ZeroPoint Clean Tech Announces Second Live Carbon-Negative Biomass Gasification Power Plant.

ZeroPoint's carbon negative process utilizes biomass to create renewable gas and yields biochar as a co-product. Biochar is a highly stable form of sequestered carbon with multiple uses in agriculture and industry

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12016.html

Republic Services: Waste as a Resource, World’s Largest Recycling Operation Up and Running.

The facility will process all of the commercial waste generated by businesses in San Jose, California. In addition, the facility is expected to divert at least 80 percent of material collected.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12015.html

Sustainable Industry Predictions for the Second Half of 2012

The outlook for sustainable industries looked challenging during the first half of 2012, as cleantech average deal sizes along with equity financings, and project financings were down compared to the last quarter of 2011. The upcoming elections European debt crisis, and other macro issues have also been weighing on the US economy during the past several months. However, despite these unfavorable conditions, Cascadia believes that financing and M&A; in the sustainable industries will begin to make progress and consequently, stabilize by the end of this year. We expect this recovery to be led in part by activity in the energy efficiency and solar sectors, along with early stage investments.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/sustainable-industry-predictions-for-the-second-half-of-2012?cmpid=rss

Statoil Seeks U.S. Lease for Floating Wind Farm Off Maine Coast

Statoil ASA, Norway's state- controlled oil company, is seeking permission to build a wind farm with floating turbines off the U.S. Atlantic coast.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/statoil-seeks-u-s-lease-for-floating-wind-farm-off-maine-coast?cmpid=rss

Latin America Report: Region Offers New Direction for China's Solar Giants

Suntech recently passed the 1 gigawatt (GW) mark in the Americas, and of course, the vast share of those installations were done in the more mature, lucrative and stable North America region.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/latin-america-report-region-an-emerging-outlet-for-chinas-solar-giants?cmpid=rss

UQM Electric Drive Systems Powered by Fuel Cells in Olympic Taxi Cabs.

UQM PowerPhase Pro (r) 100 electric drive systems are powering a fleet of zero-emission, fuel cell London taxicabs during the 2012 Olympic Games held in the British capital.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12014.html

Two Years Later: Revisiting the Taxonomy of Cleantech

It's been two years since Kachan & Co. first published its definition of what industries and categories constitute cleantech. A lot happens in two years, so it's time to refresh our taxonomy. A clean technology taxonomy, a list of nested categories, is important. It shows where a clean technology "fits." It helps vendors understand their competitiv

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/two-years-later-revisiting-the-taxonomy-of-cleantech?cmpid=rss

Trendspotting: US States Warming up to Renewable Energy Heating and Cooling, Part 2

If states are going to add a heating requirement to their RPS or even allow heat energy to be applicable, monitoring and metering will be key and that can be problematic.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/trendspotting-us-states-warming-up-to-renewable-energy-heating-and-cooling-part-2?cmpid=rss

Pattern Energy Group: Nevada's First Wind Project Operational.

Pattern Energy Group has announced that its Spring Valley Wind project – the first wind power project in the state of Nevada – has completed construction and is fully operational. A ceremony is being held to commence commercial operations at the 151.8 megawatt (MW) Spring Valley Wind project, which is located near the town of Ely.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12013.html

The Wind PTC: A Victim of Politics

![][1] Jobs and the economy – these are the messages being heralded of utmost importance during the presidential campaigns. Meanwhile, with the wind energy industry still on pins and needles regarding an extension to the Production Tax Credit (PTC), no orders for wind projects in the U.S. have been placed for 2013. Manufacturers are left with no other cho

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/9/body-the-wind-ptc-a-victim-of-politics.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/the-wind-ptc-a-victim-of-politics?cmpid=rss

NorthWestern Energy has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking up to 45 MW of qualified Community Renewable Energy Projects

NorthWestern Energy will consider either Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) or Build-Transfer proposals and has no preference for either form of agreement.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/content/fundopps.html

Arizona Public Service Co. has announced a Request for Proposal (RFP) from solar developers and installers to construct a 32-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic facility in Gila Bend, Arizona.

Projects must employ commercially proven technology.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/content/fundopps.html

NewsLinkKLD and Samsung Partnership Combines Batteries with Electric Drive.

The relationship to jointly develop state-of-the-art battery systems which will incorporate Samsung SDI's industry-leading lithium-ion battery cells and KLD's innovative electric vehicle drive technologies.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12010.html

W2 Energy Assembles its New Turn-key Biodiesel Plant.

W2 Energy recently purchased a fully operating turn-key bio-diesel plant from Agri-Green Biodiesel, Inc.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12012.html

Boston-Power Batteries for Beijing Electric Vehicle Company.

Under terms of the agreement, Boston-Power's battery systems are expected to support multiple BJEV models and brands.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12011.html

Fixing Those Drainage Problems, 30 Years Later

Subtitle:

I finally fix the basement drainage problems that have plagued my house for 30 years

Images:

[![][1]][2]

[![][3]][2]

[![][4]][2]

[![][5]][2]

When I bought the house in West Dummerston, Vermont, where my wife and I have lived for the past thirty years, one of the first things I did was fix the drainage problems that were dumping water into our basement…

Or so I thought. Let me explain.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/West_1019_MedRes.jpg (West side of house)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/fixing-those-drainage-problems-30-years-later
[3]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/West_0207_MedRes.jpg (Leakage at window well)
[4]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/East_0761_MedRes.jpg (Front of house)
[5]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/East_0760_MedRes.jpg (New grade on front of house)

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/fixing-those-drainage-problems-30-years-later

American Battery Maker A123 Looks to China for Financial Rescue

![][1] A Florida lawmaker opposed the potential sale of control in A123 Systems Inc., the U.S. maker of automotive rechargeable batteries, to a Chinese company, citing national security concerns.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/9/body-american-battery-maker-a123-looks-to-china-for-financial-rescue.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/american-battery-maker-a123-looks-to-china-for-financial-rescue?cmpid=rss

Local Content Rule Thwarts Solar Development in Brazil

![][1] Brazil's bid to spur solar-energy projects is failing as a ban on state subsidies for foreign-made panel parts hinders sales by the world's biggest producers.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/9/body-local-content-rule-thwarts-solar-development-in-brazil.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/local-content-rule-thwarts-solar-development-in-brazil?cmpid=rss

Trendspotting: US States Warming up to Renewable Energy Heating and Cooling, Part 1

![][1] Of the fifty U.S. states, four territories and one District of Colombia, almost forty of them have some kind of renewable energy requirement on the books and of those forty, only about fourteen allow some type of thermal renewable energy to meet at least a portion of its renewable portfolio standard. But that might be changing.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/9/body-trendspotting-us-states-warming-up-to-renewable-energy-heating-and-cooling-part-1.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/trendspotting-us-states-warming-up-to-renewable-energy-heating-and-cooling-part-1?cmpid=rss

Follow Germany's Lead: Streamlined Permitting

![][1] Germany, a leader in renewable energy, recently set a world record when it produced 22 GW of power on May 26th, 2012.  At that point in time, half of the country's electricity was generated from solar.  Germany's current capacity for solar energy reaches about 28 GW and the country aims to reach 66GW by 2030. By the end of 2011, Germany had about 2

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/9/body-follow-germanys-lead-streamlined-permitting.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/follow-germanys-lead-streamlined-permitting?cmpid=rss

Assessing the Nova Scotia RFP and the Future of Wind Power in Atlantic Canada

![][1] Nova Scotia announced three winning bids for wind projects totalling 116 MW last week completing the province's request for 300/GWh per year of electricity derived from renewable energy. The winning bids include two phases of the South Canoe Wind Project totalling 102 MW, which is being led by a partnership between Nova Scotia-based companies Oxfor

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/7/body-assessing-the-nova-scotia-rfp-outcomes-and-the-future-for-wind-in-atlantic-canada.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/assessing-the-nova-scotia-rfp-outcomes-and-the-future-for-wind-in-atlantic-canada?cmpid=rss

Poland Moving to Feed-in Tariffs

![][1] Poland, a country that produces 90% of its electricity with coal and once a seemingly impregnable bastion of neoliberalism in the heart of Europe, has announced that it will introduce a new law on renewable energy. The new law will introduce feed-in tariffs for the first time.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/8/body-poland-moving-to-feed-in-tariffs.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/poland-moving-to-feed-in-tariffs?cmpid=rss

Ford C-MAX Hybrid: 47-47-47.

All-new 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid delivers EPA-certified 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway ratings – 7 mpg better than Toyota Prius v on the highway – for a 47 mpg combined rating.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12008.html

Walmart with Wind Power.

The wind turbine, expected to be operational by this fall, will provide roughly one megawatt of power or 15 to 20 percent of the distribution center's yearly electrical use.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12007.html

Ford C-MAX Energi Plug-in: All Electric Top Speed 85 MPH.

Topping the Toyota Prius plug-in's top EV-only speed by more than 20 mph, the all-new, five-passenger Ford C-MAX Energi can easily keep pace with the flow of traffic, even when the EV mode button is engaged and the gasoline engine is off.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12009.html

Los Angeles California's Incentive Programs for Large and Small Solar Systems

![][1] For those of you who may not know, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has developed a Solar Incentive Program (SIP) to support solar energy in Los Angeles. This Solar Incentive Program can help you with the cost of installing a new solar system.  The Solar Feed-in Tariff Program, which allows owners of large-scale on-grid solar systems t

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/8/body-la-solar-incentive-program-and-feed-in-tariff-program.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/la-solar-incentive-program-and-feed-in-tariff-program?cmpid=rss

Why Doesn’t Heat Flow Backwards?

Subtitle:

Ruminations on the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Images:

[![][1]][2]

[![][3]][2]

Why can't you put a cup of cold coffee on the table, wait a moment, and then enjoy a nice cup of hot coffee? We do the opposite all the time, but what makes the direction of hot-to-cold so special? If you've studied physics or taken a class in building science, you've heard that the answer is the Second Law of Thermodynamics. But what does that really mean?

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/smoke-heat-flow-second-law-of-thermodynamics.jpg (Smoke rising)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/building-science/why-doesn-t-heat-flow-backwards
[3]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/broken-egg-arrow-of-time-second-law-of-thermodynamics.jpg (Broken egg and the Arrow of Time)

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/building-science/why-doesn-t-heat-flow-backwards

United Technologies Sells Clipper Windpower to Platinum Equity

![][1] United Technologies Corp., the industrial conglomerate, sold its Clipper Windpower unit to Platinum Equity LLC, completing a divestiture announced in March.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/8/body-united-technologies-sells-clipper-windpower-to-platinum-equity.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/united-technologies-sells-clipper-windpower-to-platinum-equity?cmpid=rss

Offshore Use of Vertical-axis Wind Turbines Gets Closer Look

![][1] Sandia National Laboratories' wind energy researchers are re-evaluating vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) to help solve some of the problems of generating energy from offshore breezes.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/8/body-offshore-use-of-vertical-axis-wind-turbines-gets-closer-look.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/offshore-use-of-vertical-axis-wind-turbines-gets-closer-look?cmpid=rss

Building with Bioplastics:Atmospheric Carbon Storage in Construction Materials - Part 6

The man-enhanced natural process is available today to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. And, in looks as though processes that grab carbon dioxide at the source are not too far behind.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2012/20120080.html

Seven Days of Solar 7-22-12

New Jersey changes RPS to extend solar boom. News updates of more than 28 MW completed, 400 MW in development.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2012/20120079.html

It's Time for India to get Serious About Solar.

600 million people without power – and those were the ones expecting to have power. I'm not going to join the chorus of critical voices reacting to two of the world's largest power black-outs this week in India.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/contribute/articles2012/2012sub02.html

Making Projects Happen with Group Net Metering Policies

![][1] Almost every state in the country has net metering laws on the books. But only a few states allow a lesser-known policy that is critical for the expansion of distributed renewables, particularly community-scale solar — that's aggregate, virtual, or group net metering.  And there are a lot of good reasons to want to see its expansion. The basic prem

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/7/body-dissolving-traditional-energy-boundaries-with-group-net-metering.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/dissolving-traditional-energy-boundaries-with-group-net-metering?cmpid=rss

Are the Batteries Ready? 100% Clean Energy Requires Progress on Storage

![][1] In the long run, there's no avoiding energy storage for a 100% renewable energy society.  The two major sources of renewable power are wind and sun, and they are either fickle or reliably not available at night. The problem is that the simplest energy storage option for electricity is batteries, and this image from Wikipedia (hat tip to Robert Rapi

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/7/body-are-the-batteries-ready-100-clean-energy-requires-progress-on-storage.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/are-the-batteries-ready-100-clean-energy-requires-progress-on-storage?cmpid=rss

Wind and Solar Developers Get Access to U.S. Land Used by Pentagon

![][1] The U.S. will give wind- and solar- energy companies access to 16 million acres of federal land previously set aside for military testing and training.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/7/body-wind-and-solar-developers-get-access-to-u-s-land-used-by-pentagon.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/wind-and-solar-developers-get-access-to-u-s-land-used-by-pentagon?cmpid=rss

Sustainable Development on the Mekong

![][1] As it flows south through Southeast Asia, the Mekong River — steeped in history and rich in wildlife — represents the future of progress and security for many in the region

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/7/body-sustainable-development-on-the-mekong.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/sustainable-development-on-the-mekong?cmpid=rss

While We Feel the Heat, Another Climate Denier Sees the Light

Triple Pundit: There is an overwhelming scientific consensus on the question of anthropomorphic (human-induced) climate change. In fact, most people would say that it is no longer a question. A number of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the world, including the American Physical Society, the National Academy of Science and numerous others have issued formal statements affirming their conviction that global warming is real and that it is man-made. There remain a few skeptics, however, some of them...

URL: http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/08/feel-heat-another-climate-denier-sees-light/
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/U5m6KzDnv7k

Climate change threatens to alter marine ecosystem

Vancouver Sun: Climate change threatens to wreak havoc on entire marine ecosystems due to factors such as rising water temperatures, increased acidification, and reduced oxygen levels, according to a report on B.C.'s Pacific coast. The report by World Wildlife Fund-Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society warns that species such as Pacific salmon, southern pink shrimp, Pacific cod, and hake are expected to move northward, along with Humboldt squid, which have arrived in B.C. in large numbers in recent...

URL: http://www.vancouversun.com/Climate+change+threatens+alter+marine+ecosystem/7050645/story.html

Wonkbook: Climate change may be to blame for extreme weather events now

Washington Post: A new study finds some extreme weather events wouldn`t have happened without climate change. "The percentage of the earth's land surface covered by extreme heat in the summer has soared in recent decades, from less than 1 percent in the years before 1980 to as much as 13 percent in recent years, according to a new scientific paper. The change is so drastic, the paper says, that scientists can claim with near certainty that events like the Texas heat wave last year, the Russian heat wave of 2010 and...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/07/wonkbook-climate-change-may-be-to-blame-for-extreme-weather-events-now/

China to build agricultural research facility in Mali

SciDev.Net: China plans to build a centre for agricultural research and technological demonstration near Bamako, Mali, to carry out experiments and technical training, and to contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture in the country, according to an agreement between the two governments announced last month (11 July). The announcement came ahead of the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing (19--20 July), at which the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, pledged to build further...

URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/china-to-build-agricultural-research-facility-in-mali.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment

Deforestation fuels temperature hikes around Mt. Kilimanjaro

AlertNet: A logging boom has hit Tanzania's tourist-drawing Kilimanjaro region, reducing the region's native forests, hitting rainfall and leading to unusually high temperatures. The increasingly extreme weather has come as a surprise to people who live a stone's throw from one of the world's heritage sites, and who had been used to a cold, misty climate. Joshua Meena, 72, a resident of Machame, told AlertNet that the annual rainfall in the region has been dwindling from year to year over the past decade,...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/deforestation-fuels-temperature-hikes-around-mt-kilimanjaro
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/2cfd1f93-b542-4658-af94-12b3e58a4b89/photowide/?w=460&h=318&vn=201208071221

Selecting a General Contractor

Subtitle:

We have an architect and we have preliminary plans — now we need a contractor

Images:

[![][1]][2]

_[Editor's note: Roger and Lynn Normand are building a Passivhaus in Maine. This is the third article in a series that will follow their project from planning through construction.]_

What's the best way to pick a residential general contractor (GC)? There are many books written on the subject. I want to focus this blog on one specific aspect: the point in time that the GC becomes a member of the team along with the architect and the homeowner.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Tool belt.jpg ()
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/selecting-general-contractor

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/selecting-general-contractor

2012 Hottest Year on Record for Northeast So Far

Inside Climate News: The first seven months of 2012 were the warmest the U.S. Northeast has seen since recordkeeping began in 1895. So says the Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell University, adding to a string of data showing record-smashing temperatures amid the country's worst heat wave and drought in more than 50 years. The average temperature regionally was 49.9 degrees Fahrenheit from January through July, the warmest on record for the 12-state Northeast, except for Pennsylvania and West Virginia....

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/breaking-news/20120807/2012-hottest-year-record-northeast-so-far?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Fblog+%28InsideClimate+News%29

Near Fracking Wells, the Many Quakes That Go Unfelt

New York Times: A series of small earthquakes made Halloween of 2008 an unusually scary one for people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. While it has long been theorized that underground injections of fluids from oil and gas development operations could decrease friction and cause faults to slip, the quakes occurred in an area where people weren`t accustomed to tremors, renewing calls for research into the geological consequences of the booming natural gas industry in Texas. In a new study, one of the researchers...

URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/near-fracking-wells-the-many-quakes-that-go-unfelt/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/08/blogs/shale/shale-blog480.jpg

Fred Krupp: A New Climate-Change Consensus

Wall Street Journal: One scorching summer doesn't confirm that climate change is real any more than a white Christmas proves it's a hoax. What matters is the trend-a decades-long march toward hotter and wilder weather. But with more than 26,000 heat records broken in the last 12 months and pervasive drought turning nearly half of all U.S. counties into federal disaster areas, many data-driven climate skeptics are reassessing the issue. Respected Republican leaders like Govs. John Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie...

URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444320704577569231537988226.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Climate Change's Role in Heat Waves Still Under Debate

LiveScience: It's no surprise to those who follow climate science that temperature patterns have shifted as the world has warmed up. But in a new study, outspoken climate scientist James Hansen goes a step further, saying devastating heat waves in recent years are the result of global warming. Since natural dynamics -- such as fluctuations in sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean -- contribute to extreme events like heat waves, this connection can be controversial. Scientists disagree...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/climate-changes-role-heat-waves-still-under-debate-230346621.html

Recent extreme heatwaves 'a result of global warming'

Independent: Global warming is responsible for the recent spate of summer heatwaves, according to James Hansen, the scientist who first alerted the world to the dangers of climate change. Dr Hansen, director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said that the "climate dice" are now loaded in favour of extreme heatwaves which now affect 10 per cent of the Earth's surface, compared with about 1 per cent in the period between 1951 to 1980. Dr Hansen said that at least three extreme summers...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/recent-extreme-heatwaves-a-result-of-global-warming-8010213.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8010041.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/Pg-24-warming-ap.jpg

Rise in Extreme Heat Events Linked to Climate Change, Study Says

Yale Environment 360: A new NASA study has found that extreme heat events are far more likely to occur than five decades ago, a phenomenon that researchers link to climate change. In an analysis of long-term statistical trends, a team of researchers led by James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies describes how "extremely hot" summers -- defined as abnormally high mean summer temperatures that affected less than 1 percent of the planet's land area between 1951 and 1980 -- have become far more routine...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/rise_in_extreme_heat_events_linked_to_climate_change_study_says/3576/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Enclosure: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/warming-links.html

Heat Waves "Almost Certainly" Due to Global Warming

National Geographic: Recent heat waves that have triggered wildfires, droughts, and heat-related deaths in the United States and around the globe "almost certainly would not have occurred" without global warming-and will become more routine in coming years, NASA climate scientist James Hansen says. A new study examining six decades of global temperature data concludes that a sharp increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers can only be the result of human-caused global warming. ee an interactive map of global...

URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120803-global-warming-hansen-nasa-heat-waves-science/
Enclosure: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/578/overrides/droughts-heat-waves-caused-climate-change-hansen_57868_600x450.jpg

Mangrove conservation is 'economic' CO2 fix

BBC: Protecting mangroves to lock carbon away in trees may be an economic way to curb climate change, research suggests. Carbon credit schemes already exist for rainforests; the new work suggests mangroves could be included too. But other researchers say the economics depend on the global carbon price. Presenting their results in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the US-based team emphasises that protecting mangroves has important benefits for wildlife as well. Mangrove...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050796
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/61954000/jpg/_61954833_mangrove.jpg

California Meets 20 Percent of Electricity Demand With Clean Energy

Yale Environment 360: California power utilities are now achieving more than 20 percent of the state's electricity needs with renewable energy sources, state regulators say. In its latest quarterly report, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said that the state met 20.6 percent of its electricity demand with renewable sources -- including wind, solar, and geothermal -- during 2011, up from 17 percent in 2010. In 2012, the report says, the state is on pace to far surpass that level. According to the CPUC...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/california_meets_20_percent_of_electricity_demand_with_clean_energy/3577/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

U.S. business group challenges EPA mercury rule

Reuters: The biggest U.S. business lobby group said Monday it has petitioned a federal appeals court to invalidate environmental regulations it claims will lead to sweeping electricity blackouts by forcing coal-fired power plants to close. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it filed a friend-of-the-court brief with a broader business coalition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's "Utility MACT" rule, which aims to reduce emissions...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-coal-epa-idUSBRE8751F920120806?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Crop data gives drought-stricken farmers a leg up on getting by with less

Guardian: The device keeping disaster away from Glenn Cox's farm in this summer's devastating drought could well be the laptop on his kitchen counter. A few keystrokes and eventually his painfully slow dial-up connection pulls up graphs tracking temperature and moisture levels from his corn and peanut fields. The real-time feed gives Cox an advantage over farmers across a vast swathe of the mid-west who are preparing to give up on their crops. It's taken away the guess work. He knows where to water,...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/06/data-drought-stricken-farming
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/6/1344266929852/Georgia-crop-photo-VRI-te-008.jpg

Southeast Asia's largest lowland rainforest spared from new land concessions

Mongabay: Four economic land concessions have been cancelled in Cambodia's Prey Lang forest, known as the largest intact lowland forest in Southeast Asia, reports the Phnom Penh Post. The economic land concessions, totaling over 40,000 hectares, would have been used for rubber plantations. Prey Lang forest is home to some 350,000 people, many from the Kuy ethnic group, who depend on its resources for their livelihoods. Most locals have vocally opposed economic land concessions in the region, including by...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0806-hance-prey-lang-land-concessions.html
Enclosure: http://photos.mongabay.com/j/phnompenhavatars-3.568.jpg

Walmart Winds Up Wind Power In California

Forbes: As Walmart installed solar panels on its 100th California store in San Diego last week, a 265-foot-high wind turbine was rising outside one of the retail giant's distribution centers in the rural reaches of the Golden State. The 1-megawatt, General Electric turbine in Red Bluff is Walmart's first such installation and the next stage in the company's efforts to eventually obtain 100% of its energy from renewable sources. "It looks like our renewable energy strategy is going to take...

URL: http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/08/06/walmart-winds-up-wind-power-in-california/
Enclosure: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/toddwoody/files/2012/08/Red-Bluff-6-224x300.jpg

The Arctic Drilling Countdown

New York Times: After several weeks of delays linked to mechanical problems and persistent sea ice, Shell is completing its final preparations for drilling in the Arctic Ocean, company officials said Monday. The company hopes over the next several days to demonstrate to regulators that its oil spill containment equipment is ready and to receive clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency to operate its drill ships without running afoul of air pollution laws. Shell hopes to get the final green light from...

URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/the-arctic-drilling-countdown/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/06/business/bear/bear-blog480.jpg

Have the Kochs Had a Change of Heart?

Huffington Post: A recent study funded in part by the Charles G. Koch Foundation supports existing scientific evidence that global climate change is happening and is primarily caused by humans. The study's lead author, Dr. Richard Muller, was a well-known climate skeptic who was "converted" by his own examination of global temperature data. Charles Koch and his brother David have funneled over $61 million to groups that deny the science and seriousness of climate change. Because of this massive effort and the...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-radford/have-the-kochs-had-a-chan_b_1748524.html
Enclosure: http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-08-06-GreenpeacelettertoCharlesKoch.pdf

United Kingdom: Putting a price on the rivers and rain diminishes us all

Guardian: 'The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying 'This is mine', and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows, 'Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/06/price-rivers-rain-greatest-privatisation
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/6/1344274684805/Gunnerside-village-Swaled-009.jpg

Gibson Guitar to pay $300, 000 for violating Lacey Act with illegal timber imports from Madagascar

Mongabay: Gibson Guitar Company has avoided criminal prosecution under the Lacey Act - a law that aims to curb illegal logging abroad - by settling with the Department of Justice. Gibson had been charged with importing timber illegally logged from Madagascar's rainforests in 2008 and 2009. The instrument-maker was also under investigation for sourcing questionable rosewood and ebony products from India. Under the settlement, Gibson will pay a $300,000 fine for violating the Lacey Act and pay $50,000...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0806-gibson-doj-lacey.html

U.S. to allow restart of Enbridge's Line 14

Reuters: Enbridge Inc plans to restart on Tuesday a pipeline that leaked more than 1,000 barrels of crude onto a Wisconsin field after receiving the greenlight from U.S. regulators. U.S. pipeline regulators last week issued Enbridge a corrective action order, calling for measures to be taken before it would allow the resumption of flows along Line 14, which was halted after a leak was discovered on July 27. The Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-enbridge-pipeline-restart-idUSBRE87512220120806?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=20120806&t=2&i=639184776&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE8751DGQ00

Greenpeace Presses Charles Koch to Speak on Climate Change

U.S. News and World Report: Charles Koch's brother David, in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008. David Koch has mostly denied the existence of climate change. A week ago, a Charles Koch-funded climate change skeptic made waves when he said a new study had changed his mind about global warming, and that he believes humankind does play a role. Now, Greenpeace wants to know whether the petrochemical billionaire at the helm of Koch Industries has changed his mind, too. A letter, written by Greenpeace Executive Director...

URL: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/08/06/greenpeace-presses-charles-koch-to-speak-on-climate-change
Enclosure: http://www.usnews.com/pubdbimages/image/34552/koch3425x283.jpg

Are Recent Heat Waves A Result Of Climate Change?

National Public Radio: It's been an unusually hot couple of years in many parts of the U.S. But just how unusual is this? It's a question climate scientists are getting asked a lot. They wonder whether a warming climate is doing this or whether it's just part of the normal variation in the weather. Among scientists there's a growing view that these latest heat waves are a result of climate change. NASA climate scientist James Hansen has been looking at the past century's temperatures all over the world. He has measured...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/06/158215252/are-recent-heat-waves-a-result-of-climate-change
Enclosure: http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/08/06/texas-heat_wide.jpg?t=1344284147&s=4

Hansen Study: Extreme Weather Tied to Climate Change

Climate Central: Extreme weather events, such as the heat waves that have broiled the High Plains and Midwest this summer, smashing thousands of temperature records, are a direct consequence of global warming, according to a new study led by prominent climate scientist, James Hansen of NASA. The study seeks to reframe how people view the links between manmade global warming and extreme weather events, going farther than ever before in making direct ties between the two. The study by Hansen, who first warned of...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/hansen-study-extreme-weather-tied-to-climate-change-14760//
Enclosure: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/07/30/1205276109

World Bank unveils carbon incentive plan in Philippines

Agence France-Presse: The World Bank said on Monday it plans to buy carbon credits from pig farms in the Philippines, helping farmers generate extra income by setting up environment friendly waste treatment facilities. Under the program it will finance the installation of such waste treatment systems that will capture methane gas from pig manure which could be used to generate electricity, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The World Bank's Carbon Finance Unit will buy carbon credits from farms that instal...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-unveils-carbon-incentive-plan-philippines-180643607.html

Midwest Fish Kills Exacerbated By Record Heat

National Public Radio: This summer, extreme heat and drought have brought on larger than normal "fish kills" throughout the Midwest. Fish are dying by the tens of thousands. All Things Considered host Audie Cornish speaks with Aaron Woldt, Fisheries Program Supervisor for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Midwestern Region, about what's happening in these waters.

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/06/158232649/midwest-fish-kills-exacerbated-by-record-heat?ft=1&f=1025

Extreme summer heat linked to climate change, scientists say

LA Times: Exceedingly high summer temperatures, longer summers and related catastrophes, such as wildfire and drought, are poised to be the norm, and they are driven by climate change, according to a new research paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In an opinion article over the weekend in the Washington Post that previewed the findings, the paper's lead author, James E. Hansen wrote: "It is no longer enough to say that global warming will increase the likelihood...

URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-extreme-summer-heat-climate-change-scientists-say-20120806,0,7931870.story?track=rss
Enclosure: http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=91002&sitesection=selatimes&VID=23765299

Green moving is not just about the environment

Reuters: Brian Fox recently moved from one house to another in Irvine, Calif., and joined a growing number of consumers going "green" in the relocation process. Only on NBCNews.com Alleged gunman, 'Jack Boot,' led neo-Nazi punk band Updated 115 minutes ago 8/6/2012 7:07:51 PM +00:00 Wounded cop in Sikh temple shooting praised as hero Prenatal drug targeted lesbians, researchers say Man blasts Alaska Airlines for treatment of fellow flier AFP - Getty Images, file Interpol drops 'red notice' for dissident...

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48532426/ns/us_news-environment/

Droughts Bring Climate Change Home to Nepali Farmers

Inter Press Service: Farmers in this fertile central district of south Nepal are convinced that an intense drought between May and early July that destroyed their maize crops is the result of climate change. "Last year my farms produced over 20 quintals of maize, but this time I could barely harvest one quintal," 60-year-old farmer Padmakanta Poudel told IPS in the remote Jutpani village of the district. Poudel explained that his family had taken bank a loan of over 500 dollars to invest on his maize farm. The...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/droughts-bring-climate-change-home-to-nepali-farmers/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2012/08/Chitwan-629x469.jpg

United Kingdom: Cuts to Scotland eco-farming schemes could mean species loss, RSPB warns

Guardian: Scotland faces the loss of some of its most vulnerable bird species and habitats after ministers cut environment spending on farmland by £25m, a senior conservationist has warned. Stuart Housden, the Scottish director of the RSPB, said ministers in Edinburgh were risking legal action by the EU after "raiding" the budget which was intended to conserve corncrakes, rare orchids, peatbogs and flower meadows in the face of modern farming techniques, climate change and habitat loss. Despite the heavy...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/06/scotland-habitat-bird-species
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/pictures/2008/12/15/Corncrake460.jpg

Asia Report: World Takes Hard Look at India Grid, Promises of Solar

![][1] Suddenly, the world is intrigued by India's unstable grid and the role solar can play in providing solutions for a country desperately in need of a new energy strategy.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/6/body-asia-report-world-takes-hard-look-at-india-grid-promises-of-solar.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/asia-report-world-takes-hard-look-at-india-grid-promises-of-solar?cmpid=rss

Water shortages driving growing thefts, conflicts in Kenya

AlertNet: As droughts become more frequent and water shortages worsen, Kenya is seeing an increase in water thefts and other water-related crime, police records show. The most common crimes are theft, muggings and illegal disconnections of water pipes by thieves who collect and sell the water. Many of the crimes occur in urban slums, which lack sufficient piped water. "Since 2003, we have made piped water available to at least half of the slum residents in the entire country, but we are faced with severe...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/water-shortages-driving-growing-thefts-conflicts-in-kenya
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/4ef3bf71-78ae-437f-bb77-d82652226989/photowide/?w=460&h=318&vn=201208061542

Analysis: Green growth not targets needed for 2015 climate deal

Reuters: Green economic growth rather than strict targets for cutting greenhouse gases needs higher priority if the world is to reach a deal to fight climate change by a 2015 deadline. Despite growing scientific evidence of a warming world, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and United Nations talks aimed at doing something about it are moving at a glacial pace. Years of talks have failed to deliver a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which set emissions targets for industrial nations. And...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-climate-goals-idUSBRE8750V920120806

China to increase support for African science

SciDev.Net: The Chinese president has promised to increase science, technology and innovation (STI) assistance to Africa, although experts from the continent warn assistance will only work if it is Africa-led and promotes sustainable development. President Hu Jintao has pledged to expand China-Africa collaboration in science, through maintaining successful research programmes and supporting new initiatives in agriculture, health, water, forestry and meteorological technologies, as well as capacity building....

URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/china-to-increase-support-for-african-science.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment

US signals desire to axe global two degree climate goal

BusinessGreen: International negotiations to agree a new global climate change treaty should ditch previous commitments to limit warming to two degrees centigrade in favour of a more "flexible" legal agreement, according to the US' top climate change official. Speaking in a wide-ranging lecture at Darmouth University late last week, President Obama's special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, argued the two degree target that was included in 2009's Copenhagen Accord risked leading to "deadlock" as countries...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2196956/us-signals-desire-to-axe-global-two-degree-climate-goal?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=US+signals+desire+to+axe+global+two+degree+climate+goal

Climate change blamed for heatwaves

New Scientist: Another week, another row about blaming climate change for extreme weather events. A top climate scientist now says that the 2010 Russian heatwave, and last year's Texas drought, were both the result of global warming - and the current US drought probably is too. James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and colleagues compared global temperatures between 1981 and 2010 to the cooler climes of 1950 to 1980. Extreme warming events, when temperatures were more than...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22143-climate-change-blamed-for-heatwaves.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change

U.K. Pledges 100 Million Pounds for Energy Investment Funds

![][1] Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will pledge 100 million pounds ($156 million) for two investment funds that seek to back renewable and energy efficient projects.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/6/body-u-k-pledges-100-million-pounds-for-energy-investment-funds.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/u-k-pledges-100-million-pounds-for-energy-investment-funds?cmpid=rss

New "Clean Energy Under Siege" Report Details Dirty Energy Misinformation Tactics

![][1] A new report by the Sierra Club follows the money trail behind the "attack on renewable energy." A few of the key points are as follows: The tremendous growth in clean energy in recent years has made it a threat, and therefore a target from "oil, coal, and gas interests." Those interests have launched a coordinated, well-funded, multi-pronged assau

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/3/body-new-clean-energy-under-siege-report-details-dirty-energy-misinformation-tactics.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/new-clean-energy-under-siege-report-details-dirty-energy-misinformation-tactics?cmpid=rss

11 Clean Energy Stocks for 2012: August Update

![][1] July was a good month for my Clean Energy model portfolio. Since the last update, these 11 stocks are up an average of 3.3%, with a year to date return total return a tiny loss of -0.5%. While it's never pleasant to be down for the year, it's helpful to compare this performance to that of the most widely held clean energy ETF, the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW), which was down 8.7% for the month, and down 21% year to date. All in all, it has been a miserable year so far for most clean energy investors, and I'm happy to say that my model portfolio has managed to avoid almost all of that misery.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/6/body-11-clean-energy-stocks-for-2012-august-update.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/11-clean-energy-stocks-for-2012-august-update?cmpid=rss

Why I Donate Every Year to These Solar Organizations — What Are Your Favorites?

![][1] It's that time of year again. For the last three years, I've consistently made a summer donation to The Vote Solar Initiative, the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). This year, I've also added SolarPAC, the political action committee set up by SEIA. The amount I donate to each is not so much an obl

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/6/body-why-i-donate-every-year-to-these-solar-organizations-what-are-your-favorites.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/why-i-donate-every-year-to-these-solar-organizations-what-are-your-favorites?cmpid=rss

Can Clean Energy Strike Back Against the Growing Smear Campaign?

![][1] There has been a noticeable shift within the clean energy industry over the last few months as the election season brings a fresh round of attacks.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/6/body-can-clean-energy-strike-back-against-the-growing-smear-campaign.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/can-clean-energy-strike-back-against-the-growing-smear-campaign?cmpid=rss

EEBA Conference Will Be Held in Arizona This Year

Subtitle:

Mark your calendars — the Energy and Envionmental Building Alliance will meet in Scottsdale on September 25-27

Images:

[![][1]][2]

If you're interested in attending one of the best conferences in the country, don't miss this year's conference of the Energy and Envionmental Building Alliance (EEBA).

Founded in 1982, EEBA has consistently promoted superinsulation and energy-efficient residential construction techniques for the last 30 years. The [three-day conference][3] is being held in Scottsdale, Arizona on September 25 through 27.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/EEBA conference logo.png ()
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-blog/eeba-conference-will-be-held-arizona-year
[3]: http://www.eeba.org/conference/

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-blog/eeba-conference-will-be-held-arizona-year

Trade Contractor Management — Part 4

Subtitle:

Control documents: Using checklists to manage quality on the jobsite

Images:

[![][1]][2]

It's time to get into the nuts and bolts of trade contractor management — the control documents — what I refer to as the field checklists. Since these checklists are a key part of a larger process, it is important to understand just how the process works.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Sample Checklist.jpg (Sample Trade Contractor Checklist)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/business-advisor/trade-contractor-management-part-4

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/business-advisor/trade-contractor-management-part-4

Climate change in Alaska forces break with tradition

Washington Post: Residents of Kotzebue and Point Hope, Alaska reflect on how climate change is affecting their way of life. They are trying to keep their generation-old traditions alive in the face of beach erosion, changing migration patterns and diverging Alaskan weather.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-change-in-alaska-forces-break-with-tradition/2012/07/30/gJQAZqVvaX_video.html
Enclosure: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/climate-change-in-alaska-forces-break-with-tradition/2012/07/30/gJQAZqVvaX_video.html

PNG's forest sell-off revealed

Sydney Morning Herald: PAPUA New Guinea's former Somare government introduced a controversial concession that allegedly accelerated deforestation of its tropical forests and gave away a potential $US23 billion in carbon-trading rights to foreign interests, according to a Greenpeace report. The political time-bomb that awaits PNG's new government, in a report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific released today, gives details of how a new type of concession introduced by the Somare government in 2003 called Special Agricultural...

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/world/pngs-forest-selloff-revealed-20120729-236jq.html

Carbon monoxide's damaging role in heart rhythm found

BBC: The way that even low levels of carbon monoxide can be fatal, by disrupting the heart's rhythm, has been unravelled by researchers in Leeds. They found that levels common in heavy traffic could affect the way the heart resets itself after every beat. Their study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine showed a common angina drug may reverse the effect. The British Heart Foundation said the research was a promising start. Carbon monoxide is produced by faulty...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19093308#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62010000/jpg/_62010840_c0123066-mexico_us_border_c.jpg

NGOs urge Obama not to undermine ICAO efforts

Reuters: Sixteen environmental groups on Friday urged President Barack Obama not to give into pressure by the U.S. airline industry to file an action under the U.N.'s aviation body to block an EU law requiring all foreign airlines to participate in its carbon trading system. In their letter to the White House, the groups warned that filing a so-called Article-84 action in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to challenge the EU climate change directive would undermine the body's effort...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-obama-icao-idUSBRE87509Z20120806?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

U.K. Pledges 100 Million Pounds for Energy Investment Funds

Bloomberg: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will pledge 100 million pounds ($156 million) for two investment funds that seek to back renewable and energy efficient projects. The government will channel the money through Equitix and Sustainable Development Capital, two funds that will aim to attract foreign investment to nurture clean and renewable energy companies. Clegg will also welcome the creation of the world's first food-grade plastic bottle recycling plant in east London and the expansion of Spain's...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-05/u-k-pledges-100-million-pounds-for-energy-investment-funds.html

Alaskan Arctic villages hit hard by climate change

Washington Post: Out late on a Friday night, teenage Inupiat Eskimos go ice-hopping on the Chukchi Sea, one of the rare distractions in Shishmaref, Alaska. The choice for the federal government — and state and local officials — is whether to try to preserve, if it is even possible, the heritage of the Inuit villages, their ice cellars, sod ancestral homes and cemeteries ringed with spires of whale bones. Or spend the hundreds of millions of dollars it would cost to move even one village.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alaskan-arctic-villages-hit-hard-by-climate-change/2012/08/05/b1644aac-dc1f-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_gallery.html
Enclosure: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alaskan-arctic-villages-hit-hard-by-climate-change/2012/08/05/b1644aac-dc1f-11e1-8e43-4a3c4375504a_gallery.html#photo=1

Ocean acidification could disrupt marine food chains

Reuters: Ocean acidification caused by climate change is making it harder for creatures from clams to sea urchins to grow their shells, and the trend is likely to be felt most in polar regions, scientists said on Monday. A thinning of the protective cases of mussels, oysters, lobsters and crabs is likely to disrupt marine food chains by making the creatures more vulnerable to predators, which could reduce human sources of seafood. "The results suggest that increased acidity is affecting the size and...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/05/us-climate-acidification-idUSBRE8740SB20120805?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Democrat tables carbon tax bill

BusinessGreen: Democrat Congressman Jim McDermott has become the latest politician to try and deliver a US carbon pricing mechanism, after last week tabling a bill in the House of Representatives that would result in a new national tax on carbon emissions. McDermott said the tax would help cut emissions to 80 per cent below 2005 levels within 42 years of the bill being enacted, by driving investment in new low carbon energy infrastructure. Significantly, the legislation, entitled the Managed Carbon Price...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2196712/democrat-tables-carbon-tax-bill?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Democrat+tables+carbon+tax+bill

Climate change puts moves on coffee growers

Charlotte Observer: Coffee is migrating. As it's getting hotter at lower altitudes, the lower plants are dying off, so it marches the coffee forest up the slopes. Coffee, java, morning Joe, black wine, jolt juice, espresso, cappuccino. ... A cup of coffee has inspired business deals, exam-preparation, student all-nighters, real estate transactions, truck-driving, dating, and diplomacy. It represents a daily ritual for millions of Americans. Imagine a world without coffee? Several biological challenges threaten...

URL: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/05/3432851/climate-change-puts-moves-on-coffee.html

Nick Clegg denies splits with chancellor over green energy

Guardian: Nick Clegg will try to get the coalition back on track on Monday by denying splits with the chancellor, George Osborne, over green energy. The aim is to reassure sceptical business leaders that the government is united about its long-term, renewable targets. The deputy prime minister will insist disputes over the order of investment – in this case, on green energy – are normal for any government. He will also tell a green business summit in London that £100m is being invested in small-scale, non-domestic...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/aug/06/nick-clegg-splits-green-energy

New Zealand: How New Zealand's megabirds survived climate change

io9: About 11,000 years ago, the final Ice Age end and humans began to spread out to all corners of the globe. Shortly thereafter, the world's megafauna went extinct. So was it climate or humanity that killed the last megafauna? To solve a question like this, the ideal test case would be one where the emergence of humans as the region's apex predator happened at a completely different time than when the climate changed. That's why New Zealand, which remained completely isolated from humans until the...

URL: http://io9.com/5931941/how-did-new-zealands-megabirds-survive-climate-change
Enclosure: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17v1uvkl4lwghjpg/original.jpg

London's ozone level cleared just before Olympic start

Guardian: During the week leading up to the Olympic Games, London experienced its worst ozone episode for six years. Fortunately fresh westerly winds began to clear London's air pollution just before the opening ceremony. On 21 July high pressure moved over the UK and air began to slowly circulate over southern England and the near continent, one of the most densely populated and industrial areas of Europe. Ground-level ozone slowly built up due to the action of sunlight and high temperatures on pollution...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/05/pollutionwatch-ozone-london-olympics
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2012/8/5/1344172596414/Cyclist-in-morning-rush-h-008.jpg

Eastern Montana farmers' ability to manage soil key as climate changes

Billings Gazette: On an afternoon when the air presses against his face like a hot iron, Mitch Auer grabs a shovel from his pickup and lumbers into an old wheat stand that hasn't seen 3 inches of moisture this year. It's the last day in July and the National Weather Service has just confirmed that Yellowstone County is experiencing one of its hottest summers ever. A couple of weeks earlier, the same meteorologists were declaring the first six months of the 2012 the county's driest on record. The misery in farm...

URL: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/eastern-montana-farmers-ability-to-manage-soil-key-as-climate/article_4d700d28-df40-11e1-86a8-001a4bcf887a.html
Enclosure: http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/missoulian.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/6c/b6c7641a-df40-11e1-b84b-001a4bcf887a/501edf5024d87.preview-620.jpg

United Kingdom: Exclusive: Government poised to open Green Deal Register

BusinessGreen: The government is plannning to this week invite businesses to start applying for its official Green Deal stamp of approval, further preparing the ground for the launch of the energy efficiency scheme this autumn. Green Deal Providers will responsible for co-ordinating finance and delivering loans to property owners wishing to install energy efficiency measures, such as insulation and solar panels. Following months of software trials with more than 20 pioneer Green Deal Providers, including...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2196703/exclusive-government-poised-to-open-green-deal-register?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Exclusive%3A+Government+poised+to+open+Green+Deal+Register

Extreme heatwaves 50 to 100 times more likely due to climate change

Mongabay: A recent rise in deadly, debilitating, and expensive heatwaves was caused by climate change, argues a new statistical analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Climatologists found that extreme heatwaves have increased by at least 50 times during the last 30 years. The researchers, including James Hansen of NASA, conclude that climate change is the only explanation for such a statistical jump. "This is not a climate model or a prediction but actual observations...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0805-hance-extreme-heatwaves-hansen.html
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Oklahoma wildfires prompt evacuations and destroy dozens of homes

Guardian: Several wildfires raging around the parched Oklahoma landscape prompted more evacuations Sunday as emergency workers sought to shelter those forced out by flames that destroyed dozens of homes and threatened others in the drought-stricken region. One roaring fire near Luther, about 25 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, destroyed nearly five dozen homes and other buildings before firefighters gained a measure of control Saturday. Authorities said several state roads remained closed early Sunday...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/05/oklahoma-wildfires-evacuations-destroy-homes
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Harsh weather doesn't prove global warming, Republican lawmakers say

The Hill: GOP lawmakers say this year's harsh weather that has produced devastating wildfires and the most widespread drought in 50 years has not changed their minds on climate change. Republican lawmakers say this year's harsh weather that has produced devastating wildfires and the most widespread drought in 50 years has not changed their minds on climate change. With more than a month left, the summer of 2012 is on pace to be one of the three hottest since 1950, according to an analysis by WeatherBank...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/242239-harsh-weather-doesnt-prove-global-warming-republican-lawmakers-say

Oklahoma wildfires destroy homes - in pictures

Guardian: Wildfires have burned out of control in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that has suffered 18 straight days of sweltering temperatures and persistent drought. Emergency officials counted 11 different wildfires around the state, with at least 65 homes destroyed

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2012/aug/05/oklahoma-wildfires-destroy-homes-in-pictures
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/5/1344181692201/Flames-burn-near-Highway--022.jpg

Climate change brings tropical diseases closer to California

KPCC: Inside an air-conditioned hearing with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, climate skeptics argued temperature statistics with scientists. Dr. Jonathan Fielding, head of L.A. County's health department, told senators that when he sees a threat, it's his job to be prepared to respond. He says he's concerned that climate change is leading to warming temperatures, and that they in turn are "providing a habitat for vectors (insects particularly) that weren't here before." Vectors...

URL: http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/08/05/33647/climate-change-brings-tropical-diseases-closer-cal/
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NER 300: Prize fund for carbon capture projects shrinks by £800m

Guardian: The future of carbon capture and storage in Europe has been thrown into doubt after £800m was wiped off the value of a prize fund for developing the technology. The NER300 fund was supposed to encourage firms across the continent to build commercially viable CCS projects in return for about EUR3bn (£2.4bn) but the cash was linked to the value of carbon credits, which have plunged 50% in the two years since the project was launched. The UK leads the way in CCS technology, but now experts are...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/05/value-carbon-capture-fund-declines
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/7/17/1342516458185/A-mockup-of-the-Don-Valle-008.jpg

The risks of climate disaster demand straight talking

Financial Times: These pages often focus on how the eurozone crisis will play out. Yet within a decade, this crisis will resolve itself one way or another. Meanwhile, the more important climate crisis gathers momentum with hardly a word on where it will lead. This is partly because climate change has slipped from the public agenda. But there is also, we suspect, a concern that climate is too contentious and complex a topic for a non-expert commentator to tackle. There may also be a fear that any honest appraisal...

URL: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7563449e-dd56-11e1-8fdc-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F7563449e-dd56-11e1-8fdc-00144feab49a.html&_i_referer=

New study ties heat waves to climate change

The Hill: Extreme summer heat waves and droughts in recent years are the result of climate change, a top federal scientist concludes in a new peer-reviewed study. The study by James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, could provide new political ammunition for environmentalists struggling to defend and advance climate regulations. Hansen touted the analysis he authored with two colleagues – which will be published Monday – in a weekend Washington Post column. "These weather...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/242267-new-study-ties-heat-waves-climate-change

Nine New Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

Progress Energy Carolinas,Southern California Public Power Authority,Hawaii County Department of Water Supply (DWS),Southwestern Public Service Company, Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CEFIA), Interlocal Purchase System, The Chicago Department of Aviation,El Paso Electric, Western Area Power Administration

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/content/fundopps.html

Obama Silent On Climate

BuzzFeed: In an April interview with Rolling Stone, President Barack Obama promised to make the changing global environment a central topic in this year's presidential campaign. "I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way,' he said at the time. "I'm deeply concerned that internationally, we have not made as much progress as we need to make.' But mentions of climate change have been almost entirely absent from this...

URL: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaelliott/obama-silent-on-climate
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Climate change to blame for worsening summer heat, drought, NASA scientist says

GlobalPost: Human-driven climate change is to blame for extreme heat and drought seen in the US, Europe and other regions in recent years, a top NASA scientist has said. James Hansen, who directs the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, added in a Washington Post editorial that even his "grim" predictions of a warming future, delivered before the US Senate in 1988, were too "optimistic." "I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic," Hansen wrote. "My projections about increasing global temperature...

URL: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/science/120804/james-hansen-climate-change-heat-drought-us-europe-nasa

United Kingdom: Act now or species will be lost, environment groups warn

Guardian: Many species in some of the most remote vestiges of Britain's overseas territories face extinction unless a government plan to protect them sets out clearly defined preservation targets, according to wildlife experts. A newly unveiled government white paper pledges to "cherish the environment" in its 14 overseas territories, which include the British Virgin Islands, the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the Falkland Islands. However, the RSPB – which claims that...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/05/overseas-territories-wildlife-threatened

The US is now Exporting Coal - is this good?

Triple Pundit: We all know that the journey to a sustainable existence on this planet is going to be a difficult one. Indeed, it might well be what former Xerox CEO David Kearns said of the company's quest for quality, "a race without a finish line." I say this because absolute sustainability is an ideal that can only be approached. But we need to accelerate our approach to it if we hope to continue to thrive here for generations to come. There will be difficult choices to make, and priorities to set, many of which,...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44754?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29

Water Meters Are Being Replaced Across Texas

Texas Tribune:: Early one recent morning, Buddy Franklin and a team of utility workers descended on the Rock Hollow neighborhood in this Austin suburb. They went from house to house with one mission: to install new electronic water meters that change how the city records, and bills for, water use. "They won't see another meter reader for a long time," Mr. Franklin said as his team dug through loose dirt at the homes to replace the old meters. Similar scenes are playing out across Texas. The installation of electronic...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/us/water-meters-are-being-replaced-across-texas.html
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Heatwaves are proof of global warming, says Nasa scientist

Associated Press: The relentless, weather-gone-crazy heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare it cannot be anything but man-made global warming, a top Nasa scientist says. The research, by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than one in 300. Now the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by Professor James Hansen. He says that statistically...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/heatwaves-are-proof-of-global-warming-says-nasa-scientist-8008441.html

Is Climate Change Responsible For Record-Breaking June Heat?

redOrbit: More than half of the contiguous states in the US were experiencing drought by early July 2012, and over 170 all-time American heat records were tied or surpassed during the month of June, according to new research released by NASA scientists on Friday. Many of the record highs experienced during the sixth month of the year surpassed records originally set during the months of July and August, which historically have been hotter than June, Dauna Coulter reported in an August 3 piece entitled "The...

URL: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112669695/nasa-heat-wave-june-2012-080512/
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Fairs, Like Crops, Are Drooping With the Heat

New York Times: The cheese curds were sizzling in vats of oil, the cartoon-colored carnival rides were spinning, and the tractors, ready to pull something heavy, were revving. Yet all was not right last week at the Ozaukee County Fair, age 153. Inside the barns here, the entries competing for top vegetable and flower were fewer than usual. The rabbits vying for prizes were scarcer, too, said Elaine Diedrich, supervisor of the rabbit tent, as she paced the aisles, ready to submerge overheated animals up to their...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/us/fairs-like-crops-are-drooping-with-the-heat.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/05/us/fair/fair-articleLarge.jpg

Heatwave turns America's waterways into rivers of death

Independent: The cruel summer heat-wave that continues to scorch agricultural crops across much of the United States and which is prompting comparisons with the severe droughts of the 1930s and 1950s is also leading to record-breaking water temperatures in rivers and streams, including the Mississippi, as well as fast-falling navigation levels. While in the northern reaches of the Mississippi, near Moline in Illinois, the temperature touched 90 degrees last week – warmer than the Gulf of Mexico around the...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/heatwave-turns-americas-waterways-into-rivers-of-death-8007770.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8007651.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/36-waterways-ap.jpg

New study links heat waves to climate change

Associated Press: The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist. The research by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says that the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the...

URL: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/story/2012-08-04/heat-waves-climate-change-james-hansen/56794570/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29

Climate change causing whale of a problem in the global arena

Borneo Post: Climate change may be causing a whale of a problem in the global arena. Such change may cause ocean acidification which in turn, results in whale stranding, notes Universiti Malaysia Sabah's (UMS) Borneo Marine Research Institute director Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa. Stressing the need for more empirical data to establish it, he said: "There are compelling reasons that ocean acidification, directly and indirectly, will affect whales. "Altered oceanographic conditions too, will adversely affect them....

URL: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/08/05/climate-change-causing-whale-of-a-problem-in-the-global-arena/

Debate continues over NC climate-change legislation

Associated Press: Most scientists agree the hills where the Wright brothers first took flight along the Outer Banks of North Carolina will someday be under water. The debate over exactly when that will happen is taking shape in state and local governments and has been fueled by both scientific speculation and late-night witticisms. In North Carolina, a state-sponsored science panel warned sea levels could rise by more than 3 feet by 2100. Lawmakers supported by development interests responded with a bill to ban...

URL: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/aug/05/wsmet13-debate-continues-over-nc-climate-change-le-ar-2493142/

Insight: A year on, Nigeria's oil still poisons Ogoniland

Reuters: A bright yellow sign above the well in this sleepy Nigerian village says 'caution: not fit for use', and the sulphurous stink off the water that children still pump into buckets sharply reinforces that warning. "Can you smell it? Don't get any in your mouth or you'll be sick," said Victoria Jiji, 55, as she walked past the bore hole in her home village of Ekpangbala, one of several in Ogoniland, southeast Nigeria, whose drinking water has turned toxic. Prosperity has flowed from Ogoniland,...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/05/us-nigeria-oilpollution-idUSBRE87408Q20120805?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=20120805&t=2&i=638670461&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE874103V00