How Some States Are Giving Oil and Gas Companies the Right to Take Your Land

AlterNet: Eminent domain, the government's right to condemn (or take) private land for "public use," has at times been a highly contentious topic because it can displace people from their homes to make way for construction of different projects, like highways or roads, civic buildings and other types of public infrastructure. However, what some may not realize is that several states have granted eminent domain authority to certain private entities, including oil and gas companies. These companies are using...

URL: http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-some-states-are-giving-oil-and-gas-companies-right-take-your-land?paging=off
Enclosure: http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/shutterstock_2184538.jpg

Bats threatened by climate change

BBC: Climate change threatens the future of a significant number of bat species. Bats have already suffered due to changing temperatures, according to a study published in Mammal Review. That change is "alarming" say the report's authors, but worse is expected as temperatures rise further. The foraging and feeding, roosting, range sizes and reproduction of bats will all be affected, while extreme weather and disease will also impact many bat species, they say. More than one in five mammal...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19346348

Organizers move to award $100 billion in climate-change funds

Associated Press: A new global fund on climate change that aims to channel $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries selected officials from South Africa and Australia as its leaders at its first meeting Thursday. The U.N.'s Green Climate Fund -- created as part of a deal struck in December 2011 at the 194-nation climate talks in Durban, South Africa -- will be led by Zaheer Fakir, head of international relations for South Africa's environment agency, and Ewen McDonald, deputy head of Australia's international...

URL: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/08/23/20120823organizers-move-award-billion-climate-change-funds.html

Science advisor warns climate target 'out the window'

BBC: One of the government's most senior scientific advisers has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in global temperatures were now "unrealistic". Prof Sir Bob Watson said that any hope of restricting the average temperature rise to 2C was "out the window". He said that the rise could be as high as 5C - with dire consequences. Sir Bob added the Chancellor, George Osborne, should back efforts to cut the UK's CO2 emissions. He said: "I have to look back on [the outcome of successive climate...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19348194
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62468000/jpg/_62468955_7d9cd9ae-1514-40ef-ba19-ad53e8ebf775.jpg

Activists board Russian oil rig

BBC: Six Greenpeace activists have boarded a Russian offshore oil rig in protest over gas and oil exploration in the Arctic, the group says. The activists, which include the organisation's executive director, reached the Prirazlomnaya platform by speedboat early on Friday. They say they have enough supplies to last several days. The group says drilling plans by Russian energy giant Gazprom are "dangerous" and should be abandoned. It says the company - which operates the Prirazlomnaya platform...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19365433#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62468000/jpg/_62468928_jex_1498765_de27.jpg

United Kingdom: Defra scientist's grim warning on climate change

Channel 4 News: Speaking before he steps down as chief scientist at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Sir Bob Watson also warned that governments couldn't afford to do nothing about greenhouse gas emissions despite the economic downturn, writes Channel 4 News Science Editor Tom Clarke. At global climate summits like in Copenhagen in 2009 it was agreed to try and limit global warming to two degrees centigrade above pre-industrial temperatures. "There is really almost no chance now of meeting...

URL: http://www.channel4.com/news/defra-scientists-grim-warning-on-climate-change
Enclosure: http://bcove.me/8yskdiif

Storm Threatening Tampa Puts GOP Climate Position in Spotlight

National Journal: Politically, Tampa, Fla., was a perfect choice to host the Republican National Convention -- the city sits at the heart of a swing district in a crucial 2012 battleground state. Practically, it may have been less so -- as organizers worry that it remains right in the path of Hurricane Isaac. It wasn't hard to predict this problem. Florida is one of the most hurricane-prone states in the nation. Late August is the peak of the hurricane season. In fact, Gulf Coast hurricanes disrupted both of the...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-threatening-tampa-puts-gop-climate-position-spotlight-060018879.html

United Kingdom: Do we still need nature reserves?

Guardian: On a curve of soft sand are the broad hieroglyphics made by seals hauling themselves above the tideline the previous night. As the sea slips away again, hundreds of these beige and brown bananas sunbathe on distant sandbanks, between ribbons of blue water. Blakeney Point celebrates its centenary this month. This pristine four-mile spit of shingle and sand in Norfolk is, of course, far older, but its purchase by the National Trust 100 years ago marked the beginning of a radical movement in Britain:...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/24/blakeney-point-coastal-nature-reserve-centenary
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/8/24/1345829875539/Various-008.jpg

Drought Conditions Trigger Smallest Gulf ‘Dead Zone’ in Years

Yale Environment 360: U.S. scientists say the nation's worst drought in five decades has had at least one positive effect: the smallest so-called "dead zone" seen in the Gulf of Mexico in years. In a 1,200-mile research cruise NASA. Algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico conducted in the waters of the gulf this month, scientists from Texas A&M University found only 1,580 square miles of oxygen-depleted, or hypoxic, water in the gulf, compared with 3,400 square miles last August. The hypoxic zone is created when algal blooms,...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/drought_conditions_trigger__smallest_gulf_dead_zone_in_years/3603/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
Enclosure: http://e360.yale.edu/images/digest/algal_bloom_gulf_mexico_dead_zone.jpg

Drought Weakens Mississippi River’s Flow; Threatens New Orleans’ Water

National Geographic: New Orleans may be the victim of a one-two punch as Hurricane Isaac threatens to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico and the ongoing affects of this summer's drought continue to trickle down to the Delta. The record temperatures and lack of rain that have devastated crops in America's heartland upstream also have weakened the once-mighty Mississippi River's defenses against saltwater intrusion. Freshwater flowing south from the Mississippi and salty water from the Gulf are constantly arm wrestling...

URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120824-mississippi-river-new-orleans-drought-hurricane-isaac-water-science-environment/
Enclosure: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/586/overrides/mississippi-river-satellite-view-drought-july-2012_58644_600x450.jpg

Reviewing how native peoples will deal with climate change

High Country News: Extreme weather events forced an awareness of urgent climate disruptions this year, with July 2012 being the hottest month on record – hotter even than the Dust Bowl's July 1936.The science tells us climate changes would be abrupt and include extreme weather events. The book, Asserting Native Resilience – Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Face the Climate Crisis, issued June 1, 2012, couldn't be more timely. In the book's introduction editors Zoltán Grossman and Alan Parker tell us, "Climate change...

URL: http://www.hcn.org/hcn/blogs/range/reviewing-how-native-peoples-will-deal-with-climate-change
Enclosure: http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/asserting-native-resilience

Geoengineering: Risks and benefits

BBC: Few issues arouse as much controversy in environmental circles these days as geoengineering - "technical fixes" to tackle climate change, by sucking carbon dioxide from the air or by reducing the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth. And here's why. If Planet Earth is facing a climate "emergency", as some people believe we are, then we should leave no option for combating it unexplored, they argue. While very few scientists advocate deployment of geoengineering now, many believe we ought...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19371833#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Species Adapting to Climate Change is more complicated than thought

Environmental News Network: With climate change happening, species will be forced to adapt or to move out of the habitats they are accustomed to. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are trying to understand how these species will respond to changing environmental conditions and where they will go. One study published in the journal Global Change Biology finds that changes in precipitation have been overlooked as a factor in driving bird species out of their normal range. The second study, published in...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44832?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29

Is It Too Late To Defuse The Danger Of Megafires?

National Public Radio: I hike up into the Santa Fe National Forest just outside Santa Fe, N.M. My guide is William Armstrong, the service's fire manager for this forest. He's dressed all in green and is so lanky, he looks like a sapling himself, except his eyes are a piercing blue. I remark just how lush his forest is, how the Ponderosa pines almost reach out and touch one another. He doesn't take it as a compliment. "They're a plague," he says. "On this forest, it's averaging about 900 trees per acre. Historically...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/24/159374096/is-it-too-late-to-defuse-the-danger-of-megafires?ft=1&f=1025

Will Emissions Disclosure Mean Investor Pressure on Polluters?

New York Times: A new financial tool developed by the investment firm South Pole Carbon, in partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, provides greenhouse gas emissions profiles of more than 40,000 publicly listed companies. This index is aimed at encouraging greater disclosure from companies while, hopefully, also pushing investors to build more responsible portfolios. "Investors have long been aware that the greenhouse gas profile, especially of major emitters like electric utilities, is a...

URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/will-emissions-disclosure-mean-investor-pressure-on-polluters/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Is Antarctica's warming natural or man-made?

Guardian: Most people know that the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming places on earth. But like everywhere else in Antarctica, the length of available temperature data is short - most records begin in 1957 (when stations were put in place during the International Geophysical Year); a few start in the late 1940s. This makes the recent rapid warming difficult to evaluate; in general, what's interesting is how the trend compares with the underlying variability. As anyone who's been there...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/24/antarctica-warming-natural-man-made
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2009/2/25/1235566775629/The-Wilkins-Ice-Shelf-off-001.jpg

Greenpeace storms Arctic oil platform

Guardian: Greenpeace has signalled its determination to try to halt the Kremlin's march into the Arctic with activists led by its executive director boarding an oil platform belonging to state-owned Gazprom. It is the first time that the green group has taken "direct action" against the Russian drilling and comes amid alarming new evidence about the speed with which Arctic sea ice is melting. Six environmentalists in inflatable boats launched from Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship approached the Prirazlomnaya...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/24/greenpeace-activists-arctic-oil-russia
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/24/1345831829870/Greenpeace--021.jpg

United Kingdom: Let's keep the green belt safely fastened

Telegraph: Among the many striking images from the London Olympics, TV shots of the glorious countryside that rings Europe's greatest metropolis will live long in the memory. The Games opened with a cycle race that hurtled through the lush downland of the Surrey Hills, past ancient villages with Norman churches and 16th-century coaching inns and back to the capital by way of well-preserved market towns. It was an idealised vision of England that could have been conjured by Danny Boyle. But it was, in fact,...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9497110/Lets-keep-the-green-belt-safely-fastened.html

Housing Units Get Small in San Francisco

Subtitle:

A multiunit project aims to appeal to urban dwellers with a taste for energy efficiency and a tolerance for limited space

Images:

[![][1]][2]

For many people, apartment hunting in a pricey urban market is essentially about getting through the process without giving in to panic or an unmanageable lease or purchase contract. The energy efficiency of the building isn't on the priority list.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Zeta Harriett.jpg (Zeta Harriett)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/housing-units-get-small-san-francisco

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/housing-units-get-small-san-francisco

Time to put a stop to speculating on hunger

Independent: Comments from a senior director at the world's largest commodities trader that the rapidly worsening global food crisis will be "good for Glencore" only add to the sense that there are those in the finance sector still dismayingly out of touch with the world in which most people live. Chris Mahoney's remarks also make the case for the closer regulation of agricultural futures markets stronger than ever. The scale of the emergency now unfolding is deeply concerning. The severest droughts for decades...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-time-to-put-a-stop-to-speculating-on-hunger-8076715.html

Republican National Convention likely to face bad weather even if Isaac tracks west

Washington Post: Tampa may escape the full brunt of hurricane force winds next week, but it appears increasingly likely that the Republican National Convention won't be able to avoid some impact from what is now Tropical Storm Isaac. A significant weather event is likely to cause high winds and rain in the Tampa Bay area, even if the storm sticks to its current track and has a more significant effect on the Gulf Coast. Data show the gender gap is no more pronounced than it has been in any recent presidential...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2012/08/24/9d3f5376-edf6-11e1-afd8-097e90f99d05_story.html?wprss=rss_national

“The Truth is That All Problems Have Solutions” – Even Climate Change in Ethiopia

Inter Press Service: Eight years ago Kenbesh Mengesha earned an uncertain income collecting firewood from local government forests and selling them to her fellow slum-dwellers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She would earn on average about 50 cents a day, if she was lucky. But now she is part of a successful women's farming project that is a model for training other urban farmer groups all over Africa on how to adapt to climate change. According to the World Bank, Ethiopia is extremely vulnerable to drought and other...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/the-truth-is-that-all-problems-have-solutions-even-climate-change-in-ethiopia/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2012/08/Ethiopiawomen-629x472.jpg

ICT will help Ugandan farmers cope with climate change

SciDev.Net: Ugandan cattle farmers are set to benefit from the use of information and communications technology (ICT) tools and meteorological data to improve their ability to adapt to climate change-induced hazards such as water stress and prolonged droughts. Climate Change Adaptation and ICT (CHAI), a two-year project launched in Kampala earlier this month (3 August), will generate agricultural, environmental management, market and meteorological information for herdsmen in Uganda's 'cattle corridor'. The...

URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/ict-will-help-ugandan-farmers-cope-with-climate-change.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment

Norway Urges Indonesia to Keep Forest Protection

Jakarta Globe: Norway's environment minister on Friday urged Brazil and Indonesia to avoid backtracking on policies to protect tropical forests, saying up to $2 billion in aid promised by Oslo hinged on proof of slower rates of forest clearance. Norway, rich from oil and gas, has promised more cash than any other donor nation to slow rainforest clearance from the Amazon to the Congo. Protecting forests slows climate change, since plants soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas. Environment Minister Baard Vegar...

URL: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/norway-urges-indonesia-to-keep-forest-protection/540149

Housing Units Get Small in San Francisco

Subtitle:

A multiunit project aims to appeal to urban dwellers with a taste for energy efficiency and a tolerance for limited space

Images:

[![][1]][2]

For many people, apartment hunting in a pricey urban market is essentially about getting through the process without giving in to panic or an unmanageable lease or purchase contract. The energy efficiency of the building isn't on the priority list.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Zeta Harriett.jpg (Zeta Harriett)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/housing-units-get-small-san-francisco

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/housing-units-get-small-san-francisco

U.S. farmers hope Isaac will bring drought relief

Reuters: Tropical Storm Isaac, poised to hit Cuba on Saturday, will likely bring minimal relief from the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century, with rains expected in a limited area in the U.S. Southeast or possibly further west into Alabama and Mississippi, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday. "Computer maps have been all over the place but it looks like the storm will make landfall in Florida Sunday. That would bring the most rain, probably an inch to four inches or more in the southeast,"...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/24/us-usa-drought-crops-isaac-idUSBRE87N0JB20120824?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=20120824&t=2&i=645643389&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=300&r=CBRE87N0ZF500

On Shutters and Water Management

Subtitle:

How to tell good shutters from bad shutters — and what you can learn from water stains on siding

Images:

[![][1]][2]

I recently walked through a neighborhood in a Massachusetts town on the South Shore. As you might expect, the homes facing the ocean tended to be more luxurious, while the homes a few blocks in from the beach tended to be more humble.

It's fun to look at houses from the sidewalk (or, in this case, the beach). During my stroll, I ruminated on house design and construction quality. In this blog, I'll focus on two themes: the first concerns shutters, and the second concerns flashing and water-management details.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Water management - siding - entire house 1b.jpg (Photo of a luxury duplex on the South Shore in Massachusetts)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/shutters-and-water-management

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/shutters-and-water-management

Romney's Energy Plan Ignores the Success of Solar and Wind: View

![][1] Mitt Romney sets an ambitious goal with his pledge to achieve U.S. energy independence by 2020. It's just too bad his plan relies almost entirely on fossil fuels and largely ignores the solid promise of clean energy.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/24/body-romneys-energy-plan-ignores-the-success-of-solar-and-wind-view.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/romneys-energy-plan-ignores-the-success-of-solar-and-wind-view?cmpid=rss

Obama aide hints climate will stay in campaign background

The Hill: A spokesman for President Obama's reelection campaign suggested Thursday that climate change is unlikely to take center stage in the 2012 White House battle, noting that Obama's contrast with GOP rival Mitt Romney is already apparent. "Clearly [climate change] is something that is important to the administration, but right now we are obviously going to be focusing on jobs and the economy and talking about what our contrast is," said Tom Reynolds. Climate change has played little role in the Obama-Romney...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/245011-obama-spox-hints-climate-will-stay-in-campaign-background

Report Finds Americans Wasteful of Food

New York Times: Forty percent of the food Americans have available to them goes uneaten, according to a report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Most of this nutrient-rich uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills. "This issue has received very little attention in the U.S.," said Dana Gunders, a project scientist at the N.R.D.C. who specializes in food and agriculture. Yet a significant amount of land, energy and fresh water go into producing food for American consumers. The report,...

URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/report-finds-americans-wasteful-of-food/?partner=rss&emc=rss

U.S. Solar Panel maker to Build Solar Farms in Energy-Hungry India

Yale Environment 360: First Solar Inc., the U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer, plans to expand its role in the global energy industry by developing solar power farms in India, where an emerging industrial sector is looking to shore up energy security in the aftermath of record blackouts. The company aims to secure 20 percent of India's photovoltaic sales by expanding beyond its role as a solar panel supplier and building large solar arrays, Sujoy Ghosh, First Solar's new India head, told Bloomberg News. According to...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/digest/us_solar_panel_maker_to_build_solar_farms_in_energy-hungry_india/3602/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

South Africa and Australia appointed co-chairs of Green Climate Fund

BusinessGreen: After a series of delays, the first meeting of the UN's Green Climate Fund (GCF) kicked off yesterday in Geneva with the appointment of representatives from Australia and South Africa as co-chairs of the fund's influential board. Zaheer Fakir, head of international relations and governance at South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs, and Ewen McDonald, deputy director general of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), were elected as co-chairs of the new board....

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2200709/south-africa-and-australia-appointed-cochairs-of-green-climate-fund?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=South+Africa+and+Australia+appointed+co-chairs+of+Green+Climate+Fund

Arctic sea ice shrinks to record low, by some estimates

Reuters: The area of ice in the Arctic Ocean has thawed to a record low, surpassing the previous 2007 minimum in a sign of climate change transforming the region, according to some scientific estimates. "We reached the minimum ice area today (Thursday). It has never been measured less than right now," Ola Johannessen, founding director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway, told Reuters. "It is just below the 2007 minimum." The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC),...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-climate-arctic-idUSBRE87M0OK20120823?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=20120823&t=2&i=645341955&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87M196E00

Cargill says to open Brazil biodiesel plant this month

Reuters: Global grains trading powerhouse Cargill Inc will open a biodiesel plant in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state by the end of August, the company's vice president of corporate affairs in Brazil, Valeria Militelli, said on Thursday. Cargill, one of the largest soybean exporters in Brazil, announced an investment of some 130 billion reais, ($64.5 million) in the plant located in the Tres Lagoas municipality in 2010. Brazil's young biodiesel industry, that began about a half decade ago, is small compared...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-cargill-brazil-biodiesel-idUSBRE87M0Y120120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Drought eases for some U.S. states, worsens for others

Reuters: Rainfall and cooler temperatures have combined to ease slightly the grip that the worst U.S. drought in over five decades is holding on some key farming states, but the suffering expanded in many others. "There has been some improvement, at least in the eastern corn belt. And for the region as a whole we've seen a respite from the high temperatures," said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the University of Nebraska's National Drought Mitigation Center. But he said the forecast for the next...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-usa-drought-idUSBRE87M0TW20120823?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=20120823&t=2&i=645394183&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87M1IDE00

Why Forest-Killing Megafires Are The New Normal

National Public Radio: Fire scientists are calling it "the new normal": a time of fires so big and hot that no one can remember anything like it. One of the scientists who coined that term is Craig Allen. I drive with him to New Mexico's Bandelier National Monument, where he works for the U.S. Geological Survey. We take a dirt road up into the Jemez Mountains, into a landscape of black poles as far as you can see. Except they aren't poles. Every single tree is dead. For miles. "You can tell me the next time you...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/23/159373770/the-new-normal-for-wildfires-forest-killing-megablazes?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=159373770&m=159931382

Coal plants still pressured despite Romney plan, EPA court loss

Reuters: Coal-fired power plants will face pressure and in some cases closure despite a Republican energy plan favorable to the industry and a court victory against new environmental rules. As many as one-sixth of U.S. coal-fired power plants would close within eight years and be replaced by natural gas, according to an Energy Department estimate. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday laid out his new energy policy that aims to promote oil and natural gas production and roll back...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-usa-coal-closures-idUSBRE87M15F20120823?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=20120823&t=2&i=645443292&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87M1R9200

Arctic sea ice shrinks to record low, estimates show

Reuters: The area of ice in the Arctic Ocean has thawed to a record low, surpassing the previous 2007 minimum in a sign of climate change transforming the region, according to some scientific estimates. Only on NBCNews.com Faith in Army's direction hits all-time low, survey shows Mormon in America: Church members on impact of Romney campaign Growing number of Latinos have no religious affiliation California school district sued over abstinence-only sex ed Jeanne Noonan for New York Daily Hidden health...

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48766244/ns/us_news-environment/

Romney energy plan supports U.S. ethanol mandate

Reuters: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released an energy plan on Thursday that supports Washington's ethanol quota, a mandate several governors want to suspend as the worst drought in over 50 years sends corn prices to record levels. Governors from North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia and New Mexico, where large numbers of livestock are reared, have petitioned the Obama administration to waive the mandate which they say raises prices for corn, an important animal feed. The grain is also...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-usa-romney-ethanol-idUSBRE87M0PW20120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

The Killer Drought of 2012 Eases — But Not By Much

Climate Central: The historic drought of 2012 continues to parch the nation, according to the latest version of the U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday. Although conditions have improved somewhat in the hard-hit states of Ohio and Indiana, nearly 63 percent of the U.S. remains at some level in drought as of August 21, the most recent date for which statistics are available. It's possible to look at the new numbers optimistically. "The total area in moderate or worse drought actually increased, but that's not...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/the-killer-2012-drought-eases-but-not-by-much-14867?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed

How cities are using nature to cut pollution

Yale Environment 360: In Puget Sound, one of America's great estuaries, killer whales, seals, and schools of salmon swim not far from more than 3 million people who live in the Seattle region. The presence of such impressive marine life, however, belies the fact that the sound is seriously polluted. When it rains, storm water washes into the same system of underground pipes that carries the region's sewage, and 1 billion gallons a year overflow into the sound when area sewer systems contain more water than can be treated....

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/23/how-cities-nature-cut-pollution
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2011/5/19/1305802266713/Green-roof-of-New-York--P-007.jpg

Past tropical climate change linked to ocean circulation, says Texas A&M team

Science Codex: A new record of past temperature change in the tropical Atlantic Ocean's subsurface provides clues as to why the Earth's climate is so sensitive to ocean circulation patterns, according to climate scientists at Texas A&M University. Geological oceanographer Matthew Schmidt and two of his graduate students teamed up with Ping Chang, a physical oceanographer and climate modeler, to help uncover an important climate connection between the tropics and the high latitude North Atlantic. Their new...

URL: http://www.sciencecodex.com/past_tropical_climate_change_linked_to_ocean_circulation_says_texas_am_team-97192

Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapse Has Been Occurring For 600 Years

redOrbit: The Antarctic Peninsula has been continually shrinking for centuries, since long before the Industrial Revolution, according to an international team of researchers. However, rapid warming over the past 100 years has been unusual and, if it continues, the ice shelf could be on par for a complete collapse. Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula began rising around 600 years ago, occurring naturally. This was long before manmade influences on the climate further increased them, scientists said...

URL: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112680578/antarctic-ice-shelf-collapse-082312/
Enclosure: http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2012/08/1373767831-617x416.jpg

Japan Citizens Favor Zero Nuclear in Debate Over Energy Option

![][1] Japan's public wants the government to phase out nuclear power according to the results of town hall-like forums to give the public a say in the debate on the nation's energy supply post-Fukushima.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/23/body-japan-citizens-favor-zero-nuclear-in-debate-over-energy-option.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/japan-citizens-favor-zero-nuclear-in-debate-over-energy-option?cmpid=rss

Extend Wind-Power Tax Credit Now, So It Can Eventually Die

![][1] Since U.S. President Barack Obama brought it up, repeatedly, last week during his campaign swing through Iowa, wind power has emerged as one of the most clear- cut issues of the political season.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/23/body-extend-wind-power-tax-credit-now-so-it-can-eventually-die.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/extend-wind-power-tax-credit-now-so-it-can-eventually-die?cmpid=rss

Microbes Make Methane from Waste Wind Power

![][1] We've long depended on coal-fired and natural gas power plants to convert chemical fuel into electricity. Now, scientists have found a way to convert electricity into a fuel using excess power from renewables like wind and solar.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/22/body-microbes-make-methane-from-waste-wind-power.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/microbes-make-methane-from-waste-wind-power?cmpid=rss

Is Climate Change To Blame For This Year's West Nile Outbreak?

Scientific American: According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been over 1100 reported cases of West Nile virus disease in the US this year, including 42 deaths. If these numbers seem high, they are -- in fact, it`s the highest number of reported cases since West Nile was first detected in the US in 1999, and West Nile season has just begun. Given that the peak of West Nile epidemics generally occurs in mid August, and it takes a few weeks for people to fall ill, the CDC expects that number to rise dramatically....

URL: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/2012/08/22/is-climate-change-to-blame-for-this-years-west-nile-outbreak/

Antarctica warming 'not unique'

BBC: The recent Antarctic Peninsula temperature rise and associated ice loss is unusual but not unprecedented, according to research. Analysis of a 364m-long ice core containing several millennia of climate history shows the region previously basked in temperatures slightly higher than today. However, the peninsula is now warming rapidly, threatening previously stable areas of ice, the study warns. The work is reported in Nature journal. Antarctic Peninsula ice shelves are under increasing...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19348427#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62447000/jpg/_62447636_c0017030-wilkins_ice_shelf_break-up,_2008-spl.jpg

Germany's Ten Point Energy Plan

![][1] In office now for about 100 days, Germany's environment minister, Peter Altmaier, has laid out a 10 point plan for the energy transition. This isn't a "master plan," he says, which looks deep into the future. That's impossible, he argues, because technologies and other realities are changing so quickly that we can't make a master plan today that wi

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/23/body-germanys-ten-point-plan.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2012/08/germanys-ten-point-plan?cmpid=rss

First Solar to Build India Farms as Outages Propel Sun Power

![][1] First Solar Inc., the only profitable panel-maker among the 10 biggest in the world, plans to develop solar farms in India as chronic outages drive demand for electricity derived from sun power.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/23/body-first-solar-to-build-india-farms-as-outages-propel-sun-power.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/first-solar-to-build-india-farms-as-outages-propel-sun-power?cmpid=rss

As Climate Changes, Urban Planners Help Cities Adapt

WBUR: Despite the ongoing national political dissension over climate change, Boston and Cambridge, among other cities around the world, are searching for ways to cope with its effects. A recent survey finds that "79 percent of cities worldwide report that in the past five years they perceived changes in temperature, precipitation, sea level, or natural hazards that they attribute to climate change." JoAnn Carmin, co-author of the study, is Associate Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning...

URL: http://www.wbur.org/2012/08/23/cities-adapt-climate-change

Burma warns of deforestation crisis

Mongabay: An official warned that Myanmar is facing a deforestation crisis due to poor forest management, illegal logging, and fuelwood collection, reports Chinese state media. U Thein Lwin, secretary of the Lower House's Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Committee, claimed during a workshop on energy, environment and climate change that forest cover had fallen from 51 percent in 2005 to 24 percent in 2008. However the figures differed substantially with independent assessments of Myanmar's...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0822-myanmar-deforestation-crisis.html

U.N. green climate fund, meant to aid poor, holds first talks

Reuters: Leaders of a U.N. green fund meant to channel billions of dollars to help developing economies cope with climate change met for the first time on Thursday after months of delays. The 24-strong board began 3-day talks in Geneva, trying to decide where the fund will be based and other details, officials said. Ways to extract planned new aid from the anemic economies of rich countries will be left for later meetings. Developed nations agreed in 2009 to raise climate aid, now about $10 billion...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-climate-fund-idUSBRE87M0EC20120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Romney Energy Plan Calls for East Coast Drilling to Cut Imports

![][1] Mitt Romney would give states control over energy production on federal lands within their borders and allow drilling off the East Coast as part of his plan to reduce crude oil imports.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/23/body-romney-energy-plan-calls-for-east-coast-drilling-to-cut-imports.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/romney-energy-plan-calls-for-east-coast-drilling-to-cut-imports?cmpid=rss

Our Changing Forests: An 88-Year Time Lapse

National Public Radio: Intense forest fires have been raging across the western United States this summer. So far this year, nearly 43,000 wildfires have torched almost 7 million acres of land. As NPR Science correspondent Christopher Joyce and photographer David Gilkey report from Arizona and New Mexico this week, the forests of the American Southwest have become so overgrown that they're essentially tinderboxes just waiting for a spark. This "tree epidemic" stems from Forest Service policy dating back to the early...

URL: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/08/23/159614784/our-changing-forests-an-88-year-time-lapse?ft=1&f=1025

Bangladesh farmers caught in vicious cycle of flood and debt

Guardian: Seven-year-old Mili Begum knows her classroom like the back of her hand. She should, because she's been living in it for the past six weeks. The flood waters that surged through her village in the Sunamganj district of north-east Bangladesh have receded, but her family is one of many struggling to cope after losing both home and belongings. The monsoon floods killed more than 100 people and displaced an estimated 600,000 in June and July, mainly in the north-east and south-east of the country....

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/23/bangladesh-farmers-cycle-flood-debt
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2012/8/22/1345629898863/MDG--Bangladesh--Monsoon--007.jpg

Climate change denial doesn't hold water

Delmarva Now: People who live inland on the Delmarva Peninsula may still argue that sea level isn't rising or that global warming isn't happening. But they're either in denial or not paying attention. Those who live along the various shorelines of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are watching as it unfolds. Scientists tell us not only is sea level rising, in part because of polar glacial melt, but Delmarva is slowly sinking at the same time. Islands in the Chesapeake Bay and other bodies of water that surround...

URL: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20120823/WCT02/208230348

India's GVK wins approval for $10 billion Aussie coal mine, rail project

Reuters: India's GVK Power and Infrastructure won environmental approval for its A$10 billion ($10.4 billion) Alpha coal and rail project in Australia's Queensland state on Thursday, with 19 conditions to protect the environment. The approval came as Australia declared the end of the resources boom that cushioned the country from the global financial crisis, a day after the world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton shelved two major expansion plans worth at least $40 billion. The Alpha scheme is the front-runner...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-gvk-alpa-idUSBRE87M04920120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Romney to declare goal of N. American energy independence by 2020

Reuters: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will lay out policies on Thursday aimed at achieving North American energy independence by 2020 by pursuing a sharp increase in production of oil and natural gas on federal lands and off the U.S. coast. Romney is to unveil his plan at a truck and supply business in Hobbs, New Mexico, as he seeks to draw a sharp contrast between his energy policies and those of President Barack Obama and detail in part how he would rekindle job growth in the United...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-usa-campaign-romney-idUSBRE87J0P020120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Romney to back fossil fuels as key to energy independence

BusinessGreen: Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney will today set out a new strategy for ramping up oil and gas production, designed to ensure North America is energy self-sufficient by the end of the decade. The programme looks set to play to concerns expressed by GOP politicians in Congress and state legislatures, both of which have put an expansion of domestic fossil fuel production at the top of wish lists released in the lead-up to the release of Romney's full energy policy plans. Energy is...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2200549/romney-to-back-fossil-fuels-as-key-to-energy-independence?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Romney+to+back+fossil+fuels+as+key+to+energy+independence

No-till could help maintain crop yields despite climate change

Phys.Org: Reducing tillage for some Central Great Plains crops could help conserve water and reduce losses caused by climate change, according to studies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Research leader Laj Ahuja and others at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Agricultural Systems Research Unit at Fort Collins, Colo., superimposed climate projections onto 15 to 17 years of field data to see how future crop yields might be affected. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency,...

URL: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-no-till-crop-yields-climate.html

Antarctic melt alarm as scientists find 'very unusual' warming

Crikey: Scientists have drilled 364 metres into ice to complete the first ever comprehensive temperature record of the Antarctic Peninsula - and they`ve found evidence of "very unusual" and dramatic warming over the last century. The collapse of ice shelves in Antarctica has seen some of the most dramatic images of human-induced climate change. The collapse of the Prince Gustav and Larsen A Ice Shelves in 1995 and then the collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelve in 2002 stunned scientists, and...

URL: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/08/23/antarctic-melt-alarm-as-scientists-find-very-unusual-warming/

United Kingdom: Science advisor warns climate target 'out the window'

BBC: One of the Government's most senior scientific advisors has said that efforts to stop a sharp rise in global temperatures were now unrealistic. Professor Sir Robert Watson said that the hope of restricting the average temperature rise to 2C was "out the window". He said that the rise could be as high as 5C - with dire conseqences. Professor Watson added the Chancellor, George Osborne, should back efforts to cut the UK's CO2 emissions. He said: "I have to look back (on the outcome of sucessive...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19348194#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Australia: Kyoto 2 crucial to carbon permits - report

Age: BIG greenhouse gas emitters could pay more under the Gillard government's carbon price if Australia refuses to sign up to a second round of the Kyoto Protocol, a leading climate think tank has said. In a report to be released this morning, the Climate Institute says that Australian businesses would have more difficulty accessing cheap international carbon permits unless the government joins ''Kyoto 2''. The Kyoto Protocol is the agreement that sets legally-binding targets for developed economies,...

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/energy-smart/kyoto-2-crucial-to-carbon-permits--report-20120822-24msm.html#ixzz24MIqoklo

California declares emergency as wildfire advances on town

Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties on Wednesday after a wildfire that has already destroyed 64 homes advanced with 75-foot flames on a tiny community at the doorstep of a national park. Firefighters scrambled to head off the so-called Ponderosa Fire, which had scorched 24,000 acres, before it reached the outskirts of Mineral, a community of less than 200 people just south of Lassen National Volcanic Park. Authorities issued an...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-usa-wildfires-west-idUSBRE87L0XU20120823?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=20120823&t=2&i=645255621&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=300&r=CBRE87M0TSU00

Shoppers in England support plastic bag charge

Telegraph: Which?, the consumer group, found that 56 per cent of people in England would support a charge of 5 pence-per-bag when they do their weekly shop. The findings come days after official figures from WRAP, the waste reduction group, showed that supermarkets handed out nearly 400 million more carrier bags last year than they did in 2010. The group said that a total of 8 billion plastic bags were given out by supermarkets last year, despite pledges by the retailers to cut down on bags. According...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9492551/Shoppers-in-England-support-plastic-bag-charge.html

Japan to see warmer to normal weather in Sept-Nov

Reuters: Japan will see mostly warmer-than-average to normal weather from September to November, potentially increasing electricity and gasoline demand for air-conditioning, official forecaster Japan Meteorological Agency said on Thursday. The heat wave in Japan's eastern and western regions has lifted power demand this week, but there were no immediate concerns for a shortage thanks to power-saving efforts at a time when most nuclear reactors remain shut following last year's earthquake and tsunami that...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-japan-weather-idUSBRE87M05O20120823?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

China may start building rare earths stockpile in Sept -report

Reuters: China, the world's largest producer and consumer of rare earths, may start building an 18,000-tonne strategic stockpile of the elements in September, the Economic Information Daily newspaper said on Thursday. Though it has just 23 percent of global reserves, China accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's supplies of rare earths. It has trimmed its export quotas in recent years, angering trade partners who say the curbs are unfair. "Given the fluctuation of the market and falling rare...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/us-china-rareearths-stockpile-idUSBRE87M06E20120823?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=20120823&t=2&i=645209311&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87M0JLU00

United Kingdom: 56% 'back plastic bag store charge'

Press Association: Consumers have an average of 17 plastic bags stored at home while more than half support retailers charging for them, according to a Which? survey. The poll by the watchdog found 56 per cent of consumers in England and Scotland support a 5p charge for bags but, among those opposed to a charge, 70 per cent think they already pay enough for their shopping and 45 per cent think they should be entitled to free bags. A charge is already in place in Wales while Northern Ireland is introducing one...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/56-back-plastic-bag-store-charge-8075645.html

UN calls for policies to counter drought threats worldwide

Press Trust of India: As farmers from Africa to India struggle with insufficient rainfall, the United Nations has sought consolidated efforts to combat climate change threat and counter its effects on global food security. "Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy," warned World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "We need to move away from a piecemeal, crisis-driven...

URL: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_un-calls-for-policies-to-counter-drought-threats-worldwide_1731213

Renewable distributed electricity generation to triple by 2017

Eco-Business: Annual global installations of renewable distributed electricity generation will nearly triple between 2012 and 2017 says Pike Research. The research group`s "Renewable Distributed Energy Generation" report projects installations will reach 63.5 gigawatts (GW) capacity a year in 2017. Between now and then, close to 232 GW of distributed renewables will be added. Pike points out the centralized model of power generation, transmission, and distribution "is growing more and more costly to maintain...

URL: http://www.eco-business.com/news/renewable-distributed-electricity-generation-to-triple-by-2017/

Public Wants Bigger Role in Deciding Fate of Troubled Calif. Nuke Plant

Inside Climate News: Two more Southern California city councils voiced urgent concerns [3] about the crippled San Onofre nuclear plant this month, but hopes are dimming that those communities and others near the troubled plant will have any role in deciding its fate. The Laguna Beach and Santa Monica city councils joined a growing list of local officials imploring federal regulators to conduct trial-like public hearings on San Onofre's problems. The cities also called on the California Public Utilities Commission [4]...

URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/solveclimate/blog/~3/KpqhMxLFyhY/public-activism-san-onofre-nuclear-power-plant-california-nrc-friends-of-the-earth-petition-shutdown

Insulation to Keep Us Warm — Not Warm the Planet

Subtitle:

An update on steps to reduce the global warming potential of insulation materials

Images:

[![][1]][2]

[![][3]][2]

I've been pretty vocal about a big problem with some of our most common insulation materials: that they are made using blowing agents that are highly potent greenhouse gases.

Extruded polystyrene (XPSExtruded polystyrene. Highly insulating, water-resistant rigid foam insulation that is widely used above and below grade, such as on exterior walls and underneath concrete floor slabs. In North America, XPS is made with ozone-depleting HCFC-142b. XPS has higher density and R-value and lower vapor permeability than EPS rigid insulation.) and closed-cell spray polyurethane foam (SPF) are made with HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) blowing agents that have global warming potentials (GWPs) many hundreds of times greater than that of carbon dioxide. (My apologies for contaminating this column with so many acronyms!)

### Insulation: good news, bad news

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/Straube_SPF__2519_LoRes.jpg (Spray polyurethane foam)
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/insulation-keep-us-warm-not-warm-planet
[3]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/12_inches_XPS_094_LoRes.jpg (Sub-slab XPS)

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/energy-solutions/insulation-keep-us-warm-not-warm-planet

The Effect of Dams on Global Warming

Environmental News Network: A new study has revealed the under-appreciation that exists for the role dams play in climate change; how the reservoirs behind them can cause surges of greenhouse gases as the water levels go up and down. In a study of the water column at such a reservoir, marine scientists found an astonishing 20-fold increase in methane emissions as water levels were drawn down. Bubbles coming out of the mud and sediment at the bottom were chock full of this potent greenhouse gas. The role of lakes, reservoirs,...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44825?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29

United Kingdom: Vestas to cut 1, 400 more jobs as it reports quarterly pre-tax loss

Guardian: Vestas is to shed another 1,400 jobs, bringing total redundancies for the year to more than 3,700, after the world's biggest wind turbine maker slumped to a quarterly pre-tax loss. The Danish-based company, which recently ditched plans to build a plant in Kent, also reduced its forecast for current-year sales on Wednesday from seven gigawatts' worth of turbines to 6.3. Next year is expected to be even worse at 5GW. Chief executive Ditlev Engels said: "2013, as it looks today, is probably going...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/aug/22/vestas-job-cuts-quarterly-loss
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/8/18/1282146568999/Vestas-shares-plummet-fol-006.jpg

Warmer temperatures eyed in devastation of Massachusetts butterflies

Reuters: The devastation of native cold weather butterfly species in Massachusetts and the arrival of southern subtropical species is likely tied to climate warming and signals a massive shift in the butterfly population of the U.S. East Coast, a new study shows. The research, published in the current issue of the journal Nature Climate Change, shows 17 of 21 species of butterflies whose habitat is centered north of Boston have declined since 1992 - some by as much as 90 percent. Meanwhile 12 species...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/warmer-temperatures-eyed-devastation-massachusetts-butterflies-155559713.html

Lowest US carbon emissions won't slow climate change

New Scientist: IT SOUNDS like good news, but it's not. The US has recorded a sharp fall in greenhouse gas emissions from its power stations. In the first quarter of 2012, emissions reached their lowest level since 1992. The catch: they have simply been exported. The US Energy Information Administration says that a rise in gas-fired power generation, and a corresponding decline in the use of coal, contributed to the low. Per unit of energy generated, burning natural gas produces less emissions than burning coal,...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528794.200-lowest-us-carbon-emissions-wont-slow-climate-change.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
Enclosure: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn22196/dn22196-1_300.jpg

Rain or Shine, Climate Change Pushes Farmers to the Brink

PBS: Mother Nature been unkind to farmers this year. Last week, the NewsHour talked to cherry farmers in Michigan who lost 90 percent of their crops when an early spring warm-up meant trees were battered by frosts after blooming early. A drought sweeping the Corn Belt killed crops and raised food prices this summer, leaving farmers without profits and ranchers without feed for their livestock. These are just some of the new normals for farmers around the world, said Jonathan Foley, director of the...

URL: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/08/were-all-in-this-together-farmers-talk-about-climate-change.html

Tropical Storm Isaac threatens Caribbean, Republican Convention

Reuters: Tropical Storm Isaac swirled over the Caribbean on Wednesday and was forecast to become a hurricane as it moved on a track that would put it off the coast of Florida on Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Isaac was already dumping heavy rains on the Leeward Islands on Wednesday afternoon and hurricane watches were in effect for many places, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Isaac could also potentially threaten U.S. energy interests...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/us-storm-isaac-idUSBRE87L0PH20120822?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=20120822&t=2&i=645099511&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=300&r=CBRE87L1SAC00

Climate change: scientists ponder cloud brightening

Summit Voice: With international efforts to limit heat-trapping greenhouse gases faltering, some scientists say it`s worth at least exploring the concept of creating clouds that might reflect sunlight to counter global warming. Geoengineering has always had a few proponents, as there are always some people who think that we can engineer our way out of any problem. But many of the ideas floated as possible solutions to global warming are just vague theories at best, with little evidence that they could work....

URL: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/08/21/climate-change-scientists-ponder-cloud-brightening/
Enclosure: http://summitvoice.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/cool-clouds-near-mt_-terror.jpg?w=468&h=351

Drought Forces Ranchers Into Difficult Decisions

National Public Radio: This summer's brutal drought has put ranchers in a difficult position; water and feed are running low and ruinously expensive to replace. NPR's Neal Conan speaks to stricken ranchers and agricultural economist Norman Dalsted about how to deal with the drought, and what to expect in terms of food prices.

URL: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/22/159805959/drought-forces-ranchers-into-difficult-decisions?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=159805959&m=159805952

Enviros want climate question at Obama-Romney debate

The Hill: Environmentalists are trying a new strategy to bring climate change into the 2012 White House race: Work the refs. The League of Conservation Voters has launched a petition drive pressing the moderator of the first presidential debate, Jim Lehrer of PBS, to ask about the topic. The first debate is Oct. 3. "We urge you to ask President Obama and Gov. Romney how they will confront the greatest challenge of our generation -- climate change," states the online petition, launched Wednesday. "Millions...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/244813-enviros-want-climate-question-at-obama-romney-debate

Half of the particulate pollution in North America comes from other continents

ScienceDaily: Roughly half the aerosols that affect air quality and climate change in North America may be coming from other continents, including Asia, Africa and Europe, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Maryland at Baltimore County and the Universities Space Research Association. Atmospheric particles can travel thousands of miles downwind and impact the environment in other regions, found lead researcher Hongbin...

URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120822190732.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
Enclosure: http://images.sciencedaily.com/2012/08/120822190732-large.jpg?1345677058

United Kingdom: Treasury told to park cars and invest in public transport

BusinessGreen: The government should stop delaying fuel duty increases and instead invest in improving rail and bus services and reducing fares, according to an influential think tank. The IPPR says in a report to be published today that the so-called "war on motorists" is a myth and it is public transport users who have had to shoulder much more hostile policies and price hikes in recent years. It says that between 1997 and 2010 rail fares alone rose by more than 66 per cent, while bus and coach fares shot...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2200426/treasury-told-to-park-cars-and-invest-in-public-transport?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Treasury+told+to+park+cars+and+invest+in+public+transport

TV Viewers to Weathermen: We Want Climate Coverage

Huffington Post: This week in Boston, Mass., the nation's broadcast meteorologists will meet in their yearly conference sponsored by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). You probably don't have it marked on your calendar, but from the point of view of the planet, it's the most important meeting of weather reporters in history. Because the burning question in Beantown is whether weathercasters will embrace their responsibility to communicate how climate change is creating a new normal of dangerous, extreme weather....

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-souweine/climate-change-meterologists_b_1821079.html

Isaac On Track for Florida, May Disrupt RNC Convention

Climate Central: All eyes are on Tropical Storm Isaac as on Wednesday it was moving into the eastern Caribbean Sea, and forecast scenarios include the possibility that it may hit Florida next week, potentially disrupting the Republican National Convention, which is set to begin Monday in Tampa. Southern Florida is now within the "cone of uncertainty' track forecast issued by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami. Those forecasts indicate that by early next week, what at that time could be Hurricane Isaac,...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/tropical-storm-isaac-could-disrupt-republican-convention-14860?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/sized/images/uploads/news/8-22-12_andrew_isaaccone1-500x400.gif

Todd Akin screws up the science on climate change, too

Star-Ledger: Rep. Todd Akin only recently made himself infamous, but he was bumbling science long before he ever opened his mouth about women's reproductive plumbing. The Missouri GOP nominee for Senate is equally clueless when it comes to climate change, as bloggers at Grist and ThinkProgress noted today. Check out this House floor address three years ago by Akin (attached below). Here, Akin praises the turning of seasons from winter to spring in Missouri as "good climate change." He confuses "weather"...

URL: http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/08/todd_akin_screws_up_the_scienc.html

United States: Governor unveils web site

Press-Enterprise: Gov. Jerry Brown has jumped into the fray over climate change, unveiling a new state web site aimed at countering the arguments of naysayers on the issue. The website, Climate Change: Just the Facts, includes the latest climate science and common arguments against global warming with responses from such organizations as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Britain's Royal Society. Brown said "humanity is getting dangerously close to the point...

URL: http://blog.pe.com/environment/2012/08/21/climate-change-governor-unveils-web-site/
Enclosure: http://blog.pe.com/environment/files/2012/08/tcs_clip_image002-380x292.jpg

Better Video Delivery Mechanism

Subtitle:

Our Encyclopedia now delivers videos too

Images:

[![][1]][2]

When we developed GBAGreenBuildingAdvisor.com a few years ago, we knew that we would need, want, and eventually have a deep video program, but because the pile of work to do in order to meet our deadline was pretty darned big, and because we were a bunch of print guys and gals building this thing, we decided to let the video program sit on the back burner. We produced some, but didn't spend the resources to go hog-wild.

[1]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-river/video-screen-grab.jpg ()
[2]: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-blog/better-video-delivery-mechanism

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-blog/better-video-delivery-mechanism

Could Hurricane Isaac derail the GOP convention?

Washington Post: It's deja vu all over again: Four years ago, Hurricane Gustav threatened Republican National Convention plans. This year, it's Hurricane Isaac. The bad weather, still a tropical storm in the Atlantic, has convention planners and emergency officials tracking the weather closely and reviewing contingency plans in case it tracks toward Tampa, where the Republican convention begins on Monday. For now, the storm is closing in on the Lesser Antilles, and forecasters expect that it will become a hurricane...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/could-hurricane-isaac-derail-the-gop-convention/2012/08/22/d2f887e6-ec5a-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html?wprss=rss_national
Enclosure: http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_404h/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/08/22/National-Politics/Images/513256527.jpg

Aura Systems and Cyclone Power Technologies to Co-Develop Renewable Power Generation System.

The partners anticipate that the integrated renewable power generation system will be able to provide a turn-key distributed solution for customers looking to produce grid-tied or stand-alone electricity from renewable and waste resources.

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12028.html

Vestas Cuts 1,400 More Jobs on Forecast for Shipments Drop

![][1] Vestas Wind Systems A/S is cutting an additional 1,400 jobs to lower costs by more than 250 million euros ($311 million) in preparation for a decline in wind turbines installations it expects next year.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/22/body-vestas-cuts-1400-more-jobs-on-forecast-for-shipments-drop.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/vestas-cuts-1400-more-jobs-on-forecast-for-shipments-drop?cmpid=rss

Zipcar and the City of Houston, Texas Launch EV Car Sharing Program for City Employees.

This program is the first of its kind, funded by the State Energy Conservation Office American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (SECO-ARRA) Transportation Program (SEP), and is designed to help the City of Houston improve efficiency, promote sustainability and save money - all without sacrificing employee mobility

URL: http://www.green-energy-news.com/nwslnks/clips812/aug12027.html

Dems Want Obama to Appeal Ruling that Nixed Emissions Rule

The Hill: A pair of senior Capitol Hill Democrats is urging the Obama administration to appeal a Tuesday federal court ruling that struck down a major rule to cut power plant pollution. But other lawmakers applauded the appellate decision to vacate Environmental Protection Agency's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, underscoring political divides over the White House's green agenda. "I encourage the Administration to appeal the decision. In the meantime, as Chairman of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/244577-dems-to-obama-appeal-ruling-that-nixed-emissions-rule

China to Spend $372 Billion on Cutting Energy Use, Pollution

Reuters: China will plough $372 billion into energy conservation projects and anti-pollution measures over the next three-and-a-half years, part of a drive to cut energy consumption by 300 million tonnes of standard coal, the country's cabinet said Tuesday. A report from China's State Council, or cabinet, said the investments will take China almost halfway to meeting its target to cut the energy intensity 16 percent below 2010 levels by 2015. The government has earmarked $155 billion of the money for...

URL: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-china-energybre87l019-20120821,0,3127274.story
Enclosure: http://snsimages.tribune.com/media/photo/2012-08/71909190.jpg

Multiple factors, including climate change, led to collapse and depopulation of ancient Maya

Phys.Org: A new analysis of complex interactions between humans and the environment preceding the 9th century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán Peninsula points to a series of events -- some natural, like climate change; some human-made, including large-scale landscape alterations and shifts in trade routes -- that have lessons for contemporary decision-makers and sustainability scientists. In their revised model of the collapse of the ancient Maya, social scientists B.L....

URL: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-multiple-factors-climate-collapse-depopulation.html
Enclosure: http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2012/1-multiplefact.jpg

The Power Above: Kite Power Seeks High Altitude Power

![][1] There's a band of people in the northwest hills of Italy who are fishing for the big one in the sky.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/21/body-the-power-above-kite-power-seeks-high-altitude-power.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/the-power-above-kite-power-seeks-high-altitude-power?cmpid=rss

UN calls for integrated climate policies to counter drought threats

Samay Live: As farmers from Africa to India struggle with insufficient rainfall, the United Nations has sought consolidated efforts to combat climate change threat and counter its effects on global food security. "Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy," warned World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "We need to move away from a piecemeal, crisis-driven...

URL: http://english.samaylive.com/world-news/676511997/drought-threat-climate-change-united-nations-news-climate-polici.html
Enclosure: http://english.samaylive.com/pics/article/drought265__585716442.jpg

Climate vs. weather: Extreme events narrow doubts

Agence France-Presse: Heatwaves, drought and floods that have struck the northern hemisphere for the third summer running are narrowing doubts that man-made warming is disrupting Earth's climate system, say some scientists. Climate experts as a group are reluctant to ascribe a single extreme event or season to global warming. Weather, they argue, has to be assessed over far longer periods to confirm a shift in the climate and whether natural factors or fossil-fuel emissions are the cause. But for some, such caution...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/climate-vs-weather-extreme-events-narrow-doubts-000143938.html

Should Renewable Energy Be Afraid of Basel III Banking Standards?

![][1] The Basel III Accords, the latest set of international banking standards from the Basel Committee on Banking and Supervision, are set to take effect in just a few short months. This new banking regime was designed to create a more resilient and robust international banking system with a suite of capital adequacy, leverage, and liquidity requirements. Basel III will have impacts across the broader commercial lending market, though the renewable energy (RE) sector, with its heavy reliance on project finance, will be particularly vulnerable to the new liquidity standards.

[1]: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com//assets/images/story/2012/8/22/body-should-renewable-energy-be-afraid-of-basel-iii-banking-standards.jpg

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2012/08/should-renewable-energy-be-afraid-of-basel-iii-banking-standards?cmpid=rss

Multiple Factors Including Climate Change Led to Collapse and Depopulation of Ancient Maya

EP Magazine: A new analysis of complex interactions between humans and the environment preceding the 9th century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán Peninsula points to a series of events -- some natural, like climate change; some human-made, including large-scale landscape alterations and shifts in trade routes -- that have lessons for contemporary decision-makers and sustainability scientists. In their revised model of the collapse of the ancient Maya, social scientists B.L....

URL: http://eponline.com/articles/2012/08/22/multiple-factors-including-climate-change-led-to-collapse-and-depopulation-of-ancient-maya.aspx

Appeals Court Blocks E.P.A. Rule on Cross-State Pollution

New York Times: A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a federal rule that laid out how much air pollution states would have to clean up to avoid incurring violations in downwind states. The decision sends the Environmental Protection Agency, and perhaps even Congress, back to the drawing board in what has become a long and paralyzing argument over how to mesh a system of state-by-state regulation with the problem of industrial smokestacks pumping pollutants into a single atmosphere. In a 2-to-1 ruling,...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/science/earth/appeals-court-strikes-down-epa-rule-on-cross-state-pollution.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/22/us/POLLUTION/POLLUTION-popup.jpg

Japan Citizens Favor Zero Nuclear in Debate Over Energy Options

Bloomberg: Japan's public wants the government to phase out nuclear power according to the results of town hall-like forums to give the public a say in the debate on the nation's energy supply post-Fukushima. The forums brought together 286 citizens for two days in early August in Tokyo from thousands surveyed by phone. They were broken into smaller groups to discuss and vote on three energy supply options the government proposed: Zero nuclear, 15 percent nuclear, and 20 percent to 25 percent nuclear. A...

URL: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-22/japan-finds-47-percent-of-citizens-support-zero-nuclear-power-option

Arctic Sea Ice Record Now Could Be Set in August

Climate Central: Arctic sea ice cover is likely to reach a new record low as soon as next week, several weeks before the end of the melt season, according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and news reports. In fact, by at least one measure -- sea ice area -- the ice cover has already set a record low. The rapid decline in Arctic sea ice during the past several decades is one of the most visible signs of manmade global warming. The Arctic is warming at nearly twice the rate of the rest...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-record-now-could-be-set-in-august-14852?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed

Hydrofracking Ads, Pro and Con, Come to New York State

New York Times: As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration finishes up new regulations on where and how to allow hydraulic fracturing in New York State, groups on both sides of the issue are turning to the airwaves in a late-inning effort to press their cases. The advertisements are appearing in the Southern Tier region, just north of the Pennsylvania border, where the Marcellus Shale rock formation is rich in natural gas, and where communities may have to give local approval for drilling to be allowed in their area...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/nyregion/hydrofracking-ads-pro-and-con-come-to-new-york-state.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/08/22/nyregion/FRACKING/FRACKING-popup.jpg

Showers seen giving minimal lift to stunted U.S. crops

Reuters: Light showers late this week in the northern Midwest and heavier rainfall in most of the region early next week will provide little benefit to drought-stricken U.S. corn and soybeans since both crops are nearing the end of their growing season, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday. "It will help some of the later crops in the north such as in Wisconsin but not much elsewhere," said Andy Karst, a meteorologist for World Weather Inc. Karst also said there would not be enough rain to...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/us-usa-drought-crops-idUSBRE87J0D420120822?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=20120822&t=2&i=644928025&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87J164800

Germany Needs to Keep Some Conventional Power-Study

Reuters: Germany must keep a safe layer of fossil fuels-based power capacity in the decades to 2050 by when it hopes to derive 80 percent of electricity from renewable sources, said a study released by Deutsche Energie Agentur (Dena) on Wednesday. Coal and gas-fired power plants at that stage would still have to provide 60 percent of the secure capacity in place in 2010, said the study, which was carried out by the Aachen Technical University and commissioned by utility RWE. Capacity is considered secure...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/germany-powerplants-study-idUSL6E8JM4OM20120822

China should boost rare earths imports -industry body

Reuters: China, the world's largest producer and consumer of rare earths, should boost imports of the materials due to growing demand and to protect domestic resources, the China Daily reported on Wednesday, citing senior industry officials. Global demand for rare earths, crucial in manufacturing high-tech products such as smartphones and hybrid cars, is expected to rise sharply, with appetite in China growing even faster, Liu Yinan, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals &...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/22/us-china-rareearths-imports-idUSBRE87L02920120822?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=20120822&t=2&i=644793911&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE87L07WC00

Court voids cross-state air pollution rule

USA Today: A federal appeals court today struck down a major Obama administration air pollution regulation to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants that crossed state lines. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its authority by trying to limit the amount of health-damaging sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emitted in 27 mostly Eastern states and Texas, Reuters says. The majority opinion, written...

URL: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/08/appeals-court-voids-major-cross-state-air-pollution-rule/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29
Enclosure: http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2012/08/21/Coalx-wide-community.jpg