United States: Officials worry that agriculture community will bear burden of water shortages

Imperial Valley Press: Global warming and increased demand for water by urban and municipal users make shortages of the Colorado River inevitable, according to a recently-released study by the Bureau of Reclamation and the seven Colorado River Basin states. Population growth in the study area, expected to increase from about 40 million to anywhere between 49.3 million and 76.3 million, is expected to drive the projected increase in demand for water by the municipal and industrial sectors. The publication of the report...

URL: http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-officials-worry-that-agriculture-community-will-bear-burden-of-water-shortages-20121229,0,5469733.story

Climate Change Comes to the Philippines

Diplomat: Almost a year after Typhoon "Sendong" devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in the northern part of Mindanao, Philippines in December 2011, the historically "typhoon-free" island experienced another similarly rare and intense tropical storm that struck earlier this month. Super Typhoon "Pablo" slammed into Siquijor, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental, hitting some of the same cities and towns still recovering from the havoc suffered...

URL: http://thediplomat.com/2012/12/31/philippines-seeks-to-cope-with-new-climate-realities/
Enclosure: http://thediplomat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/feature15-440x272.jpg

Mississippi River water levels lowest in decades, threaten shipping

Chicago Tribune: Tim Cox was supposed to be steering an 800-foot string of barges through the twists and turns of the Mississippi River in southern Illinois last week, moving tons of grain and coal toward downstream ports. Instead, Cox's towboat and about a half-dozen others spent nearly 15 hours sitting in the drought-starved river about 115 miles south of St. Louis. The boats, each pushing thousands of tons of cargo, were forced to stop while crews dredged downstream in a desperate attempt to keep the shipping...

URL: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-26/news/ct-met-mississippi-river-water-level-20121226_1_barge-companies-water-levels-river-traffic

United Kingdom: Green belt housing gamble – a bet too far?

Guardian: Watching two of the better-known rightwing thinktanks prime their intellectual cannons and bombard the same target is an impressive, if stomach-churning, sight. In the past week the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Policy Exchange, both of which have the ear of No 10 and No 11 Downing Street, have taken aim at the UK's planning laws. The IEA opted for a straightforward bombardment of the green belt. It argued that property developers should be allowed to give incentives to local communities...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/30/green-belt-housing-gamble
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/30/1356879811839/Green-belt-008.jpg

Economic wave may course through icy, but melting, Arctic

McClatchy Newspapers: In a twist to the debate over global warming, melting Arctic sea ice is making it easier to transport the fossil fuels that produce the planet-warming gases, which appear to be causing it to thaw in the first place. As a result, a record number of tankers have gained access to an emerging shipping route, creating a potential industrial boon in the remote Arctic. The increasingly ice-free route runs from Europe to Asian markets through the Bering Strait, which divides Alaska and Russia. It can...

URL: http://wvgazette.com/News/Business/201212290037

Southern Co. faces risks on Mississippi power plant

Associated Press: In the woods of east Mississippi, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co. is pouring billions of dollars into construction of a power plant that burns coal but would emit less carbon dioxide. It's a response to looming federal limits on carbon emissions as regulators try to curtail global warming. Each day, as 2,600 construction workers toil away at Plant Ratcliffe in Kemper County, the big bet becomes more expensive. The projected cost is at least $2.8 billion, almost half a billion dollars...

URL: http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/12/29/southern-co-faces-risks-on-mississippi-power-plant/

"Chasing Ice" captures beauty and tragedy of melting glaciers

Sacramento Bee: Seeing "Chasing Ice," a new movie that chronicles the rapid disappearance of the world's glaciers as man-made climate change proceeds, I was reminded of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." In "Chasing Ice," we watch transfixed at the beauty of ancient ice mountains larger than Manhattan falling into the sea even as we are struck by the horror of that destruction - and the moral dilemma it poses as we consume fossil fuels. Similarly, we watch mesmerized in "Apocalypse Now" as a squad...

URL: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/12/30/5080745/editorial-notebook-chasing-ice.html
Enclosure: http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2012/12/28/18/35/Js01q.Xl.4.jpeg

California Sets 'Record' For Winter Solar Power Generation

Rewire: In August ReWire touted the state's passing of the gigawatt solar production record, where the state's grid operators reported a record 1,029 megawatts of solar electricity entering the grid. And now we can report a record slightly more subtle but every bit as important: the state got pretty close to that record-setting August mark on the week of the Winter Solstice, the least-sunny time of year. On Wednesday, December 19, the CaISO's preliminary figures for renewable energy output, which are displayed...

URL: http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/state-sets-record-for-winter-solar-generation.html
Enclosure: http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/assets_c/2012/12/CaISO-12-19-12-thumb-600x382-42396.png

Canada: Kinder Morgan takes its case for a pipeline to the people

Vancouver Sun: Five years ago, when Greg Toth was working on a Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project along the Alberta-B.C. border, the terms public engagement and consultation meant talking to a handful of landowners, holding open houses in pipeline-friendly communities and meeting with people who were mostly pleased over the employment that came along with the project. It was a relatively small project to twin the pipeline between Hinton, AB., through Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park...

URL: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/bc2035/Kinder%20Morgan%20takes%20case%20pipeline%20people/7748888/story.html
Enclosure: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/bc2035/7748890.bin

EPA Nominee Would Face Uncertain Path

The Hill: Senate Republicans are in no mood to allow easy confirmation of any replacement for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, who announced Thursday that she'll leave the agency's top job early in 2013. Several said they want evidence a new administrator would change the direction of EPA, an agency that critics accuse of imposing overly aggressive rules that burden coal companies, manufacturers and other businesses. "There needs to be someone with a balanced approach,...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/274851-epa-nominee-would-face-rocky-uncertain-senate-path

United States: 2012 poised to tie record for warmth

Star Tribune: It might not feel like it now, but 2012 is set to match the warmest year on record in the Twin Cities and could turn out to be Minnesota's warmest ever. It's also virtually certain to have been the warmest for the entire country. The average Minnesota temperature for the year is likely to be 50.8 degrees -- making 2012 and 1931 the warmest years since 1873, the first full year of record-keeping. "We are almost sleepwalking through this," said University of Minnesota Extension climatologist...

URL: http://www.startribune.com/local/185175442.html

Japan’s New Premier Backs More Nuclear Plants

New York Times: The newly elected prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, said Sunday that he would seek to build nuclear reactors, reversing within a week in office a campaign pledge to move Japan away from nuclear power. The statement about the reactors came in Mr. Abe's first televised interview since taking office. During his five days as prime minister, he had hinted that he would take a closer look at nuclear power. "They will be completely different from those at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,"...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/world/asia/japans-new-prime-minister-backs-more-nuclear-plants.html

United States: Jerry Brown readjusts his stand on the environment vs. business

LA Times: When Gov. Jerry Brown spoke to a crowd of beaming environmentalists and renewable energy advocates at the launch of a solar farm last year, he turned heads by praising another form of fuel: oil. It was a surprising pivot from the man credited with helping to usher in the modern environmental movement as California's governor nearly four decades ago. Back then, Brown enacted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards, signed strict anti-smog laws and blocked offshore drilling. But in his...

URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brown-environment-20130101,0,7821911.story?track=rss
Enclosure: http://www.trbimg.com/img-50e2492f/turbine/la-1109998-me-1106-brown17-wjs.jpg-20121231/600

Shale Gas Revolution Spurs Wave of New U.S. Steel Plants

Inside Climate News: The U.S. shale-gas revolution, which has revitalized chemicals companies and prompted talk of domestic energy self-sufficiency, is attracting a wave of investment that may revive profits in the steel industry. Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine AG (VOE) said Dec. 19 it may construct a 500 million-euro ($661 million) factory in the U.S. to benefit from cheap gas. Nucor Corp. (NUE), the most valuable U.S. steelmaker, plans to start up a $750 million Louisiana project in mid-2013. They're among at...

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/todaysnews/20121231/shale-gas-revolution-spurs-wave-new-us-steel-plants?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Ftodaysclimate+%28Today%27sClimate+-+Today%27s+climate+news+headlines%29

Storms on U.S. Plains stir memories of the "Dust Bowl"

Reuters: Real estate agent Mark Faulkner recalls a day in early November when he was putting up a sign near Ulysses, Kansas, in 60-miles-per-hour winds that blew up blinding dust clouds. "There were places you could not see, it was blowing so hard," Faulkner said. Residents of the Great Plains over the last year or so have experienced storms reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl. Experts say the new storms have been brought on by a combination of historic drought, a dwindling Ogallala Aquifer underground...

URL: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/30/us-usa-dust-bowl-idUKBRE8BT05720121230
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20121230&t=2&i=689518764&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=460&pl=300&r=CBRE8BT13NT00

United States: Gov. O'Malley Signs Executive Order on Flooding, Sea Level Rise

Star Democrat: Gov. Martin O'Malley signed an executive order Friday to increase Maryland's long-term resiliency to storm-related flooding and sea level rise. The Climate Change and Coast Smart Construction Executive Order directs all new and reconstructed state structures, including other infrastructure improvements, be planned and constructed to avoid or minimize future flood damage. It requires new and rebuilt state structures to be elevated two or more feet above the 100-year base flood level. "As storms...

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/todaysnews/20121231/gov-omalley-signs-executive-order-flooding-sea-level-rise?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Ftodaysclimate+%28Today%27sClimate+-+Today%27s+climate+news+headlines%29

Refiners Beating Exxon Join Pipeline Boom for Lost Margin

Bloomberg: Refiners (S5OILR) from Tesoro Corp. (TSO) to Phillips 66 that gained as much as 86 percent this year are investing in pipelines for new revenue as margins for turning oil into gasoline narrow from record levels. Refiners are set to beat all except three of 154 industry groups on the Standard & Poor's index for 2012, as a U.S. production glut let them buy oil at a record average of $17.46 a barrel below the global benchmark. That spread will diminish in 2013 as more than 20 new pipelines enter...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-28/refiners-beating-exxon-join-pipeline-boom-for-lost-margin.html

Mississippi Receding Faster Than Expected, Shippers Say

Bloomberg: Water levels in the Mississippi River south of St. Louis are falling faster than anticipated, requiring more urgent action to keep the nation's busiest waterway open, according to a group of shipping companies. Debra Colbert, senior vice president of the Waterways Council Inc., said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now projects river levels may fall to a point at which many tugboats can't operate by Jan. 3 or Jan. 4. Previous estimates indicated that the river would remain navigable until at least...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-26/mississippi-receding-faster-than-expected-shippers-say.html

Kyoto Climate Change Treaty Sputters to a Sorry End

CBC: The controversial and ineffective Kyoto Protocol's first stage comes to an end today, leaving the world with 58 per cent more greenhouse gases than in 1990, as opposed to the five per cent reduction its signatories sought. From the beginning, the treaty that was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, was problematic. Opponents denied the science of climate change and claimed the treaty was a socialist plot. Environmentalists decried the lack of ambition in Kyoto and warned of dire consequences for future...

URL: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/12/20/pol-kyoto-protocol-part-one-ends.html
Enclosure: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2012/12/20/03472644-lead.jpg

Australia: Critical corrections in the climate change debate

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Myths can spread quickly and widely and are resistant to eradication. Stephan Lewandowsky rebuts recent comments about climate change. The American healthcare debate in 2009 took a turn towards the surreal when former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin claimed on her Facebook page that under president Obama's plan, "death panels" of bureaucrats would decide who would receive medical care and who would be left to die. Although there was nothing in the plan that would have warranted this...

URL: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4446160.html
Enclosure: http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/35832-16x9-340x191.jpg

Ghana bans second-hand fridges

BBC: A ban on the import of second-hand refrigerators is coming into force in Ghana to reduce energy consumption and harm to the environment. Many old fridges contain chemicals called Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which damage the Earth's ozone layer. Although these are already banned or being phased out, they are thought to be commonly used in Africa. The head of Ghana's energy commission told the BBC the ban made Ghana "a pioneer in West Africa". The ban was first introduced in 2008 but was...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20877804#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65024000/jpg/_65024098_fridgeafp.jpg

Global warming research eyes ‘runaway’ ice melt

Summit Voice: Most climate models are probably underestimating the rate of sea level rise expected during the next few decades, according to some of the latest research that tries to quantify how much ice may melt off the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets. A Dec. 26 update by James Hansen and Makiko Sato warns that melting of those ice sheets could increase sea level rise exponentially higher than most existing forecasts, potentially inundating coastal cities around the world with several feet of water by...

URL: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/12/31/global-warming-research-eyes-runaway-ice-melt/
Enclosure: http://summitvoice.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/ice-pano.jpg?w=468&h=243

How Fracking Impacts Local Economies

EcoWatch: In addition to the environmental impacts of oil and gas production, including dangerous air and water contamination, and destruction of wildlife habitat, Natural Resources Defense Council is concerned about other impacts to communities that have been documented, such as increased crime, infrastructure burdens that require massive repair, and the growing demand for social and municipal services. Another serious impact is a large increase in the need for health care services. Communities with oil and...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2012/fracking-impacts-local-economies/

Even With Bipartisan Push, Is Keystone XL Still A Pipe Dream?

Forbes: Yes, elections do have consequences, and those associated with a likely continuation of disastrous Obama administration energy policies will be huge. Now in this coming new year, with his hold on the Oval Office secure for a final term, the question remains whether the president will be less compelled to acquiesce to demands of ideologically-driven anti-fossil environmental lobbies, and more willing to address reality-based opportunities and imperatives. A clear test will be his decision to approve...

URL: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/12/30/even-with-bipartisan-push-is-keystone-xl-still-a-pipe-dream/
Enclosure: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/larrybell/files/2012/12/300x2003.jpg

The year in rainforests

Mongabay: 2012 was another year of mixed news for the world's tropical forests. This is a look at some of the most significant tropical rainforest-related news stories for 2012. There were many other important stories in 2012 and some were undoubtedly overlooked in this review. If you feel there's something we missed, please feel free to highlight it in the comments section. Also please note that this post focuses only on tropical forests. Science on the impacts of deforestation and the effects of...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/1231-year-in-rainforests-2012.html
Enclosure: http://mongabay.s3.amazonaws.com/sabah/600/sabah_aerial_1802.jpg

Story of the Year: It’s Global Warming, Stupid

EcoWatch: My favorite headline of 2012 was "It`s Global Warming, Stupid," which appeared on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek on Nov. 1, just days after Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast. On the same day, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Barack Obama for re-election for president. Bloomberg, having seen firsthand the devastation of the severe weather on his city and region, said: The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years of...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2012/story-of-year-its-global-warming-stupid/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/cover.jpg

Runaway Oil Rig Off Alaska Under Control, Shell Says

New York Times: An enormous Shell Oil offshore rig that had broken free and gone adrift in stormy seas in the Gulf of Alaska for the better part of three days was brought under control on Monday, the company said. "The situation is stabilizing," Curtis Smith, a spokesman for Shell in Anchorage, said in a telephone interview. Two tow lines from the rig, the Kulluk, which was used for test drilling in the Arctic last summer, had been reattached to support ships about 19 miles south of Kodiak Island, and officials...

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/todaysnews/20121231/runaway-oil-rig-alaska-under-control-shell-says?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Ftodaysclimate+%28Today%27sClimate+-+Today%27s+climate+news+headlines%29

Coal giant Peabody drops clean energy claim

New York Times: Peabody Energy, the biggest private-sector coal company in the world, has removed the claim that it is "the global leader in clean energy solutions" from its home page. The two images below show the shift (sometime between Dec. 19 and Dec. 29), with the claim now reading that it the company is "the global leader in clean coal solutions": Peabody Energy, the world`s biggest private coal company, has dropped a claim that it is "the global leader in clean energy solutions" from its Web site. These...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/coal-giant-drops-claim-that-it-is-the-global-leader-in-clean-energy-solutions/?ref=earth

Focus on climate change could trigger energy industry shift

Sustainable Business Oregon: Suppose in the near future, emitting carbon gets a lot more expensive. It could happen if Congress ends its stalemate over global warming and passes a climate change bill that would penalize carbon pollution. It could come from the Environmental Protection Agency which already has taken steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources. Hurricane Sandy has drawn more attention to climate change as a legislative issue, and President Barack Obama, in his first press conference...

URL: http://sustainablebusinessoregon.com/national/2012/12/focus-on-climate-change-could-trigger.html
Enclosure: http://assets.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/Emissions-PowerPlant-600px-BLOOMBERG-PHOTO*280.jpg?v=1

When fracking came to suburban Texas

Guardian: The corner of Goldenrod and Western streets, with its grid of modest homes, could be almost any suburb that went up in a hurry – except of course for the giant screeching oil rig tearing up the earth and making the pavement shudder underfoot. Fracking, the technology that opened up America's vast deposits of unconventional oil and gas, has moved beyond remote locations and landed at the front door, with oil operations now planned or under way in suburbs, mid-sized towns and large metropolitan...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/31/fracking-in-towns-texas-oil
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/31/1356974439125/fracking-oil-pump-008.jpg

Schwarzenegger Will Get Credit For Any Major US Climate-Change Law

The Atlantic: If the United States ever enacts a major climate-change law, it will owe a debt to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Strange as it sounds, the Austrian-born bodybuilder, former California governor, and movie star has flexed more legislative muscle on climate change than President Obama--who ran for office on the promise of curbing sea level rise and creating millions of green jobs--and Al Gore, the former vice president who won a Nobel Prize for his advocacy on climate change. Like Gore and Obama, Schwarzenegger,...

URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/schwarzenegger-will-get-credit-for-any-major-us-climate-change-law/266714/
Enclosure: http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=24850&format=homepage_fullwidth

2012 Vermonter of the Year - Bill McKibben

Burlington Free Press: This was the year of growing recognition that a string of weather events, from violent storms to record-breaking droughts, was having a profound impact on the lives of people in this country and around the world. Bill McKibben's message is finally sinking in. Environmental journalist and Ripton resident McKibben has been for years among the most effective voices raising the alarm about the threats of climate change. McKibben delivers his message with a passion driven by scientific evidence....

URL: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/needlogin?type=login&redirecturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.burlingtonfreepress.com%2Farticle%2F20121230%2FOPINION01%2F312300004%2F2012-Vermonter-Year-Bill-McKibben%3Fnclick_check%3D1
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United Kingdom: Wettest year ends with downpours

Guardian: Hours of rain continued across much of the country on New Year's Eve, from downpours in some parts to the merely miserable, meaning that as 2012 ended, Britain was on course for the wettest year since records began. The Met Office said just 46mm (1.8in) of rain by midnight would make this year the wettest – and six steady hours of rain in some places should have ensured that. England, which had drought orders in place in many areas in the spring, has already set a record, with 1,095.8mm of rain...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/31/wettest-year-ends-with-downpours
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/31/1356981164845/Flooding-010.jpg

2012: the year we did our best to abandon the natural world

Guardian: It was the year of living dangerously. In 2012 governments turned their backs on the living planet, demonstrating that no chronic problem, however grave, will take priority over an immediate concern, however trivial. I believe there has been no worse year for the natural world in the past half-century. Three weeks before the minimum occurred, the melting of the Arctic's sea ice broke the previous record. Remnants of the global megafauna – such as rhinos and bluefin tuna – were shoved violently...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/31/year-abandon-natural-world
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/31/1356962919670/A-fish-installation-made--010.jpg

Will 2013 be the year we finally address climate change?

Salon: As Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast in late October, everyone from Bill McKibben to Andrew Cuomo declared the storm our wake-up call on climate change. Now we would finally have that serious conversation we'd been meaning to get around to; faced with apocalyptic images of flooded subways and decimated houses, we would be shocked out of complacency and into action. Damian Carrington's column in the Guardian was typical: If Sandy – and this summer's record US heat wave – end up blowing...

URL: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/31/will_2013_be_the_year_we_finally_address_climate_change/
Enclosure: http://media.salon.com/2012/10/sandy_al_rect-580x386.jpg

Solar Cooling: The Next Frontier for Distributed Generation?


Earlier this month, U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chairman Jon Wellinghoff hailed distributed generation an unstoppable trend in power generation, noting that more than 40 percent of all new generation since June was from renewables, much of that distributed. A significant portion of new distributed (or customer-side) generation

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/12/solar-cooling-whats-next-in-distributed-generation?cmpid=rss

Solar Bits: LDK Woes, Hanwha Loan


A couple of news bits from the solar sector are showing at once how companies continue to struggle with fallout from the ongoing downturn even as some larger players continue to receive lifelines from Beijing. In the former category, floundering giant LDK (NYSE: LDK) has just announced an arbitration panel's ruling that it must pay hundreds of mill

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/12/solar-bits-ldk-woes-hanwha-loan?cmpid=rss

Intersolar China Highlights Important Solar Industry Issues


Held in wintry Beijing from December 9 through December 11, Intersolar China offered attendees an opportunity to share ideas and discuss the outlook for the solar industry as it moves from a stressful and margin sagging 2012 into hopefully, the beginnings of recovery in 2013. Despite an ongoing gloomy mood throughout the solar industry, the conference was well-attended and the attendees upbeat. The anti-dumping investigations in India and the EU, along with the U.S. decision, were addressed, though sometimes indirectly, during the conference. Representatives from Suntech, Yingli, and Trina did not offer presentations at the conference.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/intersolar-china-highlights-important-solar-industry-issues?cmpid=rss

Solar New Year Resolutions


Out with the old calendar, in with the new calendar – similar to the US fiscal cliff problems (which may or may not be resolved by the time this article comes to print) the solar industry is dragging a number of problems, concerns, conundrums and unfortunate choices into 2013. It is time to remember that the industry is not shackled to past choices, rapidly changing incentives (FiTs) or promises of too low prices for technology and systems. Solar is the technology of the future and it is ready to deploy now. Here are ten solar New Year's resolutions to get us started:

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/solar-new-year-resolutions?cmpid=rss

Geothermal Provides Baseload Power for Christmas in California


The California Independent System Operator (ISO) maintains reliability and accessibility to one of the largest and most modern power grids in the world. Everyday it reports on the production of renewable energy in the Golden State as it strives to meets its target of 33 percent of electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2020. On Christmas

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/12/geothermal-provides-baseload-power-for-christmas-in-california?cmpid=rss

DOE Offering $20mn for Projects That Integrate Solar and Fossil Fuels


The U.S. Energy Department (DOE) announced $20 million in new funding for two to four projects that will help integrate concentrating solar power (CSP) systems with fossil fuel power plants. The DOE seeks applications from industry, universities, and national laboratories.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/doe-offering-20mn-for-projects-that-integrate-solar-and-fossil-fuels?cmpid=rss

Japanese Corporations Seek To Profit from Renewable Energy Generation


Oji Holdings Corp., the world's largest corporate user of renewable energy, plans to sell clean power in Japan to take advantage of government subsidies and counter a sales slide in mainstay paper products.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/japanese-corporations-seek-to-profit-from-renewable-energy-generation?cmpid=rss

Renewable Energy Review: Romania


Developers, manufacturers, investors and other renewable energy industry stakeholders need to know where the next big market is going to be so that they can adjust their business decisions accordingly.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/renewable-energy-review-romania?cmpid=rss

Biomass Industry Outlook 2013: Dogged by Regulatory Uncertainty


One word will suffice to summarize the outlook for the biomass industry: uncertainty. Concerns are fourfold: the EPA's Boiler (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) MACT, Non-Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) and Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rules, and the Federal Production Tax Credit.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/biomass-industry-outlook-2013-dogged-by-regulatory-uncertainty?cmpid=rss

What’s Happening to All the Green Building Programs?

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Big changes (and confusion) will be going on for a while

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Green home certification programs are starting to reach a level of maturity. At the national level, LEED for Homes**Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.** LEED for Homes is the residential green building program from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). While this program is primarily designed for and applicable to new home projects, major gut rehabs can qualify. has established itself as the national industry leader, at least from a branding standpoint. NAHB's National Green Building Standard (NGBS**National Green Building Standard** Based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines and passed through ANSI. This standard can be applied to both new homes, remodeling projects, and additions. ) has a growing following but, in my opinion, is still struggling to gain broad industry acceptance.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-curmudgeon/what-s-happening-all-green-building-programs

Bicycles No Longer Mere Recreation in Argentine Capital

Inter Press Service: A programme launched in Buenos Aires three years ago to encourage the use of bicycles has already brought results: the use of this environment-friendly means of transport has increased fivefold in the Argentine capital. "Buenos Aires, mejor en bici" (Buenos Aires, Better by Bike) is the name of the project that emerged in 2009 in the Healthy Mobility Office of the Transport Subscretariat of the Argentine capital, with the aim of extending protected bike lanes in the city. "When we started to...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/bicycles-no-longer-mere-recreation-in-argentine-capital/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2012/12/Argentina-bikes-small.jpg

Doha Climate Change Conference

The Nation: More than fifteen thousand delegates from a diverse background including public, private, non-governmental sectors and academic, research and media organizations attended the eighteenth session of Conference of Parties (COP-18). The conflict in paradigms between the developed and developing countries was evident throughout the two weeks of Doha climate talks. The longstanding and cardinal principle of the Convention i.e. Common and Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR)...

URL: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/sunday-plus/30-Dec-2012/doha-climate-change-conference
Enclosure: http://www.nation.com.pk/digital_images/480/2012-12-30/doha-climate-change-conference-1356859637-3044.jpg

Between Drought and Floods – A Year of Extremes in Sri Lanka

Inter Press Service: Wild elephants are usually the primary attraction in the remote shrub jungles of Udawalawe, about 180 kilometres southeast of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. But this Christmas season, the massive Udawalawe dam stole the limelight from the lumbering beasts. By the end of December, heavy rains had brought water levels in the Udawalawe reservoir close to spilling point, forcing irrigation engineers to open the sluice gates. Despite these efforts, the massive tank continued to spill over, creating...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/between-drought-and-floods-a-year-of-extremes-in-sri-lanka/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2012/12/6899365826_5fbee71365_z-629x469.jpg

United Kingdom: Wind farm turbines wear sooner than expected, says study

Telegraph: The analysis of almost 3,000 onshore wind turbines -- the biggest study of its kind --warns that they will continue to generate electricity effectively for just 12 to 15 years. The wind energy industry and the Government base all their calculations on turbines enjoying a lifespan of 20 to 25 years. The study estimates that routine wear and tear will more than double the cost of electricity being produced by wind farms in the next decade. Older turbines will need to be replaced more quickly...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/9770837/Wind-farm-turbines-wear-sooner-than-expected-says-study.html

EPA faces legal battles, might take easy confirmation road

Reuters: Regardless of who takes the reins, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will likely face continued legal battles in President Barack Obama's second term as it tries to finalize pollution rules for power plants, analysts said. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who spearheaded the Obama administration's regulation of carbon emissions, said on Thursday she will step down after almost four years. Her tenure was marked by opposition from industry groups and Republican lawmakers to the EPA's first-ever...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/30/us-epa-legal-idUSBRE8BT02J20121230?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20121230&t=2&i=689478724&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE8BT0SAM00

Jackson to step down from agency; legacy includes first greenhouse gas rules

Bloomberg: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced her resignation Dec. 27 after four years as the Obama administration's top environmental officer. Jackson's resignation will take effect after the State of the Union address, and EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe will become acting administrator, the agency said (see related story). Jackson leaves behind a legacy of strong environmental regulations, including the first national greenhouse gas regulatory program, environmental...

URL: http://www.bna.com/jackson-step-down-n17179871605/

Is it morally wrong for the US to export coal?

National Public Radio: AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Is it morally wrong for the U.S. to export coal? That's a question some people are asking in the Pacific Northwest. The region has become a transit route for coal dug up in states such as Wyoming and shipped to Asia. Those experts are growing fast. NPR's Martin Kaste has this story about the backlash. MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: The Army Corps of Engineers, along with Washington State and county officials, held seven public hearings this month in advance of the environmental...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/28/168219993/is-it-morally-wrong-for-u-s-to-export-coal
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=168219993&m=168220929

How Britain went from a drought to a deluge as south-west is drenched again

Guardian: The view through the windows of the packed 11.55 London Paddington to Penzance train was of burst rivers and drowned fields. Those on board were the lucky ones. On Friday, the train was the first to make it through to the west country for days after torrential rain plunged large parts of the UK into chaos. Rising water levels threatened to swallow the track as passengers grew increasingly bewildered. "We were told one thing at Paddington," said Chris McColm, 70, who was trying to get to Totnes...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/29/britain-drought-deluge-south-west
Enclosure: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2012/12/29/gu_rainfall.jpg

Electric car sales in UK expected to double in 2013 as prices start to fall

Guardian: Sales of electric cars in Britain are expected to double in 2013 as cheaper models enter the market and the number of charging points increases. Numbers of fully electric cars are expected to rise from 3,000 to 6,000, according to Ben Lane, managing editor of the website nextgreencar.com. He warned, however, that the switch to electric vehicles was still moving slowly. Lane said: "The pricing is not yet quite right and the range is still not long enough. Very few people in 2012 were willing...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/29/electric-car-sales-prices
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/guardian/About/General/2012/12/29/1356790062559/The-BMW-i3-electric-car-d-009.jpg

United Kingdom: Single men found to be rubbish at putting out the recycling

Guardian: Men who live alone are the least likely to recycle in the UK, according to a study. As many homes come to terms with a backlog of discarded wrapping paper and empty packaging after Christmas, women will take on the most responsibility for disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way, according to new research. Results showed that single people living alone are less likely to recycle – only 65% did so, compared with 79% of mixed-sex couples. Of those living alone, 69% of women recycled some...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/29/single-men-rubbish-at-recycling
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2012/12/29/1356783431068/Empty-glass-bottles-010.jpg

$60B Sandy aid package clears Senate

Politico: A $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster aid package cleared the Senate Friday evening after Democrats beat back a Republican alternative promising less than half the funding and focused more narrowly on the immediate needs over the next three months. "It would just stop dead in its tracks the recovery effort so desperately needed," warned Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "You cannot plan a recovery on a three-month basis. The bottom line is if you want to build a tunnel, you can't say, 'I'll build...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/60b-sandy-aid-package-clears-senate-85576.html?hp=l7
Enclosure: http://images.politico.com/global/2012/11/121113_sandy_aftermath_reuters_328.jpg

Scotland slow to spend on green cars

United Press International: A spokesman for the Scottish Conservative Party called on local governments to redeploy unspent funds earmarked for green energy initiatives. "What is the point in giving councils money to be spent on environmental initiatives which are clearly not a priority for them? What's worse, this $3.22 million of unspent cash could have been used far more wisely in services people actually need and care about," said spokesman Alex Johnstone. "Instead, we have this vast sum gathering dust while people's...

URL: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2012/12/29/Scotland-slow-to-spend-on-green-cars/UPI-34991356801494/

Will climate change ever have its Sandy Hook moment?

Conversation: It's easy to bash America. Externally Americans are often characterised as loud, star-spangled, gun-toting, bible-bashing, right-wing extremists with Fox News continually on in the background and a gas-guzzling Hummer in the driveway. And the problem is, that when all you ever see are US media reports, politicians, and movies, it is easy to think that's all America is. In reality America, like most other countries in the world, is full of people. People a lot like us. When you meet them,...

URL: http://theconversation.edu.au/will-climate-change-ever-have-its-sandy-hook-moment-11458
Enclosure: https://c479107.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/18995/width668/h5z5vjp5-1356832704.jpg

Greens confront own need for diversity

Politico: The Republican Party isn't the only political force that has a diversity problem. Environmental activists say their own movement needs to step up its game if it wants to play much bigger in Washington. The green movement dreams of pushing major bills through Congress on the scale of President Barack Obama's health care reform law and the immigration overhaul expected to begin next year. But those issues enjoy something the green movement does not: wide and deep support across key Democratic...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/greens-confront-own-need-for-diversity-85558.html?hp=t1

Ice Seals Get Endangered Species Protection

LiveScience: Six groups of seals threatened by shrinking sea ice are gaining new protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced late last week. NOAA will list as threatened two distinct bearded seal populations -- one in the Beringia region, which includes Alaska, and one in the Okhotsk region of Russia's far east -- and three subspecies of ringed seals (Arctic, Okhotsk and Baltic). Another ringed seal subspecies found only in...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/ice-seals-endangered-species-protection-002102778.html

No denying climate change

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Earth is growing warmer; the records prove that. Some still doubt human activity has anything to do with it, but it's past time for the rest of us to face reality. We need, first, good leadership. The United States should provide it, as it has repeatedly promised but failed to do. And Florida should be a leader among the states, because it is among those most threatened with ecological problems and rising sea levels. Tallahassee should take its cues from South Florida, where local governments...

URL: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorials/fl-editorial-climate-td1003-20121229,0,7232919.story

Climate Change Real & Gorgeous

Wired: When "Chasing Ice" finished, my 10-year-old son, sitting next to me in the almost empty theater, said, "That was sobering." He was right: Sobering, but also beautiful and inspiring. "Chasing Ice" documents both the earth`s current warming and one man`s obsessive efforts to show that warming in terms everyone can understand: visual, immediate, dramatic. National Geographic photographer James Balog says he was a bit of a climate skeptic himself until he took an assignment in 2005 and 2006 photographing...

URL: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/making-climate-change-real-weirdly-gorgeous/
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/eIZTMVNBjc4

United Kingdom: It never rains and then it pours. What is going on with our weather?

Guardian: The transformation of the British landscape over the last 12 months has been dramatic. At the end of 2011, the nation was caught in the grip of one of the severest droughts on record. Low rainfall over the previous year had reduced water levels in rivers and reservoirs to exceptional levels. The year ahead promised to be one of parched landscapes, hosepipe bans and streams turned to trickles. There could have been widespread consequences for farmers, food production, tourism, industry and domestic...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/dec/29/rains-pours-weather
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Columnist/Columnists/2012/12/29/1356796219525/flooding-river-thames-010.jpg

As Biodiversity Declines, Tropical Diseases Thrive

National Public Radio: Global health advocates often argue that the tropical diseases that plague many countries, such as malaria and dengue, can be conquered simply with more money for health care - namely medicines and vaccines. But a new paper is a reminder that ecology also has a pretty big say in whether pathogens thrive or die off. Using a statistical model, researchers predicted that countries that lose biodiversity will have a heavier burden of vector-borne and parasitic diseases. Their results appear this week...

URL: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/12/29/168210441/as-biodiversity-declines-tropical-diseases-thrive?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/12/28/mosquito_wide-88f09cf6025ea18ec8a5bac11f010896f9a46873-s4.jpg

Sweet Potatoes Unexpected Reaction to Rising CO2 Levels

Environmental News Network: Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere caused by human-driven emissions might lead to larger sweet potatoes, a staple food for many African and Asian countries, research reveals. Sweet potatoes could double in size with the increase in CO2 levels currently forecasted for the end of this century, according to research by a team from the University of Hawaii, United States. The team presented their finding at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, in San Francisco this month...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/45383?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29

Idle No More: Alberta Highway 63 Blockade Near Fort McMurray By First Nations Movement

Canadian Press: The leader of an aboriginal community near the Alberta oilsands says the federal government is clearing the way for development on traditional land. Chief Alan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation says Ottawa's omnibus budget legislation weakens environmental protection in Canada. He says oilsands projects have already sullied rivers and lakes in the area and the budget bill -- quote -- "gives the green light to destroy the rest." Adam's comments came as he joined a highway blockade...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/20/idle-no-more_n_2340893.html
Enclosure: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/848137/thumbs/r-HIGHWAY-63-TWINNING-large570.jpg?12

Will Sandy’s Legacy Loom As Large As it Should Past 2012?

Atlantic: Coastal cities have built up infrastructure over the years that cumulatively has been an engineering marvel: ports and waterways, water and sewer and electrical systems, roads and bridges and tunnels and subways. But it's all going to look modest compared to the projects necessary to deal with the impacts of climate change. Massive flood barriers straight out of a science fiction movie may rise between the north fork of Long Island and near New London, Connecticut. The Golden Gate strait may similarly...

URL: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/12/will-sandys-legacy-loom-large-it-should-past-2012/4259/
Enclosure: http://cdn.theatlanticcities.com/img/upload/2012/12/26/RTR3B1CB_1/largest.jpg

New Report Finds That West Antarctica Is Warming at an Alarming Rate

Atlantic: For more than half a century, scientists at a remote outpost in western Antarctica have been tracking the region's weather, and a new analysis published in Nature Geoscience comes to alarming conclusions: Temperatures have lept up by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958 -- twice as much as previously thought, making the area one of the fastest-warming in the world. Should temperatures continue on this path, scientists fear warmer and longer periods of melting for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which...

URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/new-report-finds-that-west-antarctica-is-warming-at-an-alarming-rate/266623/
Enclosure: http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/assets_c/2012/12/ngeo1671-f1-thumb-615x642-109231.jpg

United States: Seattle Mayor Calls for City’s Pension Funds to Dump Oil Stocks

Grist: Student groups at 192 colleges and universities are calling on their schools` endowments to sell off stocks in fossil-fuel companies, inspired by a 350.org campaign that we`ve reported on before. Now that campaign is spreading from campus to city hall, as Climate Progress reports: Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is now calling on his city to strip fossil fuels from its two main pension funds. According to the city's finance director, Seattle has $17.6 million invested in Chevron and ExxonMobil, as well...

URL: http://grist.org/news/seattle-mayor-calls-for-citys-pension-funds-to-dump-oil-stocks/

Antarctic Ice Sheet Experiencing Nearly Twice as Much Warming as Previously Thought

EcoWatch: In a finding that raises further concerns about the future contribution of Antarctica to sea level rise, a new study finds that the western part of the continent's ice sheet is experiencing nearly twice as much warming as previously thought. Researchers have determined that the central region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is experiencing twice as much warming as previously thought. Their analysis focuses on the temperature record from Byrd Station (indicated by a star), which provides...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2012/antarctic-ice-sheet/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/byrd2.jpg

United States: Death Valley Temperature Record Is Restored

New York Times: For Death Valley, a place that embraces its extremes, this has long been an affront: As furnace-hot as it gets here, it could not lay claim to being the hottest place on earth. That honor, as it were, has gone since 1922 to a city on the northwestern tip of Libya. Until now. After a yearlong investigation by a team of climate scientists, the World Meteorological Organization, the climate agency of the United Nations, announced this fall that it was throwing out a reading of 136.4 degrees claimed...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/science/earth/death-valley-temperature-record-is-restored.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/12/29/science/earth/DEATHVALLEY/DEATHVALLEY-articleLarge.jpg

Race to beat wind energy deadline

BBC: US energy companies are racing to install wind turbines before a federal tax credit expires at the end of this year. Experts say that wind power has exceeded the construction of natural gas plants in recent months. However the financial incentive for wind could be lost as congress struggles to avoid financial deadlock. Even if the credit is extended it is expected that new installations will decline in 2013. According to industry analysts, the federal government's production tax credit...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20857530#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/64992000/jpg/_64992201_t1460637-wind_turbines,_california,_usa-spl.jpg

Previous climate change drove Mesa people off Alaska's North Slope

Alaska Dispatch: Alaska was once the setting for an environmental shift so dramatic it forced people to evacuate the entire North Slope, according to Michael Kunz, an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management. About 10,000 years ago, a group of hunting people lived on the North Slope, the swath of mostly treeless tundra extending north from the Brooks Range to the sea. These people, known as Paleoindians, used a chunky ridge of rock west of the Colville River as a hunting lookout. Michael Kunz first discovered...

URL: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/previous-climate-change-drove-mesa-people-alaskas-north-slope

African scientists call for climate change evidence

SciDevNet: African scientists urgently need to build more evidence on the impact of climate change on the continent, a conference has heard. A joint statement issued at the eighth Annual Meeting of African Science Academies last month (12--14November) in Nigeria, notes that Africa lacks much home-grown data about the impacts of extreme weather events and sea level rise. It says: "Actions required of science include contributions to the development of risk assessments and mapping for various anticipated...

URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/african-scientists-call-for-climate-change-evidence.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment

United Kingdom: The rain falls – while the government pulls the plug on flood defences

Guardian: Should the weather over the next three months be anything like normal, we are on course for Britain's soggiest winter since records began. In England, it is already the wettest year. Even people who like to deny climate change and wish to sweep away planning rules now understand that floods can strike almost anywhere at any time. Waterlogged homes are a regular feature of British life. This year caps more than a decade of inundation. In 2012, 7,500 homes have been ruined, with one in six properties...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/28/britain-pulling-plug-flood-defences
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/28/1356709121547/Children-make-their-way-d-008.jpg

Is It Morally Wrong For U.S. To Export Coal?

National Public Radio: The Seattle area is seeing widespread, well-organized opposition to an export industry: coal. Thousands of people have turned out to express their disgust with a plan to build export terminals on Puget Sound to ship American coal to Asia. Opponents cite noise, traffic delays, coal dust and global warming.

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/28/168219993/is-it-morally-wrong-for-u-s-to-export-coal?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=168219993&m=168220929

Peabody Coal Sales Ticker Next to 'Clean Energy' Claim

New York Times: Electricity, including that generated by coal combustion, has been a boon for humanity. In fact, there`s much truth in the headline on Indur M. Goklany's new analysis for the anti-regulatory Cato Institute: "Humanity Unbound: How Fossil Fuels Saved Humanity from Nature and Nature from Humanity." (I`ll post more on that paper soon, including an interview with Goklany.) But that does not come close to justifying what you see on the home page of Peabody Energy, the largest coal company in the free...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/a-coal-sales-ticker-next-to-a-clean-energy-claim/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/rM70f_x2Qvw

Fifty years after Silent Spring, are we any closer to saving the world?

Telegraph: It's the end of an important anniversary year. You already knew that? Sure, but I'm not thinking of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. For 2012, far less happily, also marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the great and growing environmental slanging match. On June 16, 1962 -- half a century before this summer's vapid Rio Earth Summit -- the New Yorker started serialising one of those rare books that make history. Published three months later, Silent Spring -- by a shy, studious scientist, Rachel...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/9769483/Fifty-years-after-Silent-Spring-are-we-any-closer-to-saving-the-world.html

Lisa Jackson leaves; EPA boss stood up to industry

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency boss Lisa Jackson, the Obama administration`s clean air champion, will leave her post at the beginning of President Obama`s second term, creating another Cabinet level vacancy to be filled in his second term. "Lisa leaves giant shoes to fill," said Frances Bienecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. An outspoken native of New Orleans` 9th Ward, later inundated by Hurricane Katrina, Jackson was an eloquent voice linking environmental protection...

URL: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/12/27/lisa-jackson-leaves-epa-boss-stood-up-to-industry/

Carbon Taxes Make Ireland Even Greener

New York Times: Over the last three years, with its economy in tatters, Ireland embraced a novel strategy to help reduce its staggering deficit: charging households and businesses for the environmental damage they cause. The government imposed taxes on most of the fossil fuels used by homes, offices, vehicles and farms, based on each fuel's carbon dioxide emissions, a move that immediately drove up prices for oil, natural gas and kerosene. Household trash is weighed at the curb, and residents are billed for anything...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/science/earth/in-ireland-carbon-taxes-pay-off.html

2012: The year cities stood up to climate change — and took a beating

Grist: A year ago, as the curtain was closing on 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood in front of an audience at the United Nations and declared that it would be cities, not national governments, that would lead the fight against climate change. "As mayors - the great pragmatists of the world's stage and directly responsible for the well-being of the majority of the world's people - we don't have the luxury of simply talking about change but not delivering it," he said. 2012 would prove...

URL: http://grist.org/cities/2012-the-year-cities-stood-up-to-climate-change-and-took-a-beating/

Climate Science Makes an 11th-Hour Comeback in 2012

Inside Climate News: This was the year climate change vanished from the political agenda—and then suddenly reappeared, after Hurricane Sandy shook the country. It was just a few years ago that Pres. Obama flew to Copenhagen to rescue faltering climate treaty talks amid bipartisan calls for global warming action. But in 2012, there wasn't a single Congressional proposal or hearing on climate legislation. Neither was there mention of climate change on the presidential campaign trail, or in the debates for the first time...

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20121228/climate-change-science-global-warming-hurricane-sandy-obama-mayor-bloomberg-drought-wildfires-arctic-melt-ipcc?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Fblog+%28InsideClimate+News%29
Enclosure: http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/home_page_slideshow/itsglobalwarmingstupid2_0.jpg

Rebecca Tarbotton, head of Rainforest Action Network, dies at 39

Grist: On Dec. 26, Rebecca Tarbotton, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, died while vacationing along the west coast of Mexico, north of Puerto Vallarta. In a freak accident at the beach, she got tossed around in rough surf, took too much water into her lungs, and asphyxiated. She was 39 years old. Tarbotton had been at the helm of RAN since August 2010, and had worked with the organization for almost six years. Under her leadership, RAN has focused on the intersections between forests,...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/remembering-rebecca-tarbotton-head-of-rainforest-action-network-who-died-this-week/

Rapid climate change helped humans to evolve

Daily Mail: How rapid climate change helped humans to evolve: Our ancestors 'had to adapt quickly to changing habitats' Findings contradict previous theories which suggest change was gradual Terrain changed from woods to grassland 'five or six times over 200,000 years', researchers claim Rapid changes said to have triggered development of the brain as humans struggled to deal with changing environment Human evolution may have been driven by rapid climate change in Africa two million years ago, new...

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2254088/Rapid-climate-change-helped-humans-evolve-claims-new-study-Our-ancestors-adapt-quickly-changing-habitats.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Enclosure: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/12/28/article-2254088-16AC300E000005DC-915_634x425.jpg

Environmental Taxes in Ireland

New York Times: Taxes on garbage and fossil fuels are part of Ireland's novel strategy to shrink its debt.

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/12/28/multimedia/100000001914798/taxing-for-environmental-costs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://nyti.ms/12TNUsJ

Global warming threatens U.S. ski industry, but Oregon unscathed

Oregonian: With snowpack accumulating steadily this week on Oregon peaks, it's hard to imagine less-than-adequate conditions for skiing and snowboarding. "Right now we've received over half our annual snowfall and it's not even the first of January," said Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort spokesman Andy Goggins. But a recent report suggests the nation's ski resorts would be wise to keep an eye on the sky, global warning trends and their supply of snowmakers. The nation's $12.2 billion winter tourism industry...

URL: http://www.oregonlive.com/playbooks-profits/index.ssf/2012/12/global_warming_threatens_us_sk.html
Enclosure: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/climate-impacts-winter-tourism.asp

BLM approves Las Vegas water pipeline project

Associated Press: The Bureau of Land Management signed off Thursday on a massive pipeline project to carry billions of gallons of water to Las Vegas from rural counties along the Nevada-Utah line. The record of decision, signed by Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, authorizes the BLM to issue a right of way to Southern Nevada Water Authority for the 263-mile pipeline that will stretch from the rural areas to the desert gambling metropolis that is home to some 2 million people and attracts 40 million visitors...

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50310971/ns/us_news-environment/

Strong jet stream super-charged US Christmas storms

New Scientist: The weather outside was truly frightful across much of the US and UK this holiday season. In the US, a powerful winter storm whipped up heavy snow, icy winds and a record number of tornadoes in late December, causing at least 15 deaths. Such storms are not unusual at this time of year, but an especially strong jet stream made the storm more intense, says meteorologist Greg Carbin of the US National Weather Service. "One of the more remarkable places was Little Rock, Arkansas," says Carbin....

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23037-strong-jet-stream-supercharged-us-christmas-storms.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNSNS%7C2012-GLOBAL%7Cclimate-change
Enclosure: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn23037/dn23037-1_300.jpg

Head of EPA made progress, despite lack of support

Marketplace: It's turnover time for key members of the Obama administration. And this morning the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, announced she's leaving before the second term starts. Jackson departs a day after the U.S. economy stepped on the energy scale. And, guess what, we're skinnier. According to the Energy Information agency, Americans consumed 3 percent less energy than last year. And consumption is trending down. Our cars guzzle less, in part because of Jackson's agency. "A big driver of that...

URL: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/head-epa-made-progress-despite-lack-support
Enclosure: http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/marketplace/segments/2012/12/27/marketplace_segment19_20121227_64.mp3

Nuclear power plant flood risk: Sandy was just a warm-up

Remapping Debate: As Hurricane Sandy approached the East Coast late last October, more than a dozen nuclear power plants from North Carolina stretching up to New England were in its wide-ranging path. On Oct. 29, the night that the eye of the storm made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, five nuclear plants were forced to either reduce power or make emergency shutdowns. The most serious event was at the Oyster Creek Generating Station located in Lacey Township, near Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, about 40 miles...

URL: http://www.remappingdebate.org/article/nuclear-power-plant-flood-risk-sandy-was-just-warm

Kerry's climate change credentials

LA Times: Sen. John Kerry, President Obama's nominee for secretary of State, may not be able to bring peace to the Middle East, end enduring trade and currency disputes with China or mend fences with all the anti-American leaders in Latin America. But he may be capable of redirecting the debate over an issue of equal or greater importance: climate change. Kerry is among the most forward-thinking members of the U.S. Senate when it comes to understanding both the threats of and the practical responses to...

URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-1228-kerry-20121228,0,4479384.story
Enclosure: http://www.trbimg.com/img-50dcee64/turbine/la-ed-1228-kerry-20121228-001/600

Did EPA Chief Jackson resign because her secret emails are to go public next month?

Daily Mail: The EPA chief announced on Thursday that she will resign after four years on the job for 'new challenges, time with my family and new opportunities to make a difference` Chris Horner, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the scrutiny over the alias emails regarding the Obama administration's alleged 'war on coal,` is clearly a factor behind Jackson`s decision to step down Jackson's resignation is effective following the President's State of the Union address next month A Washington...

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253999/Did-EPA-Chief-Lisa-Jackson-resign-secret-emails-public-month.html

EPA head Lisa Jackson to step down

Marketplace: The Obama Administration announced this morning the head of the Environmental Protection Agency -- Lisa Jackson -- is stepping down. This is the time, at the start of a second term, when many Cabinet-level jobs turn over. Jackson says she's ready for new opportunities and more time with her family. The president praised her for making our air and water safer. Jackson is a Princeton-educated chemical engineer, who took over after an administration headed by an oilman president. She walked...

URL: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/epa-head-lisa-jackson-step-down
Enclosure: http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/marketplace/segments/2012/12/27/marketplace_segment08_20121227_64.mp3

UK flooding: 'It felt as if my house had died'

Guardian: The days blur into one for pensioners Les and Sheila Seaton. They get up early, spend the day cleaning, scrubbing, organising and then collapse in front of the television on their borrowed armchairs. "We get to see the first few seconds of the programme, then we fall fast asleep," said Les, a sprightly 79-year-old. "We wake up an hour or two later and go to bed, then it starts over again next morning. It's been hard work but we'll get there in the end." The Seatons are just one of the tens...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/28/uk-flooding-house-died
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/12/28/1356709871248/Kelvin-Boot-Kennford-floo-008.jpg

United Kingdom: Forest Canopy Color Reveals CO2 Uptake

Scientific American: When autumn rolls around, the leaf peepers come out in force. Armed with digital cameras, they record the most spectacular displays of fall foliage. Well according to a study in the journal Functional Ecology [Toshie Mizunuma et al, The relationship between carbon dioxide uptake and canopy colour from two camera systems in a deciduous forest in southern England], those images may be more than just pretty pictures. They may represent a new way to monitor climate change. Trees take carbon dioxide,...

URL: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=forest-canopy-color-reveals-co2-upt-12-12-28
Enclosure: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12026/abstract

Greens praise Jackson despite roller coaster EPA tenure

Politico: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is leaving her post after four years of battling Republicans and industry while also giving the White House some heartburn along the way over her push for new clean air rules. Jackson has won praise from greens for her tenure, but she also leaves with the Obama administration having yet to aggressively address climate change. "I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/epa-administrator-lisa-jackson-resigns-85530.html
Enclosure: http://images.politico.com/global/news/111129_lisa_jackson8_ap_328.jpg

Superstorm lessons for adapting to climate change

New Scientist: PYRAMIDS of rubble still dominate the streets of Union Beach, New Jersey. Boats are parked in odd places, while a layer of glass and grit makes the sidewalks crunch. Down by the water everything is quiet. You can see Manhattan across the bay, framed by the skeletons of dwellings devoured by one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US east coast. Superstorm Sandy killed more than 100 people last October, destroyed tens of thousands of homes and stranded millions without power or heat. The...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23036-superstorm-lessons-for-adapting-to-climate-change.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNSNS%7C2012-GLOBAL%7Cclimate-change
Enclosure: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn23036/dn23036-1_300.jpg

Mississippi River drops, threatening barge traffic

Associated Press: The Mississippi River level is dropping again and barge industry trade groups warned Thursday that river commerce could essentially come to a halt as early as next week in an area south of St. Louis. Mike Petersen of the Army Corps of Engineers said ice on the northern Mississippi River is reducing the flow more than expected at the middle part of the river that is already at a low-water point unseen in decades, the result of months of drought. The river level is now expected to get to 3 feet...

URL: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iiabjLy2GJpcFWZeVD39V2GgghbA?docId=b3848ca6176c4c4f9940fccf7e31fe39
Enclosure: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5iu3fm81OkgphZRQZFSyNrH_wZTjw?docId=eb98e9c7978844cfb3f89d435faebd77&size=l

International Aid Helps Cuba Adapt to Climate Change

Inter Press Service: "Adaptation to climate change is urgent and must be part of development," said Bárbara Pesce-Monteiro, the United Nations resident coordinator in Cuba, assessing the damage done by hurricane Sandy in the eastern region of the country. She said the damage was very serious, especially in Santiago de Cuba, a city of almost half a million people and a services hub for other towns. In order to support the country at such a difficult time, the United Nations system in Cuba designed an action plan that...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/international-aid-helps-cuba-adapt-to-climate-change

Over 95 percent of Scotland's government buildings fail green test

Scotsman: THE SNP`s green energy stance has been labelled "embarrassing" after it emerged that less than 5 per cent of government buildings use specialist equipment to produce electricity and heat from renewable sources. Under the internationally recognised Microgeneration Certification Scheme, buildings can be officially classed as ones that produce their electricity and heat from renewable sources. However, ministers admitted just three Scottish Government buildings have micro-generation technology...

URL: http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/environment/over-95-per-cent-of-government-buildings-fail-green-test-1-2709483

United Kingdom: Wettest year on record for England – and more rain to come

Telegraph: Heavy downpours over the Christmas period coupled with an unseasonably wet summer meant an average of 1,095.8mm of rain has already fallen in England during 2012 -- the highest since records began in 1910. The previous high was an average of 1,093.3mm of rain in 2000. The UK as a whole will also mark its wettest ever year if an average of 46mm of rain falls before the New Year. And that is likely with more heavy rain and gale force winds expected to hit the country over coming days. It...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9767882/Wettest-year-on-record-for-England...-and-still-more-rain-and-wind-to-come.html

Big decisions loom over fracking for next US EPA administrator

Reuters: The past four years of U.S. environmental regulation was marked by a crackdown on emissions that angered coal miners and power companies. Over the next four, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency will have to decide whether to take on an even larger industry: Big Oil. Following Lisa Jackson's resignation on Wednesday, her successor will inherit the tricky task of regulating a drilling boom that has revolutionized the energy industry but raised fears over the possible contamination...

URL: http://www.thepost.co.za/fracking-usa-big-decisions-loom-1.1445638#.UN2Hmne2pTw

Chevron CEO says energy prices scarier than climate change

Associated Press: Chevron CEO John Watson notices something important as he visits his company's operations around the globe: Governments everywhere find high energy prices much scarier than the threat of global warming. And that means the world will need a lot more oil and gas in the years to come. To meet that demand, Chevron is in the midst of an enormous cycle of investment aimed at extracting oil and gas from wherever it hides in the earth's crust. Chevron Corp., based in San Ramon, Calif., is the second largest...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Chevron-s-CEO-Affordable-energy-is-crucial-4149215.php

Schleswig-Holstein Will Double Wind Capacity on Land


The German state of Schleswig-Holstein recently approved doubling the land area devoted to wind energy. The move is significant because the North-German land or state bordering Denmark has the highest concentration of wind energy in Germany.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/schleswig-holstein-will-double-wind-capacity-on-land?cmpid=rss

Renewable Energy Review: India


Developers, manufacturers, investors and other renewable energy industry stakeholders need to know where the next big market is going to be so that they can adjust their business decisions accordingly.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/renewable-energy-review-india?cmpid=rss

Framing and Air-Sealing Tips for High-Performance Walls

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New videos from Hammer and Hand feature framer Val Darrah, who shares his techniques for building Passivhaus walls

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In three new videos produced by Oregon builder Hammer & Hand, lead carpenter Val Darrah explains how he keeps air sealing in mind as he frames the walls for his current project, the Pumpkin Ridge 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..

Val explains why he prefers to use a router rather than a saw when he cuts out window openings in the OSB sheathingMaterial, usually plywood or oriented strand board (OSB), but sometimes wooden boards, installed on the exterior of wall studs, rafters, or roof trusses; siding or roofing installed on the sheathing—sometimes over strapping to create a rainscreen. . He also shares his method of building window bucks out of 3/4-inch plywood.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-blog/framing-and-air-sealing-tips-high-performance-walls

Renewable Energy World's Top 10 Most Watched Videos of 2012


One on one interviews, project developments, and in-depth features are just some of what envelops this year's most watched videos. Check out the top ten videos and let us know your favorite in the comments below.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/12/top-10-most-watched-videos-of-2012?cmpid=rss

U.S. on new track to catch Saudis in oil production

CBS News: Despite rising gas prices, oil production is surging in this country. That has some predicting the U.S. could eventually overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest petroleum producer by 2020. In the middle of a Colorado cornfield, sandwiched between cattle and farm houses, is the front line of an American oil boom. "We plan to invest over $8 billion over the next five years here, so we're really excited," said Mike Dickinson, who works for Noble Energy, which is doubling it's production in...

URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57561042/the-secret-to-catching-the-saudis-in-oil-production/

Lots of grandstanding on energy, little action

Chemical and Engineering News: Over the past year, Congress has accomplished little to influence the nation`s use of energy resources. Although key House of Representatives and Senate committees have held hearings and press conferences and issued statements and even passed bills, the committees cleared little legislation that had much of a real possibility of becoming law. Instead, in the Republican-controlled House, committees focused primarily on oversight hearings and passed legislation with a political goal of attacking...

URL: http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i52/Lots-Grandstanding-Energy-Little-Action.html
Enclosure: http://cen.acs.org/content/cen/articles/90/i52/Lots-Grandstanding-Energy-Little-Action/_jcr_content/articlebody/subpar/articlemedia_0.img.jpg/1356047514347.jpg

Seven months later, no progress

Chicago Tribune: It was a classic power play. In May, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, surprised representatives of the oil and gas industries with an amendment to a piece of drilling legislation that essentially killed the entire bill. He wanted to get their attention. He did. Seven months later, Illinois is no closer to realizing the potential for hydraulic fracturing that was addressed in the legislation. Also known as fracking, the controversial extraction technique involves injecting...

URL: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-frack-1228-jm-20121228,0,562140.story
Enclosure: http://www.trbimg.com/img-50dcef72/turbine/ct-edit-frack-1228-jm-20121228-001/600

Japan's new government sticks to three-year nuclear safety goal

Reuters: Japan's new government said on Friday it hoped to stick to a three year deadline to decide whether to restart all nuclear reactors after safety checks, despite the country's newly formed nuclear regulator saying the deadline was impossible to meet. Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who is also responsible for energy policy, said reactors would be restarted as units received the all-clear from the atomic regulator. "We will rely on the NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) to judge safety from...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/28/us-japan-nuclear-idUSBRE8BR02T20121228?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20121228&t=2&i=688863291&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE8BR0A1X00