Prepare for impact of climate change

Minneapolis Star Tribune: If last year's March warmth, June deluge, July heat and autumn drought didn't convince doubters that global climate change has come to Minnesota, last week brought fresh evidence for them to consider. The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, canceled last year and in 2007 because of insufficient snow, faces the same problem this year and has been postponed. Organizers hope the race can be run in March. And three state House committees spent nearly two hours listening to five University of Minnesota...

URL: http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/187524481.html
Enclosure: http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/630*421/2beargrease0117.jpg

China plans emergency measures to control Beijing air pollution

Reuters: Beijing is to unveil unprecedented new rules governing how China's capital reacts to hazardous air pollution, the official Xinhua news agency said, as deteriorating air quality threatens to become a rallying point for wider political dissatisfaction. The rules will formalize previous ad-hoc measures, including shutting down factories, cutting back on burning coal and taking certain vehicle classes off the roads on days when pollution hits unacceptable levels. Air quality in Beijing, on many...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/20/us-china-pollution-idUSBRE90J01M20130120?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=20130120&t=2&i=695940749&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=460&pl=300&r=CBRE90J0EFG00

US climate fears mount, but political action wanes

Agence France-Presse: Climate change was thrust to the forefront of the US political agenda recently in the wake of the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy and record high temperatures across the country. But despite President Barack Obama renewing his early promises to act, experts said political opposition would make it at least as difficult as during Obama's first, failed push to get new legislation through Congress, and said decisive measures will remain unlikely. "All the public opinion polls show a better understanding...

URL: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/82137?tid=37

Midwest to feel the heat of global warming

Summit Voice: The Midwest could be among the regions hit hardest by climate change, according to a trio of University of Michigan researchers who authored sections of the recent national climate assessment. The region is likely to face frequent and more intense heat waves, water quality degradation and public health threats, with increasing risks to Great Lakes ecosystems. "Climate change impacts in the Midwest are expected to be as diverse as the landscape itself. Impacts are already being felt in the forests,...

URL: http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/01/19/midwest-to-feel-the-heat-of-global-warming/
Enclosure: http://summitvoice.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/greatlakes-tmoa2003068.jpg?w=468

Costa Rica: Wired wilderness

Living on Earth: In a novel experiment, artists have set up cameras that beam images from a nature reserve to San Jose's airport. Adelaide Chen reports that over time, they hope to show climate change in action. Transcript CURWOOD: Artists have long understood the power of the image to engage and demonstrate abstractions that can be hard to grasp. That's the idea behind a new public art installation at the San Jose airport in California. It's part Ansel Adams and part science experiment. Artists are taking...

URL: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00003&segmentID=7
Enclosure: http://www.loe.org/content/2013-01-18/wired-wilderness.mp3

Pakistan: Climate change affecting fish catch, warn experts

The News: Climate change is affecting fish catch in Pakistani waters as elsewhere in the world, as changes have been observed in the timing and duration of fishing seasons in the studies recently carried out in Jiwani, Keti Bunder and Kharo Chan districts. This was stated by Ali Dehlavi, Project Manager, Building Capacity on Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Areas of Pakistan (CCAP) project, while speaking on the second day of the three-day workshop titled "A Regional Perspective for Assuring Sustainable...

URL: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-155102-Climate-change-affecting-fish-catch-warn-experts

Amazon imperiled by climate change droughts: Study

Epic Times: A massive drought almost eight years ago is still affecting the Amazon rainforest to this day, according to a new study released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The continued impact of the 2005 drought, which is still affecting an area in the Amazon about the size of the state of California, could possibly be the first telltale signs "of potential large-scale degradation due to climate change," NASA said in a press release. The laboratory analyzed satellite data collected between 2000 and...

URL: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/climate-change-caused-droughts-damaging-amazon-since-2005-337435.html
Enclosure: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2013/01/18/157341395-5-590x393.jpg

The way green groups are swooning, you'd think Ed Markey is Justin Bieber

Mother Jones: Environmental groups are starting the push to get Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) elected to fill the vacant Senate seat should John Kerry be confirmed as the next secretary of state. Green advocates are convinced that a Sen. Markey would be their dream come true--no matter who the other contenders for the seat turn out to be. Having represented the state since 1976, Markey has certainly had plenty of time to advance, but during most of the past four decades, there have been few opportunities for him...

URL: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/ed-markey-senate-massachusetts-environmental%20
Enclosure: http://mjcdn.motherjones.com/preset_12/edmarkey.jpeg

World Bank looks to battle climate change with better transportation

Sacramento Bee: There's an unexpected method governments can use to reduce poverty, improve public health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, top world leaders said Friday. Their idea: Make transportation in the world's megacities more available and sustainable to reduce congestion and benefit populations - and economies - that are projected to boom in the coming decades. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, said Friday at a global transportation conference that working on sustainable transportation...

URL: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/18/5124883/world-bank-looks-to-battle-climate.html
Enclosure: http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2013/01/18/19/57/709-6no3w.Em.91.jpeg

Australia: Victoria's south east faces destructive fires

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Bushfires in Victoria have destroyed a number of homes as the Country Fire Authority fights a 25,000-hectare blaze around Gippsland in the state's south-east. Transcript TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: Tonight the heat is on for fire fighters across huge sections of the country, with bushfires burning in Victoria and New South Wales. Scorching temperatures and strong winds sparked emergency after emergency, as fires broke containment lines, consuming tens of thousands of hectares of bushland. ...

URL: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3672517.htm

Climate assessment

Living on Earth: The US government has released its third National Climate Assessment for public comment. This comprehensive report finds humans unquestionably responsible for recent climate disruption, and warns that global temperatures could rise as much as ten degrees by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions go unchecked. Host Steve Curwood talks about the climate report with Carol Browner, President Obama's former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy. Transcript CURWOOD: The...

URL: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00003&segmentID=2
Enclosure: http://www.loe.org/content/2013-01-18/climate-assessment.mp3

Mayors focus on local warming, urge Obama to act

Reuters: Reeling from an historic drought, the hottest year on record and more frequent wild weather, mayors from a number of U.S. cities urged the White House this week to take the lead on setting an agenda to address climate change. City leaders said that only the federal government has the tools and clout to address greenhouse gases often blamed for warming the planet, while mayors focus on issues of "local warming" such as providing a reliable water supply or protecting citizens during dangerous weather...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/us-usa-climate-mayors-idUSBRE90H18Q20130118

Preparing the bay for rising sea levels

San Francisco Chronicle: On a sunny Friday afternoon last fall, a Grand Banks trawler idled at the mouth of Richardson Bay, giving those aboard a close look at a battleground in the fight against climate change. The lobster claw-shaped estuary defines and occasionally redefines the southeastern edge of Marin County, a shoreline area dotted with expensive homes, shops and restaurants. During the king tides near the turn of the year, when sea levels reach their zenith, water overwhelms the banks and marshes, flooding parts...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Preparing-the-bay-for-rising-sea-levels-4205822.php
Enclosure: http://vimeo.com/jtemple/risingtides

Watch 62 years of global warming in 13 seconds

Climate Central: From our friends at NASA comes this amazing 13-second animation that depicts how temperatures around the globe have warmed since 1950. You'll note an acceleration of the temperature trend in the late 1970s as greenhouse gas emissions from energy production increased worldwide and clean air laws reduced emissions of pollutants that had a cooling effect on the climate, and thus were masking some of the global warming signal. The data come from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/watch-62-years-of-global-warming-in-13-seconds-15469
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/videos/132YrsGWin52secs-splash.jpg

A Smut Above: Unhealthy Soot in the Air Could Also Promote Global Warming

Scientific American: Black carbon, commonly described as soot, may play a larger role in global warming than previously estimated, according to a new study. Every year in the Northern Hemisphere about 7.5 million metric tons of black carbon, the equivalent of more than 100 times Earth's total biomass, enters the air from internal combustion engines, forest fires and other sources. The fine material absorbs sunlight almost as well as carbon dioxide--a well-known greenhouse gas--and may contribute to accelerated snowmelts...

URL: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=unhealthy-soot-could-promote-global-warming
Enclosure: http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/unhealthy-soot-could-promote-global-warming_1.jpg.pagespeed.ce.piAA1qiTMp.jpg

China's green leap backward

The Nation: Signaling China's ambition to be the world's leader in solar energy, Beijing officials announced in January that the country had installed an impressive seven gigawatts of solar power capacity in 2012 and would add an additional ten gigawatts this year. The bold announcement is consistent with the "Green Leap Forward,' China's goal to assert global leadership in renewable energy and low-carbon development. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen three years ago, Wu Changhua,...

URL: http://www.thenation.com/article/172263/chinas-green-leap-backward
Enclosure: http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/20/china_enviro_rtr_img.jpg

California falling short on rising seas

San Francisco Chronicle: On the night of Jan. 31, 1953, a hurricane descended on the northeast coast of the Netherlands, whipping up high spring tides into 18-foot surges. As dike after dike failed, floods washed over at least 600 square miles, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and killing more than 1,800. The tragedy set off a decades-long campaign to ensure it never happened again, as the nation adopted an essentially zero-tolerance policy for mass flooding. They erected a closed system of levees built to withstand...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/takingtheheat/article/California-falling-short-on-rising-seas-4205790.php
Enclosure: http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/16/63/73/3882733/7/628x471.jpg

Central America battles to save coffee from fungus

Agence France-Presse: Central America is scrambling to contain a coffee-eating fungus that has invaded a third of the impoverished region's crops, threatening to cost the vital industry hundreds of millions of dollars. Entire families depend on work from the coffee-growing industry in Central America, which employs more than 1.5 million people to produce one of the world's most renowned Arabica beans. But in September, two months before the annual harvest, the fungus known as roya began to spread due to a lack of...

URL: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j-EmV7MJDJpvNKO23Qca__mASFUQ
Enclosure: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/media/ALeqM5h1K0uUu29xzOuExzFkT_KxR3hwRA?docId=photo_1358537841456-1-0&size=l

Bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain may last for weeks

Telegraph: As the hardest hit areas enjoy a respite from snow today, and ice becomes the main danger, experts say this wintry blast is the result of a phenomenon called sudden stratospheric warming -- and they warn that its effects could last for up to a month more. "This is a major event in the stratosphere, and it's driving the cold weather,' said Adam Scaife at the Met Office. "The lower stratosphere will be perturbed for weeks, and it's pushing the chances of further cold and easterly winds well into...

URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9813431/Bitterly-cold-weather-sweeping-Britain-may-last-for-weeks.html

Where the U.S. imports its oil from, in one map

Washington Post: The United States imported about 40 percent of its oil in 2012. So where are we getting it from? It depends a lot on where you live. Over at Business Insider, Rob Wile digs up this fascinating map from RBC Capital Markets: For refineries on the East Coast, the majority of their imported oil comes from Africa, mainly Nigeria and Angola. By contrast, refineries in the Midwest get virtually all of their imported oil via pipeline from Canada. Also note that relatively little of America`s imported...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/19/where-the-u-s-gets-its-oil-imports-in-one-map/
Enclosure: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/01/oil-imports-by-region.png

US urged to back trillion dollar clean energy opportunity

BusinessGreen: The United States government has been urged to provide greater policy stability for the renewables market, after a new report found global clean energy investment could total $1.9tr (£1.2tr) between 2012 and 2018. The Pew Charitable Trusts published research yesterday predicting revenue from the installation of renewable energy technologies, including wind and solar projects, would grow at a compound annual rate of eight per cent from $200bn in 2012 to $327bn by 2018, delivering cumulative revenue...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2237369/us-urged-to-back-trillion-dollar-clean-energy-opportunity?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=US+urged+to+back+trillion+dollar+clean+energy+opportunity

US urged to capitalise on hundreds of billions in renewable energy investment

Guardian: The United States government has been urged to provide greater policy stability for the renewables market, after a new report found global clean energy investment could total $1.9tr (£1.2tr) between 2012 and 2018. The Pew Charitable Trusts published research on Thursday predicting revenue from the installation of renewable energy technologies, including wind and solar projects, would grow at a compound annual rate of eight per cent from $200bn in 2012 to $327bn by 2018, delivering cumulative revenue...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/18/us-billions-renewable-energy-investment
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/3/8/1331206149973/Solar-power-007.jpg

Fiddling on the roof: Can $10 million in prize money spark a solar revolution?

Grist: Want to know the real reason that rooftop solar panels haven't spread across the United States yet? Slap a few panels on your roof some night and wait for the local code enforcer to notice them. Then count the citations as they roll in. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, we've got the technology to power our lights with solar, but the red tape gets in the way. Regulatory hoops are holding up solar progress, says the agency (which is somewhat famous for its regulatory hoops), and making...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/fiddling-on-the-roof-can-10-million-in-prize-money-spark-a-solar-revolution/
Enclosure: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/solar-panels.jpg?w=250&h=250

Vietnam and Cambodia tell Laos to stop $3.5bn Mekong river dam project

Guardian: Vietnam urged Laos to halt construction of a $3.5bn (£2.2bn) hydropower dam on Mekong River pending further study, environmental activists said on Friday. Cambodia, downriver from the Xayaburi dam, accused Laos of failing to consult on the project, activists said. The Mekong River commission (MRC), made up of member states Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, held a three-day meeting in northern Laos to discuss river development projects. The dam in northern Laos, the first of 11 planned for the...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/18/vietnam-cambodia-laos-mekong-dam
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2012/11/15/1353000242743/Mekong-River-in-Vientiane-009.jpg

Aerosols vs GreenHouse Gases

Environmental News Network: There's a tricky chemical trade-off at work in our skies. As greenhouse gases provide their famous warming effect to Earth's surface, aerosol pollution in the atmosphere actually partly counteracts it. Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air, both natural and industrial, including sea salt, mineral dust, ash, soot, sulphates, nitrates, and black carbon. They hang around in the air for around 10 days, scattering and absorbing radiation from the sun. Aerosols also provide nuclei for water...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/45479?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29

Australia: Sydney bakes in hottest day ever

BBC: The Australian city of Sydney is experiencing its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching nearly 46C. A temperature of 45.8C was recorded at Observatory Hill in the city at 14:55 local time (01:55 GMT). Some areas in the wider Sydney region were even hotter, with the town of Penrith, to the west, registering a temperature of 46.5C. In Victoria state, one man has been killed by a bushfire, one of dozens raging across southern Australia. State police said the body of the man,...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21072347#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65370000/jpg/_65370977_65370975.jpg

United Kingdom: Battle for soul of the Lakes pits unspoilt nature against the lure of more jobs

Guardian: From the soaring crags of Scafell Pike to the black depths of Wastwater, the Lake District is one of Britain's most beguiling destinations. Yet its landscape is now at the centre of an increasingly fractious dispute between those who insist that preserving the pristine qualities of the fells is the best blueprint for economic development and a group who say that new developments in the area would create more jobs and growth. Britain's best-known mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington, fired the first...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/19/battle-for-soul-of-lake-district
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/19/1358593387104/Beautiful-picture-of-fenc-010.jpg

How Climate Change is Damaging the Great Lakes

EcoWatch: Great Lakes Michigan and Huron set a new record low water level for the month of December, and in the coming weeks they could experience their lowest water levels ever. It's becoming certain that, like the rest of the country, the Great Lakes are feeling the effects of climate change. Last year was officially the warmest year on record for the lower-48 states. The hot summer air has been causing the surface water of the Great Lakes to increase in temperature. One might think this causes more precipitation...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/how-climate-change-is-damaging-the-great-lakes/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/map11.jpg

Do You Live in One of the 32 States that Has Been Fracked?

EcoWatch: Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a "progress report" on its ongoing study of hydraulic fracturing and the impacts of fracking on drinking water. The progress report contains a lot of interesting information, but one particular map caught my eye. The map shows that fracking has occurred in more states than previously known, including places like Arizona, Nevada and Maryland. All in all, we now know that fracking has occurred in at least 32 states since 2005. It...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/fracking-32-states/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/frackingmap.jpg

Swedish researchers investigate climate change impact on Arctic mammals

Cordis: Researchers from Umeå University in Sweden have discovered that mammals living in the Arctic and sub-Arctic land areas in northern Europe could be positively affected by climate change between now and 2080 - if they succeed in adjusting their geographic ranges. Presented in the journal PLOS ONE, the study showed how changing climates help drive shifts in species distributions and extinctions, and range contractions and expansions. The researchers postulate that such changes will only increase in...

URL: http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=35452
Enclosure: http://cordis.europa.eu/news/images/20130118-2.jpg

United States: Governor Kasich’s Commitment to Renewable Energy in Doubt

EcoWatch: Governor Kasich has been ambiguous regarding his support for renewable energy as far back as his campaign for governor. Even at his high-profile Energy Summit in the fall of 2011, when the governor announced his intention to craft a comprehensive overhaul of Ohio energy policy, Gov. Kasich largely avoided the question of whether he sought to expand or contract Ohio's commitment to renewable energy--and whether he supported continued investment in renewable energy at all. A week after Gov. John...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/kasich-renewable-energy-doubt/

Climate change will increase wind and waves in Australia

Mother Nature Network: Coastal areas in parts of Australia, Indonesia and Antarctica will be hard-hit by stronger winds and waves in a warming world, according to an open letter published January 13 in the journal Nature Climate Change. On the opposite side of the world, wind and waves in the northern hemisphere could actually lessen, according to the researchers, who say the research has implications not just for people living in coastal regions but also the fishing industry and entire ecosystems. The letter was prepared...

URL: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/climate-change-will-increase-wind-and-waves-in-australia
Enclosure: http://www.mnn.com/sites/default/files/editorial/waves.jpg

Indonesia: Children at risk as Jakarta floods – aid workers

AlertNet: Aid workers responding to floods that have swamped the Indonesian capital Jakarta fear an outbreak of disease, especially among children playing in dirty floodwaters. At least 12 people have been killed and more than 18,000 forced to flee their homes by the floods, which began on Wednesday following torrential rains. Overall, some 250,000 people have been affected across the sprawling city, according to Save the Children. But there are warnings the rains could worsen in the coming days. Water...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/children-at-risk-as-jakarta-floods-aid-workers
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/4330747c-b7f8-47ad-a3ea-a02d04ba56ae/photowide/?w=460&vn=201301181925

Soaring Population, Climate Change Stress Resources

Voice of America: Population growth threatens to strain Earth's water and food resources. By 2050, nine billion people will be living on the planet, up from six billion today. The problem facing the world community is how to meet those needs while reining in the global greenhouse gases warming the earth. Advances and losses Progress has been made. Since world leaders met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the first Earth Summit on Sustainable Development 20 years ago, global poverty has fallen by half, per capita...

URL: http://www.voanews.com/content/soaring-population-stresses-world-resources/1586525.html
Enclosure: http://gdb.voanews.com/7E8FB8F6-A6EC-417E-873B-5521C21B9CC3_w640_r1_s_cx0_cy11_cw0.jpg

Climate Change Hits the Mississippi River

Daily Beast: Here on the east coast, global climate change means earlier springs. Who can object to that? But elsewhere, the costs are harsher. For months along the Mississippi River here, the withering drought has caused record-breaking low water levels that have threatened to shut down traffic on the world's largest navigable inland waterway. … The fact that the river has remained open for business along the critical "Middle Miss" -- the 200 miles between the Mississippi's last dam-and-locks structure,...

URL: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/18/climate-change-hits-the-mississippi-river.html

Federal Win for Small Renewable Systems Good Model for States


A more efficient interconnection process for small renewable generators is something we have been working hard to achieve, tediously, state by state. So yesterday's proposed modifications by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to its Small Generator Interconnection Procedures is an exciting win. If finalized, it speeds up the approval p

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/federal-win-for-small-renewable-systems-good-model-for-states?cmpid=rss

All the Details You Missed on LADWP's Feed-in Tariff Program


The recently approved feed-in tariff program in Los Angeles, voted on by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Board of Commissioners on January 11th, has sparked a good deal of coverage over both questions and concerns – mostly surrounding how well the program will perform. Those interested in the incentive won't have to wait long

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/all-the-details-you-missed-on-ladwps-feed-in-tariff-program?cmpid=rss

Power REIT's First Solar Deal


I first wrote about Power REIT's (NYSE:PW) plans to invest in renewable energy real estate in May 2012. The intent was to buy the real estate underlying a solar, wind, or other renewable energy project, charging the project owners rent. This can be done profitably because REITs often have a lower cost of capital than other businesses, such as renewable energy power producers.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/power-reits-first-solar-deal?cmpid=rss

Trina, JinkoSolar Plan to Lift Solar Shipments in 2013 as Demand Rises


Trina Solar Ltd., the world's third- biggest maker of solar panels, and JinkoSolar Holding Co. expect to deliver more products this year as China's efforts to promote its domestic solar industry take hold.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/trina-jinkosolar-plan-to-lift-solar-shipments-in-2013-as-demand-rises?cmpid=rss

Energy Secretary Chu Said to Plan Exit From Obama's Cabinet


U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who drew criticism from Republicans over his support for loans to Solyndra LLC before the solar-panel maker went bankrupt, will leave his Cabinet post in President Barack Obama's second term, according to two people familiar with the matter.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/energy-secretary-chu-said-to-plan-exit-from-obamas-cabinet?cmpid=rss

Obama Allies Browner, Podesta Now Oppose Arctic Drilling

The Hill: Officials with the Center for American Progress (CAP), an influential liberal think tank with deep White House ties, have come out against Arctic oil drilling as the Obama administration faces crucial decisions about the region. Carol Browner, a senior CAP fellow and President Obama's former energy czar, and CAP founder John Podesta explained their opposition to drilling off the northern coast of Alaska in a joint Bloomberg op-ed. The op-ed by Podesta, who co-chaired Obama's transition team...

URL: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/277961-key-obama-allies-browner-podesta-now-oppose-arctic-drilling

Coal's 'lifeline to Asia' emerges as new front in global warming fight

ClimateWire: This 900-acre industrial park features a horseshoe-shaped dock of timber and steel that juts out into the Columbia River, an hour's drive north of Portland. During World War II it shipped bullets and bombs across the Pacific. Now it's providing ammunition for a new battle: whether to export substantial amounts of coal from the western United States to Asia. "The channel runs deep here. It's self-scouring, so you don't have to dredge it," explained Craig Allison, operations manager for the port,...

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2013/01/17/1
Enclosure: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2013/01/17/photo_cw_02.jpg

United Kingdom: Road-building protesters score first victory in the second battle of Hastings

Guardian: King Harold's loss to Duke William of Normandy back in 1066 did a good job of putting Hastings on the map. Now the quiet countryside of the south coast is once again the scene of a great battle, and perhaps the start of a conflict that could last years. In the trees of Combe Haven, on the proposed site of a new link road between Hastings and Bexhill, protesters have been bravely battling East Sussex council. Campaigners argue that the proposed road will be expensive, unnecessary and ineffective...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jan/18/road-building-protesters-victory-hastings
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2013/1/7/1357572594447/Bexhill-Hastings-link-roa-006.jpg

Climate change to profoundly affect the Midwest in coming decades

EurekAlert: In the coming decades, climate change will lead to more frequent and more intense Midwest heat waves while degrading air and water quality and threatening public health. Intense rainstorms and floods will become more common, and existing risks to the Great Lakes will be exacerbated. Those are some of the conclusions contained in the Midwest chapter of a draft report released last week by the federal government that assesses the key impacts of climate change on every region in the country and analyzes...

URL: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uom-cct011813.php
Enclosure: http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/

Biogen Plans Food Waste-to-Power Plants in UK on Rising Landfill Tax


Biogen Ltd., a U.K. developer of plants that generate electricity from food waste, plans to start building four to five facilities this year as rising landfill taxes increases the costs of burying waste underground.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/biogen-plans-food-waste-to-power-plants-in-uk-on-rising-landfill-tax?cmpid=rss

U.S. Army Dedicates 4.1 LCPV Solar Power Array at White Sands


On Wednesday, January 16th, the U.S. Army dedicated its largest solar photovoltaic system at White Sands Missile Range, in a ceremony led by Brig. Gen. Gwen Bingham, White Sands commander. Bingham was joined by Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment for the ceremony and Judy Marks, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies. (see photo at the end of the article.)

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/u-s-army-dedicated-4-1-lcpv-solar-power-array-at-white-sands?cmpid=rss

United Kingdom: Road protesters' last stand against eviction

Guardian: Environmental campaigners explain why they are protesting against the building of a link road between Bexhill and Hastings across the East Sussex countryside. The protesters secure themselves to tree houses, road obstacles and tunnels using locks and concrete before being evicted by police. The new £86m road will be more than three miles long

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2013/jan/18/bexhill-hastings-road-protesters-eviction-video
Enclosure: http://cdn.theguardian.tv/brightcove/2013/1/18/130118CombeHavenProtest-16x9.mp4

Amazon Rainforest Under Threat From Climate Change

RedOrbit: A megadrought that started in 2005 is still affecting a portion of the Amazon Rainforest twice the size of California, a new study led by NASA`s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) finds. The results of this study, combined with the observed recurrences of droughts every few years and associated damage to forests in both the southern and western Amazon over the past decade, reveal that the rainforest might be showing the initial signs of potential large-scale degradation due to climate change. An...

URL: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112766449/climate-change-threat-amazon-rainforest-011813/
Enclosure: http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2013/01/amazonriver.jpg

As drought persists, many scramble to save every drop of water

Reuters: The drought that crippled many communities across the nation last year shows little sign of retreating, and the threat of persistent water scarcity is spurring efforts to preserve every drop. As the drought of 2012 creeps into 2013, experts say the slow-spreading catastrophe presents near-term problems for a key U.S. agricultural region and potential long-term challenges for millions of Americans. "Everyone is wondering whether this dry weather is the new norm ... or an anomaly that will soon...

URL: http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/67652
Enclosure: http://planetark.org/images/wefull/67652.jpg

China Solar Panel Maker Shares Receive Unexpected Boost


After more than a year of coming under constant assault, shares of solar panel makers have suddenly received an unexpected boost from investors who are suddenly showing renewed interest in the battered sector. Many are attributing the sudden surge in solar stocks to growing signs that China will soon embark on a massive building spree of new solar

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/china-solar-panel-maker-shares-receive-unexpected-boost?cmpid=rss

Saving Energy and Eating Better


The U.S. consumer wants food to be fresh, local and organic. But that means larger grocery bills in an economy where most people need them to be smaller. As the New York Times tells it, 20-somethings, just out of college, feel the squeeze the most. They are more intent on Whole Foods-style eating than their predecessors, but less able to afford it.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/saving-energy-and-eating-better?cmpid=rss

Salazar has long list of unfinished business

Greenwire: With months of speculation ended over whether Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will stay for President Obama's second term, the former Colorado senator must now decide which of many policy initiatives he wants to finish before he leaves in March. There is no shortage of high-profile decisions Salazar could make in the coming months, ranging from a final rule governing hydraulic fracturing to the designation of national monuments on scenic lands throughout the West. The Colorado native yesterday...

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2013/01/17/2

Superstorm destruction was good news for jolly prophet of doom

Greenwire: For more than 40 years, the renowned coastal geologist has preached a message of gloom: The beaches are moving. People need to get out of the way. His message was unwelcome to many powerful people. Real estate developers slammed Pilkey in the press; wealthy alumni of his academic home, Duke University, heckled him during speeches; revelers in seaside bars challenged him to fistfights; and the town of Folly Beach, S.C., officially declared him persona non grata. Yet Pilkey has persisted and scored...

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2013/01/17/1
Enclosure: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2013/01/16/photo_gw_04.jpg

Mercury emissions threaten ocean, lake food webs

Environmental Health News: As United Nations delegates end their mercury treaty talks today, scientists warn that ongoing emissions are more of a threat to food webs than the mercury already in the environment. At the same time, climate change is likely to alter food webs and patterns of mercury transport in places such as the Arctic, which will further complicate efforts to keep the contaminant out of people and their food. The discovery that new mercury seems to be more of a threat than old mercury could add impetus for...

URL: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2013/mercury
Enclosure: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/images/2013/ehn/january/mercury/topphoto.jpg

CEO: 'climate change is not necessarily bad'

Mother Jones: In 1978, John Mackey and his girlfriend used $45,000 in seed money to start "Safer Way," a natural foods store in Austin, Texas, that was supposed to offer shoppers an alternative to "evil" profit-seeking corporations. But soon the long-haired 25-year-old found himself lumped in with the people he was supposed to be fighting. His customers complained that his prices were too high. His workers thought they weren't being paid enough. Austin nonprofits said he should give them more money. And government...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/18/whole-foods-ceo-climate-change-bad

Australia: Sydney experiences its hottest day on record

Agence France-Presse: Temperatures in Sydney on Friday hit their highest levels since records began 150 years ago, after an Australian government agency warned of more frequent and intense heatwaves in the future. While a vicious cold snap has recently hit Russia and eastern Europe and the Middle East has suffered its worst winter storm in a decade, Australian firefighters were battling scores of wildfires in stifling summer heat. In Sydney, Australia's biggest city, the temperature smashed the previous hottest...

URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/global-warming/sydney-experiences-its-hottest-day-on-record/articleshow/18073594.cms
Enclosure: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-18073609,width-310,resizemode-4/australia-weather.jpg

High 2012 temperatures led to earliest flowering ever in eastern U.S

ClimateWire: Record-high temperatures in 2012 led to massive droughts and wildfires, but tiny wildflowers like the dwarf dandelion and the shooting star were also affected by the especially warm spring. Their early blooming has the potential to disrupt the ecosystem, scientists say, but perhaps it could be a sign of plants' resilience. Last year, scientists from Harvard University, Boston University and the University of Wisconsin documented the earliest flowering season on record in the eastern United States....

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2013/01/17/2
Enclosure: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2013/01/17/photo_cw_01.jpg

Scientists Mimic Fireflies to Make Brighter LEDs

Optics Express papers detail new bio-inspired coating that increases LED efficiency by 55 percent

URL: http://green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2013/20130007.html

Canada: WWF puts B.C. cities on short list for efforts in fighting climate change

Vancouver Sun: Vancouver, Stockholm and Chicago are on the short list for the World Wildlife Fund's choice of the city doing the most in the world to combat climate change, but the ultimate winner could be Colwood, population 16,000. The small Vancouver Island community was named Thursday as one of the finalists for the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour City Challenge for their actions to combat climate change. Colwood joins Vancouver, Surrey and 14 other cities from around the world in the final round of the...

URL: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/puts%20cities%20short%20list%20efforts%20fighting%20climate%20change/7837963/story.html

Climate change and resource scarcity may wipe out pensions industry

Guardian: How could actuarial professionals, tasked with risk management in the financial sector and beyond, have ignored the biggest risk humanity has ever faced? It's difficult to get one's head around, but the simple fact is that actuaries have so far failed to even begin to factor into their financial models the impacts of climate change and resource scarcity, apart from a narrow focus in some insurance products related to direct weather impacts. This is despite the fact that the issues have been known...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/climate-change-resource-scarcity-pension-industry-actuaries
Enclosure: http://www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources/documents/research-report-resource-constraints-sharing-finite-world-implicati

Markell plans to address sea-level rise, teacher pay

Cape Gazette: Officials are working to address sea-level rise, school safety and job creation for Delaware. Gov. Jack Markell delivered his state of the state address, surrounded by legislators and other elected officials, Jan. 17, at Legislative Hall in Dover. In the speech, "This is the world we now live in," Markell asked the General Assembly to help him pass legislation to fund infrastructure projects to address flooding, enact legislation to ban certain firearms and raise the pay for teachers. The governor...

URL: http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/markell-plans-to-address-sea-level-rise-teacher-pay/949631
Enclosure: http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/media/Common/11/95/759198/t600-Markell,%20Jack.jpg

Wild weather: Extreme is the new normal

New Scientist: ALL eyes have been on Australia in recent weeks as a blistering heatwave triggered huge wildfires. The result has been a slew of amazing stories, including a family escaping by jumping into the sea and meteorologists adding new colours to heat maps. But Australia's fires are just the most dramatic of a cluster of ongoing extreme weather events, including droughts in the US and Brazil and a lethal cold snap in Asia (see "Drought, fire, ice: world is gripped by extreme weather"). Lumping extreme...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729003.200-wild-weather-extreme-is-the-new-normal.html

Drought shrinks slightly: NOAA issues gloomy outlook

Climate Change: The national drought footprint shrank slightly this week, as heavy rains fell across the South, Southeast, Midwest and parts of the Mid-Atlantic states, and major snowfall blanketed parts of the Rocky Mountains and Northern Cascades, bringing relief to those regions. However, the hardest-hit drought region -- the Great Plains -- continued to experience drier-than-average conditions, with the drought continuing to hold on. A new federal drought outlook issued on Thursday projects that the drought...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/drought-shrinks-slightly-as-noaa-issues-pessimistic-outlook-15475
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/news/1_17_13_news_andrew_droughtupdate.jpg

Pressure mounts on Obama to decide Keystone XL's fate

Globe and Mail: Battle lines are drawn and both sides claim Barack Obama's long-deferred decision on a massive pipeline project that would funnel Alberta's oil sands crude to U.S. refineries will show whether the President will pick energy security or bold action on climate change as his second-term legacy. The Harper government and the oil industry on both sides of the border champion the project, claiming it will create thousands of jobs and wean the United States off uncertain Middle Eastern oil. Environmentalists...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/pressure-mounts-on-obama-to-decide-keystone-xls-fate/article7502723/
Enclosure: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/466/news/politics/article7502722.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/web-keystone17nw1.jpg

As State Department nears completion of Keystone XL review, both sides dig in

Washington Post: The State Department is close to completing a draft of an environmental review that will help determine whether President Obama approves the Keystone XL pipeline, as environmental and energy industry groups sought to bolster their position with new information. Pipeline opponent Oil Change International released a report Thursday saying that estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands development have failed to include the full emissions from a byproduct of refining oil sands crude --...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/in-keystone-xl-debate-environmental-group-wants-petcoke-counted-in-impact-statements/2013/01/17/d6b45f0a-609e-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html
Enclosure: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/keystone-nebraska-6062.jpg

Australian inferno previews fire-prone future

New Scientist: CLIMATE change is ramping up fire risk around the world. In Australia, home to some of the most fire-prone regions on Earth, the bush fires raging now could be a taster of what's to come. Parts of the world where the fire risk is rising can learn from Australia's experience, says John Handmer, director of the Centre for Risk and Community at RMIT University in Melbourne. A good place to start would be "uninhabitable zones" - places where the fire risk is so high no homes should be built. Such...

URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729004.400-australian-inferno-previews-fireprone-future.html
Enclosure: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/mg21729004.400/mg21729004.400-1_300.jpg

New Western governor sets his sights on climate change solutions

LA Times: When we were classmates at Ingraham High School in Seattle, Jay Inslee was quarterback of the football team and a key player on the state champion basketball squad. I was a fledgling cartoonist and editorial writer on the student newspaper. On Wednesday afternoon, as I watched Inslee shoot hoops with his buddies under the new backboard he had just put up on his garage, it struck me that some things have not changed. It was still basketballs for him, cartoons for me. But, in truth, the change is...

URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-western-governor-20130117,0,1055506.story
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Will Obama punt again on climate change?

Politico: Lofty words alone won't heal the Earth, but climate activists are still looking to President Barack Obama's inaugural speech on Monday for any sign that their cause has a place in an increasingly cluttered second-term agenda. But here's the reality check for the green movement: Obama has proposed no new strategy on climate, it's unclear if one is in the works, and there's no guarantee the issue will occupy a major place in the inaugural address or next month's State of the Union. On alternative...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/greens-hope-for-climate-nod-at-inauguration-86363.html
Enclosure: http://images.politico.com/global/2013/01/17/130113_inauguration_setup_mahaskey.jpg

Australia: Extreme weather to put strain on disaster services

Age: THE capacity of fire and emergency services to respond to natural disasters will need to be increased if extreme weather events intensify because of climate change, the council representing Australia's emergency services has warned. The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC), which represents bodies including the Country Fire Authority and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, says any increases in extreme weather events will have implications for funding of staff and infrastructure....

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/extreme-weather-to-put-strain-on-disaster-services-20130118-2czd1.html
Enclosure: http://images.theage.com.au/2013/01/18/3964973/art-big-20day-20out-620x349.jpg

John Kerry’s investments include pro-Keystone Canadian energy firms

Canadian Press: John Kerry's expected cakewalk to the U.S. State Department has delighted American environmentalists due to his stand on climate change, but the longtime senator owns stock in two Canadian oil companies that have pushed for approval of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline. Federal financial disclosure records show Mr. Kerry has investments of as much as $750,000 (U.S.) in Suncor, a Calgary-based energy company whose CEO has urged the U.S. to greenlight TransCanada's controversial project. The...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/john-kerrys-investments-include-pro-keystone-canadian-energy-firms/article7502272/
Enclosure: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/c21/news/world/article7502271.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/web-kerry-keystone17nw1.jpg

Obama's Climate Challenge

Rolling Stone: Among all the tests President Obama faced in his first term, his biggest failure was climate change. After promising in 2008 that his presidency would be "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal," President Obama went silent on the most crucial issue of our time. He failed to talk openly with Americans about the risks of continuing to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, failed to put political muscle behind legislation to cap carbon pollution, failed...

URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obamas-climate-challenge-20130117?print=true
Enclosure: http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/obamas-climate-challenge-20130117/306x306/20130115-obama-x306-1358281332.jpg

Experts Urge Caution As $50 Billion In Sandy Aid Passes House

National Public Radio: The House of Representatives passed a bill this week to spend $50 billion to help states struck by Hurricane Sandy. The action comes more than two months after the storm, and the measure now goes to the Senate. The delay outraged politicians and residents from the Northeast, who blamed Washington for playing politics with desperately needed aid. But some scientists and engineers say there's danger in rushing ahead to rebuild a coastline that's sure to get hit again. Tough talk in the House...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/18/169636598/experts-urge-caution-as-50-billion-in-sandy-aid-passes-house?ft=1&f=1025
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=169636598&m=169684967

2012: The Year Solar Turned the Corner?


I think we can proclaim that 2012 was the year we turned the corner and caught a glimpse of what high-penetration solar looks like. Defined from an engineering perspective, a circuit has reached "high penetration" when utility engineers determine that upgrades need to be made to the circuit before additional generation can be installed.  If we look

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/2012-the-year-solar-turned-the-corner?cmpid=rss

'Time running out for climate change pact'

The National: Catastrophic rises in sea level, heatwaves, droughts and more frequent extreme weather - if the worst effects of climate change are to be avoided, carbon emissions must peak by 2020, scientists warn. But emissions are rising. In Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, The National spoke to prominent officials and experts, all of whom agreed the world had only a matter of years to act. Expanding renewable energy projects, removing subsidies for fossil fuels and taxing polluters are some of the urgent...

URL: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/environment/time-running-out-for-climate-change-pact
Enclosure: http://www.thenational.ae/deployedfiles/Assets/Richmedia/Image/SaxoPress/AD2013011863494-ABU_DHABI_UNIT_225x150.jpg

No relief in sight for drought-stricken Plains

Reuters: Dry weather should continue through at least the end of January in the drought-stricken U.S. Plains and a blast of Arctic cold air in the Midwest early next week poses a threat to unprotected livestock and possibly some wheat, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday. "The hard red winter wheat belt in the Plains looks quiet, dry and cooler next week, but there shouldn't be a cold air threat in the Plains," said John Dee, meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring. Dee said temperatures...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/us-usa-weather-drought-idUSBRE90H0PE20130118?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Floods ease in Indonesian capital, thousands left homeless

Reuters: Severe floods in Jakarta eased on Friday, a day after unusually heavy monsoon rains swamped parts of the Indonesian capital in waist-deep water and left more than 18,000 people homeless. However, authorities warned of more rain and disruptions in the city of about 10 million people after Thursday's floods killed six people and turned Jakarta's main thoroughfare into a stream of red mud. Other main roads were still full of water and choked with traffic on Friday as commuters struggled to return...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/us-indonesia-floods-idUSBRE90G05Q20130118?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=20130117&t=2&i=695050673&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=460&pl=300&r=CBRE90G0VUV00

European politicians brace for clash on car CO2 law

Reuters: European Union politicians are sharply divided between those keen for ambitious green car standards they say are needed to keep up with U.S. goals and those trying to limit the impact on makers of big luxury cars, draft reports show. The European Parliament next week debates Commission plans to enforce lower emissions standards for cars and vans as part of efforts to thrash out new EU law. Ireland, holder of the six-month rotating EU presidency until the end of June, said it believed the proposal...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/us-eu-cars-emissions-idUSBRE90H0GA20130118?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Feds Withdraw New Furnace Efficiency Standards

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The federal government has agreed to withdraw new rules that would require consumers in Missouri, Illinois and more than two dozen other northern states to purchase high-efficiency furnaces beginning this spring. The decision is the result of a legal settlement between the Department of Energy and the American Public Gas Association, which argued the new regulations would prove too costly for certain consumers and ultimately steer some of them to heat their homes with other, less-efficient fuels....

URL: http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/article_7ccf47e4-2e7b-55a4-a1fc-6c301b7eec7f.html
Enclosure: http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/0/91/091992f7-159a-5a77-b074-a6a26915e22d/50f6d24d38da8.preview-620.jpg

EU carbon capture needs emissions limit

Reuters: The European Union will have to introduce mandatory standards to limit power plant emissions, given a failure to introduce carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology plus rising coal consumption and the construction of new coal power plants. A market-based approach to limit coal emissions through CCS has failed. The Commission had hoped to motivate the building of CCS pilot plants mostly through its emissions trading scheme. But the carbon price hit a record low on Thursday, and the savings...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/column-wynn-coal-ccs-idUSL6N0AL3NY20130117

Extreme Climate Events Create Synchronized Population Fluctuations

RedOrbit: Scientists have known that climate change affects the population dynamics of single species, such as reindeer or caribou, but the effects of such climate change at the community level have been much harder to document and quantify. A new study from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has found that extreme climate events cause a synchronized population fluctuation among all vertebrate species in a relatively simple high arctic community. The findings, published in a recent...

URL: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112766443/climate-change-extreme-weather-community-synchronization-011813/
Enclosure: http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2013/01/science-011813-001-617x416.jpg

Chile is Undergoing a Massive Solar Boom

Treehugger: The sun is our most abundant and cleanest source of energy, so the faster we harness it, the sooner we'll be on our way to having a truly sustainable civilization. That's why it's so great to see solar power projects popping up all around the world, and this at an increasing rate, and with bigger and bigger projects. Chile is a good example of this new solar boom: The Centro de Energías Renovables (CER, or or Renewable Energy Center) reports that November of last year, more than 3.1 gigawatts of...

URL: http://www.treehugger.com/energy-policy/chile-undergoing-massive-solar-boom.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Enclosure: http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2012/12/3605308870_f84eb67822_b.jpeg.492x0_q85_crop-smart.jpg

Extreme weather forces Sri Lankans to rethink rice farming

AlertNet: The year's end is usually a good time for wholesale rice suppliers in Sri Lanka. Customers are busy stocking up, particularly in wealthier urban areas like the capital, Colombo. But for two years running now, some suppliers have struggled to keep enough rice on hand as the year draws to a close. Changing weather patterns -- including droughts and flooding, and at times both in one year -- mean supplies are increasingly uncertain. "The weather has been so fickle that paddy harvests keep going...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/extreme-weather-forces-sri-lankans-to-rethink-rice-farming
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/8267dd1c-9b50-49d8-9da5-b7576884141c/photowide/?w=460&vn=201301180745

United Kingdom: Grass-feeding butterflies defy wet summers, survey shows

Guardian: The UK's second wettest year on record was disastrous for sun-loving butterflies but at least three grass-feeding species defied the gloom. Almost twice as many meadow browns were counted in the UK in 2012 compared with the previous year, and the gatekeeper and ringlet also increased, according to the Wider Countryside butterfly survey (WCBS). What this brown trio lack in charisma they make up for with their tenacious ability to fly on the darkest of summer days. Their caterpillars also thrived...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/17/grass-feeding-butterflies
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2013/1/15/1358266040965/Butterfly-Conservation-Su-008.jpg

Is 'Wild West' Era for Fracking Coming to an End?

New York Times: While in Washington to run a panel at an invaluable conference on disasters and the environment this week, I spent a few minutes in a studio to discuss the issues and opportunities surrounding hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (and oil) on the Current TV show The War Room, hosted by Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan. I describe my recent posts on ways to identify gas leaks or prove - one way or the other - if water contamination came from a particular well. We talked about...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/is-wild-west-era-for-frackingas-drilling-coming-to-an-end/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://current.com/shows/the-war-room/videos/wild-west-era-of-fracking-is-over-oversight-and-better-practices-could-ease-concerns

Mobilizing scientists on climate change

Washington Post: Naomi Oreskes is a professor of history and science studies at the University of California at San Diego and co-author of "Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming.' At the recent annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, scientists presented evidence of climate change proceeding more rapidly than they had imagined 15, 10 or even five years ago. After a brief hiatus due mostly to the economic downturn, they noted,...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/put-government-labs-to-work-on-climate-change/2013/01/17/bfd2d546-6003-11e2-b05a-605528f6b712_story.html
Enclosure: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608193942/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=slatmaga-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1608193942

Climate Change Threatens Spectacular Hawaiian Plant

LiveScience: One of Hawaii's iconic plants is again at risk. The striking and rare Haleakal? silversword, found only on the high volcanic slopes of Maui, is on the decline, scientists report today (Jan. 15) in the journal Global Change Biology. First, the plant was nearly killed off by cows and collectors starting in the 1880s, then conservationists made it a success story after the 1930s. Now climate change is bringing about a new collapse. The culprit is shifting weather patterns, which have made the...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-threatens-spectacular-hawaiian-plant-140109863.html
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Study Finds Severe Climate Jeopardizing Amazon Forest

NASA: An area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California continues to suffer from the effects of a megadrought that began in 2005, finds a new NASA-led study. These results, together with observed recurrences of droughts every few years and associated damage to the forests in southern and western Amazonia in the past decade, suggest these rainforests may be showing the first signs of potential large-scale degradation due to climate change. An international research team led by Sassan Saatchi...

URL: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20130117.html
Enclosure: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/720056main1_saatchi20130117-673.jpg

Fish in hot water as climate changes

Australian Broadcasting Corporation: What effect will climate change have on Australia's oceans and reefs? This is the final report in a five-part series in which environment reporter sets out to provide answers. As the planet continues its warming trend, climate scientists say whole marine ecosystems are also feeling the heat. The east coast of Australia is now considered one of the fastest warming areas in the region. The CSIRO says fish are moving south in search of cooler waters, and marine heatwaves like the recent one...

URL: http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/article/15871215/fish-in-hot-water-as-climate-changes/
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Bureaucratic reform plays a part in reducing deforestation in Indonesia

Mongabay: Reforming Indonesia's bloated and underperforming bureaucracy will play an important part in reducing the country's high rate of deforestation and forest degradation, the head of the country's Ministry of Administrative Reform told mongabay.com in an exclusive interview. Administrative Reform Minister Azwar Abubakar said that a smaller and more meritocratic bureaucracy will help cut corruption while more effectively governing the sprawling archipelago. "Good bureaucracy should protect environment,"...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0117-interview-azwar-abubakar.html

Climate change expected to hit Minn. with rising temps, moving forests

Minnesota Public Radio: Every Thursday, MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner joins The Daily Circuit to talk about the latest research on our changing climate and the consequences that we're seeing here in Minnesota and worldwide. This week on Climate Cast, we talked about 2012 being the 10th hottest year on record globally and a new forecast that predicts Minnesota's average temperature warming 5 degrees by 2050 with current greenhouse gas emissions. Here is an edited transcript of the conversation: Kerri Miller: I know you...

URL: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/01/17/daily-circuit-climate-cast-warming-temperature
Enclosure: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=minnesota/news/programs/daily_circuit_1/2013/01/17/dailycircuitclimatecast_20130117_64

2 Reports on Oil Sands Paint a Dire Picture

New York Times: Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline and the heavy Canadian crude oil that it would carry released two reports on Thursday asserting that the environmental impacts of the project are worse than previously estimated, and urged the Obama administration to veto it. One report, from the anti-petroleum group Oil Change International, finds that existing studies of emissions from mining, transporting and refining the oil from oil sands formations in Alberta fails to account for the impact of petroleum...

URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/2-reports-on-oil-sands-paint-a-dire-picture/
Enclosure: http://priceofoil.org/2013/01/17/petroleum-coke-the-coal-hiding-in-the-tar-sands/

Obama's missing priority: climate change

Chicago Sun-Times: The early focus of President Barack Obama's second term, which begins next week, is taking shape. The fiscal mess tops his agenda, along with gun control and immigration reform. All important topics, ones demanding action. But the list is incomplete. In the early days of Obama's second term, which is when presidents have the best shot at success, expectations are low that we'll see movement on climate change. Here's the problem: Global warming can't and won't wait. The planet is growing...

URL: http://www.suntimes.com/opinions/17635025-474/editorial-obamas-missing-priority-climate-change.html
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If you want to pass climate legislation, fix U.S. politics

Grist: When pondering the failure of a big legislative initiative like cap-and-trade - and oh, there`s been so much pondering! - there are two basic perspectives one can take. First, you can think about how a campaign could be improved so that next time the initiative can clear the bar. That`s mostly what my recent post-cap-and-trade piece (and the Theda Skocpol report [PDF] it discussed) focused on. Build a bigger movement, make the legislation simpler, get more help from the president, whatever. That...

URL: http://grist.org/politics/if-you-want-to-pass-climate-legislation-fix-u-s-politics/
Enclosure: http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/sites/default/files/skocpol_captrade_report_january_2013_0.pdf

Obama to confront oil pipeline, climate change

Associated Press: President Barack Obama's second-term energy agenda is taking shape and, despite the departure of key Cabinet officials, it looks a lot like the first: more reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and expanded production of oil and natural gas. Obama also is promising to address climate change, an issue he has acknowledged was sometimes overlooked during his first term. ''The president has been clear that tackling climate change and enhancing energy security will be among...

URL: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/president/candidates/obama/2013/01/17/obama-focus-renewable-energy-climate-change/xSE5CvAr17Sqq1hrwZliaN/story.html

U.S. drought eases in some areas, but Plains still suffer

Reuters: A series of rain showers helped ease drought conditions in parts of the United States over the last week, but drought expanded slightly in parts of the U.S. Plains, according to a report issued Thursday. Officials in north-central Oklahoma declared a state of emergency due to record low reservoir conditions and public and private interests throughout the central United States hardest hit by drought were examining measures to try to cope with ongoing drought. Roughly 58.87 percent of the contiguous...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-usa-drought-idUSBRE90G18H20130117?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=20130117&t=2&i=695265049&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE90G1KHC00

United Kingdom: Police spies court case suggests sexual relations with activists were routine

Guardian: Hundreds of political activists were bedding down in a field near the Drax power station in North Yorkshire. It was August 2006 and eco-activists had erected tents beside the UK's single biggest carbon emitter. As night fell on the inaugural Climate Camp protest the campaigners near the coal-fired station had no idea that their camp had been infiltrated by three undercover police officers. Mark Kennedy, now the most famous of police spies, and, it now seems, a woman constable known as Lynn...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/17/spies-sexual-relations-activists-routine

Understanding Climate Change, With Help From Thoreau

National Public Radio: Modern scientists trying to understand climate change are engaged in an unlikely collaboration - with two beloved but long-dead nature writers: Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold. The authors of Walden and A Sand County Almanac and last spring's bizarrely warm weather have helped today's scientists understand that the first flowers of spring can continue to bloom earlier, as temperatures rise to unprecedented levels. "If you take the old historical records of Thoreau and Aldo Leopold and...

URL: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/17/169636357/understanding-climate-change-with-help-from-thoreau
Enclosure: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=169636357&m=169646150

Keystone XL pipeline, climate change among second-term energy challenges for Obama

Associated Press: President Barack Obama's second-term energy agenda is taking shape and, despite the departure of key Cabinet officials, it looks a lot like the first: more reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and expanded production of oil and natural gas. Obama also is promising to address climate change, an issue he has acknowledged was sometimes overlooked during his first term. "The president has been clear that tackling climate change and enhancing energy security will be among his...

URL: http://www.startribune.com/politics/187336811.html

Black Carbon More Powerful Contributor to Climate Change Than Previously Thought: New Study

Huffington Post: Black carbon -- that nasty air pollution that causes major health problems -- also happens to be a very powerful contributor to climate change. In fact, a new multi-year international study has just found that it's the second most powerful contributor to climate change -- behind carbon dioxide emissions. Emissions from dirty diesel, residential cooking and heating and forest fires from deforestation are major contributors to black carbon pollution (see figure). Addressing black carbon emissions from...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jake-schmidt/black-carbon-more-powerfu_b_2498323.html
Enclosure: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/assets_c/2013/01/Contributors%20to%20Black%20Carbon-thumb-300x282-9243.png

Saskatchewan leader urges Obama to approve Keystone XL pipeline

Reuters: The premier of Saskatchewan led 10 U.S. state governors on Thursday in urging President Barack Obama to approve TransCanada Corp's contentious and long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, citing energy-security benefits in both countries. Saskatchewan does not have the massive oil sands resources that neighboring Alberta does and which would move in large volumes to the southern United States in the proposed $5.3 billion conduit. But it does have some of the Bakken light oil reserves that would...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/transcanada-kesytonexl-idUSL1E9CHIU420130117

World Headed for Perfect Storm: Climate Change, Income Disparity, Economic Weakness

SustainableBusiness.com: The annual report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) warns the world is headed for a perfect storm over the next decade because of a combination of steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions, persistent economic weakness and staggering debt, and severe income disparity. The Global Risks 2013 report -- informed by a survey of more than 1,000 experts and industry leaders - identifies the resistance to addressing climate change as one of the most dangerous trends. "Continued stress on the global...

URL: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24474
Enclosure: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalRisks_Report_2013.pdf

Report: Climate Change Causes Plants to Flower Historically Early

U.S. News and World Report: Dozens of flowering plants have gradually begun blooming earlier as average temperatures rise. Spring has, well, sprung, earlier than ever in the past few years. A new study suggests global warming is causing dozens of flower species to bloom more than a month earlier than they did in the past. According to the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE Wednesday, dozens of flowering plants in Massachusetts and Wisconsin have gradually begun blooming earlier as average temperatures creep up....

URL: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/17/report-climate-change-causes-plants-to-flower-historically-early
Enclosure: http://www.usnews.com/pubdbimages/image/42891/FE_DA_0117_Snow_Flowers425x283.jpg

Get serious on climate change

Daily Pioneer: Even as world leaders gathered for yet another meaningless conference to save the planet, extreme weather conditions, think of Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Bopha, continued to cause untold devastation across the globe The devastating effect of storms, tsunamis, floods and other natural catastrophes across the world is mostly a consequence of rising sea levels -- a direct impact of global warming. The last few years have seen the consequences of global warming like perhaps never before. More than...

URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/53238-get-serious-on-climate-change.html

A Look Back on 2012, the Year of Extreme Weather Events

World Resources Institute: Temperatures hit an unseasonably warm 61°F in Washington D.C. earlier this week. The Middle East is blanketed in record rainfall and rare heavy snowfall, ending a nearly decade-long drought. Australia witnessed its hottest day on record this past week, stoking wildfires. And China is experiencing a bitterly cold winter, where temperatures are the lowestthey've been in almost three decades. We're only two weeks into 2013, and already we are getting a reminder of the extreme year we just emerged from....

URL: http://insights.wri.org/news/2013/01/look-back-2012-year-extreme-weather-events
Enclosure: http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/55279/Extreme-Weather-Climate-Events-2012/#vars!date=2011-12-16_12:47:14!

How to Power 100 Percent of the World’s Electricity by Solar

EcoWatch: A new report released on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit today, shows that even if all electricity is to be generated through renewable energy (RE) sources, and with solar photovoltaics (PV) alone, it would take up only an insignificant amount of total land area, contrary to common perception. The report, Solar PV Atlas: solar power in harmony with nature, shows through seven cases--six countries and one region--less than 1 percent of the total land mass would be required to meet...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/power-worlds-electricity-solar/
Enclosure: http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?207268/Solar-PV-power-in-harmony-with-nature--new-WWF-report-says-land-requirements-are-insignificant

Climate-change laws: Beginning at home

Economist: GOVERNMENTS like to cite external constraints--such as meeting the conditions for an international bail-out--when pushing through unpopular policies. But with measures to deal with climate change, the opposite prevails. Each round of intergovernmental talks on cutting emissions and compensating victims seems to achieve less than the one before. Meanwhile, according to a new study of 33 countries for GLOBE, a group of legislators from round the world, the number of new domestic environmental laws...

URL: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21569691-domestic-laws-not-global-treaty-are-way-fight-global-warming-beginning-home

FERC Proposes Rule to Speed Up Solar Energy Grid Interconnection


The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has proposed changes to a rule that will speed up the process and reduce the costs to interconnect smaller-sized solar power projects to the grid while maintaining system reliability and safety. The changes were necessary, the organization claims, because of market changes that were due to state renewable energy goals and policies.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/ferc-proposes-rule-to-speed-up-solar-energy-grid-interconnection?cmpid=rss

Sustainable development after Rio+20 is 'in limbo'

SciDevNet: The weak wording of the Rio+20 summit agreement and delays in setting up the UN working groups on sustainable development have left progress on some of the post Rio+20 agenda in limbo, according to a science officer at the International Council for Science (ICSU), which represented the scientific community at the summit. The scientific community is unsure how to proceed towards setting up the new sustainable development goals (SDGs), agreed at the summit and expected to be finalised in 2015, and...

URL: http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/news/sustainable-development-after-rio-20-is-in-limbo-.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_climatechangeandenergy
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Obama On Climate Change Faces High Expectations, And High Hurdles, In Second Term

Huffington Post: On the night of his re-election, President Barack Obama described grand ambitions for his second term, including a desire to bequeath to future generations a nation not only free of debt and unencumbered by inequality, but also one "that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet." The laws of both physics and politics suggest he'll have his work cut out for him, and his second-term success will surely be measured on far more concrete terms. The president, after all, faces several...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/obama-climate-change_n_2472552.html

WWF Arctic conservation expedition gallery

Independent: The trip's mission was to examine future management options for areas where sea ice is expected to last the longest. Canon and WWF share the hope that the power of image will shed light on the state of the environment in the rapidly changing Arctic landscape. Thorsten Milse joined the first leg of the expedition in Greenland, which departed from Upernavik and travelled to Qaanaaq. He worked alongside a team of WWF experts and scientists, dedicating his time to documenting Arctic environments,...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/wwf-arctic-conservation-expedition-gallery-8454634.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8456390.ece/BINARY/original/_TM_4327.jpg