](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/should-batt-insulation-be-outlawed). I feel that my complaints and concerns are well justified, but no matter which insulation product is chosen, it has to be installed properly or it just doesn't work.

Many people mistakenly believe (myself once among them) that spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is the perfect product, is always installed right, and tightens up homes every time.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/spray-foam-insulation-not-magic-bullet

Obama: Good Instincts, Solid Achievements, Weak Surrogates


Here we have a President who has been emphatic on green energy and has put money where his mouth is: $90 billion in the Stimulus Bill (ARRA), highest car mileage standards ever (CAFÉ, 50+ mpg), and the first Clean Air Act regulations for mercury from coal electric power generation plants.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/obama-good-instincts-solid-achievements-weak-surrogates?cmpid=rss

Latin America Report: Uruguay, Future Home of the World's Cheapest Solar Energy


Uruguay is about to offer contracts to buy power from 200 megawatts of solar farms at $90/MWh, which is barely half the cost of power in China and Germany.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/latin-america-report-uruguay-future-home-of-the-worlds-cheapest-solar-energy?cmpid=rss

Japan's Wind Industry Headed for Boom Akin to Solar, Lawyer Says


Japan's wind power industry will see a boom in installations similar to an increase in solar capacity in the nation since last year, a lawyer advising domestic and foreign investors said.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/japans-wind-industry-headed-for-boom-akin-to-solar-lawyer-says?cmpid=rss

U.S. Geothermal Receives Balance of $11.8 Million Treasury Grant


U.S. Geothermal Inc., a renewable- energy developer with projects in three Western states and Guatemala, received the balance of a Treasury Department grant of $11.8 million for a project in Nevada.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/u-s-geothermal-receives-balance-of-11-8-million-treasury-grant?cmpid=rss

UK Minister Attacks 'Bourgeois' Biofuel Stance


UK energy minister John Hayes today said it was "detached and bourgeois" to suggest that cutting down trees to use as biofuel was counter-productive to following a green agenda.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/03/uk-minister-attacks-bourgeois-biofuel-stance?cmpid=rss

Clean Break Inspires Americans to Pursue "Energy Change"


Renewable energy journalist Osha Gray Davidson recently released a book called Clean Break, detailing the German Energiewende (translation: energy change).  It's a story of how the Germans systematically shifted to clean energy, finding as they proceeded that the possibilities were greater, the costs lower, and the benefits for ordinary citizens mo

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/03/clean-break-inspires-americans-to-pursue-energy-change?cmpid=rss

Passive House NW Conference is Coming Soon

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The one-day program is scheduled for March 15 in Seattle

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[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passive-house-nw-conference-coming-soon)

Passive HouseA residential building construction standard requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Developed in the early 1990s by Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, the standard is now promoted by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. To meet the standard, a home must have an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 AC/H @ 50 pascals, a maximum annual heating energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (4,755 Btu per square foot), a maximum annual cooling energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (1.39 kWh per square foot), and maximum source energy use for all purposes of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh per square foot). The standard recommends, but does not require, a maximum design heating load of 10 W per square meter and windows with a maximum U-factor of 0.14. The Passivhaus standard was developed for buildings in central and northern Europe; efforts are underway to clarify the best techniques to achieve the standard for buildings in hot climates. Northwest's 2013 [annual conference](http://www.phnw.org/100/22/phnw-2013-annual-conference.html) takes place March 15 at Seattle Pacific University. Organizers expect about 200 attendees.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passive-house-nw-conference-coming-soon

Passive House NW Conference is Coming Soon

Subtitle:&nbsp_place_holder;

The one-day program is scheduled for March 15 in Seattle

Images:&nbsp_place_holder;

[](http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passive-house-nw-conference-coming-soon)

Passive HouseA residential building construction standard requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Developed in the early 1990s by Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, the standard is now promoted by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. To meet the standard, a home must have an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 AC/H @ 50 pascals, a maximum annual heating energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (4,755 Btu per square foot), a maximum annual cooling energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (1.39 kWh per square foot), and maximum source energy use for all purposes of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh per square foot). The standard recommends, but does not require, a maximum design heating load of 10 W per square meter and windows with a maximum U-factor of 0.14. The Passivhaus standard was developed for buildings in central and northern Europe; efforts are underway to clarify the best techniques to achieve the standard for buildings in hot climates. Northwest's 2013 [annual conference](http://www.phnw.org/100/22/phnw-2013-annual-conference.html) takes place March 15 at Seattle Pacific University. Organizers expect about 200 attendees.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passive-house-nw-conference-coming-soon

Canada: Oliver touts tougher climate rules on pro-Keystone tour

Globe and Mail: Canada will soon have some of the toughest climate regulations among oil and gas exporting countries, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Wednesday as he completed a U.S. visit aimed at boosting support for the embattled Keystone XL pipeline. In a speech at an industry conference in Houston on Wednesday, Mr. Oliver sought to repair Canada's battered reputation as an environmental outlier, arguing that it is, in fact, a leader among oil-producing countries. "Canada is the largest supplier...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/oliver-touts-tougher-climate-rules-on-pro-keystone-tour/article9389277/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29

Will Republicans block EPA chief nominee Gina McCarthy?

Christian Science Monitor: President Obama's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has some believing the administration is redoubling its efforts to slow climate change. That may complicate the confirmation process for Gina McCarthy, as Republicans and coal-state Democrats size up the longtime state and federal environmental policymaker. Already, some on the right are expressing their displeasure. "This nomination represents a missed opportunity for the President to chart a new course that balances environmental...

URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0305/Will-Republicans-block-EPA-chief-nominee-Gina-McCarthy
Enclosure: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0305-gina/15186431-1-eng-US/0305-gina_full_380.jpg

Zero Emissions Hydrogen Car Unveiled For Upcoming Competition

RedOrbit: A University of Alberta group has unleashed a single-seat hydrogen cell car that will compete against teams in the Shell Eco-marathon challenge this spring in Houston, Texas. Mechanical engineering student Matt Sponiar established the team in 2010 to build a sustainable automobile. The group made a debut at the Shell Eco-marathon last year, competing against 150 universities and high schools, taking second place in the Urban Concept Vehicle category. This year, Sponiar said his team wants to maintain...

URL: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112798236/hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-shell-eco-marathon-houston-bio-fiber-030613/
Enclosure: http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2013/03/130301-Eco_Car_main_image-617x416.jpg

EPA: Former McCarthy skeptic signals 2nd-round battle over nomination

E and E: Environmental and industry sources alike have praised current U.S. EPA air chief Gina McCarthy, President Obama's pick to head the agency, for her regulatory knowledge, straight-shooting personality and willingness to engage all sides. But McCarthy's open style may not matter when it comes to her confirmation in the Senate, since the process offers Republicans one of their best opportunities to weigh in on Obama's environmental regulations. "I have great reservations about her," Sen. John Barrasso...

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/EEDaily/2013/03/05/1

India: Cool summer, dry monsoon

Times of India: Summer wouldn't exactly sizzle this year as it may rain this month and again in May. The ensuring monsoon won't be too wet as the rainfall from June to September is likely to reduce drastically all over the state if a recent study on climate change is any indicator. Put together by experts at the University of Agricultural Sciences here, the study looks closely at climatic conditions and the fallout on various sectors, particularly cropping pattern in the state. "The early attainment of maximum...

URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Cool-summer-dry-monsoon/articleshow/18825232.cms

Canadian official raps greens on oil pipeline

The Hill: A top Canadian official on Tuesday delivered a broadside against environmentalists in the United States who oppose the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver touted a U.S. State Department draft environmental review released Friday that dismissed claims from green groups that Keystone would accelerate oil sands development and exacerbate climate change. "Why then all the fuss? Why the demonstrations and movie stars chaining themselves to the...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/286281-canadian-official-launches-attacks-at-greens-on-keystone

As the climate warms, skiers can kiss their Aspen goodbye

Grist: Ask any pack of bona fide shredders about their exploits on the slopes last winter, and they`re apt respond, "Winter? What winter?" The winter of 2011-12 was one of the warmest, driest winters on record in North America. The skiing and snowboarding was so bad - and the weather in coastal cities so mild - that many avid powder hounds just sat it out. I wrote about the devastating season for the latest issue of High Country News. (You can read the full story on HCN's website if you sign up for...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/as-the-climate-warms-skiers-can-kiss-their-aspen-goodbye/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed

Nuclear power capacity grew again in 2012: Report

Agence France-Presse: The world's nuclear power generation capacity grew again in 2012 after a drop in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, according to a draft new UN atomic agency report seen by AFP Tuesday. "The Fukushima Daiichi accident (in Japan in March 2011) is expected to slow or delay the growth of nuclear power, but not reverse it," the International Atomic Energy Agency report said. At the end of 2012, 437 nuclear power reactors were operating worldwide, two more than in 2011, with three new ones...

URL: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jWrP1wqJRF43sdiZif_4veNxCiTQ
Enclosure: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5g_RtQ8eO7dJmb_FSXLP3Hie828yg?docId=photo_1362509625839-1-0&size=l

Developing countries meet on climate change

China Daily: A group of like-minded developing countries on climate change held an informal meeting last week in Geneva to assess the outcome of the last climate change talks in Doha and urged developed countries to boost action. Representatives of China, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Mali, Malaysia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Venezuela attended the meeting. The group is a platform for like-minded developing countries to exchange views and coordinate positions on the...

URL: http://africa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2013-03/05/content_16280643.htm

Australia: Scientists study reef remnants to understand climate change

Canberra Times: Scientists have mapped and filmed the remnants of a coral reef off the NSW mid-north coast in an effort to better understand the effects of climate change. Using multi-beam sonar imaging and video cameras a team of scientists from the University of Wollongong, Geoscience Australia and the NSW Department of Primary Industries surveyed a reef near Lord Howe Island, about 600km east of Port Macquarie. Core samples, videos and a topographical map of the sea floor were captured during the two-week...

URL: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/scientists-study-reef-remnants-to-understand-climate-change-20130306-2fjul.html

Half of Africa's Lions May Go Extinct in 40 Years

LiveScience: Nearly half of all of Africa's lion populations could face extinction in the next 40 years if conservation measures aren't changed, according to a new study. The study, published today (March 6) in the journal Ecology Letters, found that lion populations that were fenced into conservation areas rebounded in recent years, whereas lions in open preserves were challenged by prey loss and predation by human neighbors. "Lions in fenced reserves tend to do much better, they're achieving much better...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/half-africas-lions-may-extinct-40-years-160131003.html
Enclosure: http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/uz_cYRze9kE5UiGN.03i4Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MjMzMztjcj0xO2N3PTM1MDA7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQyMDtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2013/02/20/6-CATERS-Cat-Fight-In-The-Savannah-15-jpg_234041.jpg

Free trade explodes emerging markets' massive pollution

The Street: This week President Obama castigated his own country for not doing enough to control greenhouse gasses while at the same time not saying one word about the real polluters of this world. I am talking about the entire emerging markets world led by China who is exempt from doing anything about carbon emissions or any other kind of pollution. Environmentalists have the same head in the sand attitude and never protest what the emerging market is doing to foul their own air and water and to increase...

URL: http://www.thestreet.com/story/11860995/1/horween-free-trade-explodes-emerging-markets-massive-pollution.html

How Climate Change Worsened Violence in Syria

Climate Desk: In October 2010, just months before a Tunisian street vendor self-immolated and sparked what would become the Arab Spring, a prolonged drought was turning Syria`s verdant farmland into dust. By last month, more than 70,000 Syrians, mostly civilians, had been killed in the brutal and ongoing conflict between President Bashar al-Assad`s dictatorial regime and a coalition of opposition forces; just today, the UN announced that over one million refugees fled the country in the last two years. International...

URL: http://climatedesk.org/2013/03/how-climate-change-worsened-violence-in-syria/
Enclosure: http://climatedesk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/syria-rebels-CD.jpg