Brazil to carry out Amazon survey

BBC: The Brazilian government has announced that it plans to undertake the huge task of recording an inventory of the trees in the Amazon rainforest. The Forestry Ministry said the census would take four years to complete, and would provide detailed data on tree species, soils and biodiversity in the world's largest rainforest. The last exhaustive survey was carried out more than 30 years ago. In that time the rainforest has become increasingly threatened by logging. The Brazilian government...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21208541#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65523000/jpg/_65523102_forestrtr2.jpg

Court Overturns E.P.A.’s Biofuels Mandate

New York Times: A federal appeals court threw out a federal rule on renewable fuels on Friday, saying that a quota set by the Environmental Protection Agency for incorporating liquids made from woody crops and wastes into car and truck fuels was based on wishful thinking rather than realistic estimates of what could be achieved. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia involved a case brought by the American Petroleum Institute, whose members were bound by the 2012 cellulosic...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/business/energy-environment/court-overturns-epas-biofuels-mandate.html
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/01/26/business/Biofuels/Biofuels-popup-v2.jpg

Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel

New York Times: LAST fall, when Democrats and Republicans seemed unable to agree on anything, one bill glided through Congress with broad bipartisan support and won a quick signature from President Obama: the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011. This odd law essentially forbids United States airlines from participating in the European Union Emissions Trading System, Europe's somewhat lonely attempt to rein in planet-warming emissions. Under that eight-year-old program, European power...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-carbon-sin-air-travel.html

United Kingdom: Now we await the floodwaters, this time with a peppering of pipes and carrots

Guardian: Around the middle of last week, I noticed that something was missing from my life. Something I'd grown accustomed to, started to take for granted and found comforting as I leafed through the newspaper each morning. I'm talking, of course, about flooding. Flooding had become a constant in modern Britain. News of killings and currency collapses, of terrible things happening in the Middle East or Africa, of pointless and anodyne political speeches, of endless rape allegations against the dead were...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/27/david-mitchell-snow-snowmen-flooding

Weaker Global Warming Seen in Study Promoted by Norway's Research Council

New York Times: Purveyors of climate doubt have seized on a news release from the Research Council of Norway with this provocative title: "Global warming less extreme than feared?" The release describes new research finding that global warming from the buildup of greenhouse gases will be on the low end of the persistently wide spread of projections by other research groups. (There`s a presentation describing the work below.) This may well end up being the case (I`d give it higher than even odds; even so, that...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/weaker-global-warming-seen-in-study-promoted-by-norways-research-council/?partner=rss&emc=rss

The perils of Beijing's great smog

BBC: Beijing's air pollution has soared to hazardous levels, but cleaning up the problem is not straightforward, and is dependant on prioritising quality of life over economic growth. When I wake up in the morning, I pause briefly before opening my curtains, and what I see out of my window is likely to set the tone for the rest of the day. I am not checking up on the weather. Instead, I want to know exactly how bad the pollution is going to be. On some mornings, it is truly appalling. It is as if...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21198265#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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United Kingdom: Diesel fumes more damaging to health than petrol engines

Guardian: Diesel fumes are significantly more damaging to health than those from petrol engines, according to research which shows that related air pollution contributes to lung disease, heart attacks, asthma and other respiratory problems. The findings, published by the Department for Energy and Climate Change, are an embarrassment for successive governments, which have encouraged a switch to diesel since 2001 by linking road and company car tax to CO2 emissions. Diesel engines have been billed as "green"...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/27/diesel-engine-fumes-worse-petrol
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2013/1/25/1359144212858/Diesel-fumes-010.jpg

Portland, Maine Tar Sands Protest Sees Hundreds Rally Against Proposed Pipeline From Montreal

Huffington Post: Hundreds of people rallied in Portland on Saturday in what was billed as the largest protest yet against the possibility of so-called tar sands oil being piped in from Montreal. Protesters gathered downtown, then marched to the city's waterfront for a rally that included speeches from Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan and others who said allowing heavy oil from western Canada to cross northern New England poses serious environmental risks. Environmental...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/portland-maine-tar-sands-protest_n_2558694.html

Obama must fight for balanced policies on climate change

Dallas Morning News: "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms …" -- President Barack Obama, second inaugural address, Jan. 21 We've heard this soaring promise before, but maybe this time around President Barack Obama will lead the environment-friendly parade instead...

URL: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20130125-editorial-obama-must-fight-for-balanced-policies-on-climate-change.ece
Enclosure: http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20130125-us_news_inauguration_218_tb_29229515.jpg.ece/BINARY/w620x413/US_NEWS_INAUGURATION_218_TB_29229515.JPG

Climate plan drops off local leadership’s to-do list

Napa Vallley Register: It was front and center in President Barack Obama's words to the nation during his inauguration speech this week. And Gov. Jerry Brown stressed its importance in his State of the State address Thursday. Yet, fresh off Napa County leadership's go-back-to-the-climate-plan-drawing-board edict to staff in December, there was no call for climate change urgency in Board of Supervisors Chairman Brad Wagenknecht's local look-ahead earlier this month. In fact, the word "climate" wasn't in his 2013 opening...

URL: http://napavalleyregister.com/news/opinion/editorial/climate-plan-drops-off-local-leadership-s-to-do-list/article_6ad1310e-6770-11e2-b76e-0019bb2963f4.html

United Kingdom: Endangered voles set to return

BBC: An endangered species is set to return to a Northumberland forest more than 30 years after it was wiped out. Conservationists at Kielder Water & Forest Park plan to reintroduce water voles to the area after they disappeared. The animals have not been spotted in the area since the 1970s. Forestry Commission ecologist Tom Dearnley said they were "extremely keen" to see the project go ahead at Kielder. Mr Dearnley said: "Areas like Kielder Burn and the North Tyne are good water vole...

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-21211443#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Enclosure: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65525000/jpg/_65525712_65524898.jpg

On climate change, some arguments shift

Wall Street Journal: Climate change is back on the agenda in Washington after President Barack Obama's call to action in his second inaugural address. And while polls suggest that public belief that manmade causes are behind warmer temperatures isn't yet back to the levels seen in the middle of the last decade, concern about climate change is recovering from the economic collapse of 2008-09, which buried the issue under economic worries. Among the significant divides in public attitudes is age. In an October poll by...

URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323854904578264233733676680.html

Global warming to benefit Russian fish stocks

Financial Times: Russia's president Vladimir Putin once quipped that global warming could be good for a chilly country like his, because people could save money on fur coats. Moscow's thinking may have changed after 2010's record Russian heatwave and wildfires, but Mr Putin might have been on to something – at least in the case of fish. Climate modelling suggests that global warming could sharply boost the fertility of Russia's frozen seas in coming years, according to researchers at the University of Tromsø in...

URL: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/12be884a-66da-11e2-a805-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F12be884a-66da-11e2-a805-00144feab49a.html&_i_referer=

Nothing to fear but inaction on climate change: Kerry

ClimateWire: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pledged yesterday to make climate change a top priority as secretary of State as he sailed through a mostly genial confirmation hearing before the committee he still chairs. Testifying before his Senate Foreign Relations panel, Kerry sidestepped a question about his views on the controversial $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline project. But he jumped at a chance to swat down a Republican senator who declared carbon constraints a threat to the U.S. economy, and he defended...

URL: http://www.eenews.net/public/climatewire/2013/01/25/2

Colorado's lingering drought has ag economy anxious for spring

Denver Post: The drought began for wheat farmers in 2011, said Darrell Hanavan, executive director of the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee. It has cost the state's average 2.2 million-acre crop about $150.5 million so far. (Denver Post file)Related2013 National Western Stock Show & RodeoJan 24:Kansas teen shows National Western's grand champion steerJan 20:Denver's National Western Stock Show attendance up in 2013Jan 19:Farm bill's redraft raises worry in Colorado farm, ranch communities After a devastating...

URL: http://www.denverpost.com/stockshow/ci_22454448/colorados-lingering-drought-has-ag-economy-anxious-spring
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Should colleges divest from coal, oil?

Christian Science Monitor: The divestment campaign aims to slow the development of coal, oil, and gas resources – forms of energy that emit large quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses and contribute to climate change – by reducing the investment dollars flowing into energy companies. But energy companies have provided colleges and universities with relatively healthy returns in the past several years. "We're not debating that fossil fuels are profitable right now. We all understand that. This goes beyond profitability,"...

URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0125/Should-colleges-divest-from-coal-oil?nav=92-csm_category-leadStory
Enclosure: http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0125-divestment/14858763-1-eng-US/0125-divestment_full_600.jpg

CO2 Emissions Expected to Rise Significantly by 2030

Guardian: Warnings that the world is headed for "peak oil" -- when oil supplies decline after reaching the highest rates of extraction -- appear "increasingly groundless," BP's chief executive said. Bob Dudley's remarks came as the company published a study predicting oil production will increase substantially, and that unconventional and high-carbon oil will make up all of the increase in global oil supply to the end of this decade, with the explosive growth of shale oil in the U.S. behind much of the...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/co2-emissions-expected-to-rise-significantly-by-2030-15477?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/1-18-13_guardian_shale-425x255.png

Top climate scientist denounces billionaires over funding for climate-sceptic organisations

Independent: A climate scientist who says he has been subjected to a vitriolic hate campaign has denounced the way that American billionaires have been able to secretly finance the climate-sceptic organisations that have attacked him. Professor Michael Mann of Pennsylvania University, who has been targeted by climate-change sceptics for his work on global temperature records, said it was wrong for wealthy individuals such as the oil billionaire Charles Koch to surreptitiously finance the "counter-movement"...

URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/top-climate-scientist-denounces-billionaires-over-funding-for-climatesceptic-organisations-8467665.html
Enclosure: http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8466308.ece/BINARY/original/v03-02-billionnairessecretlyfun.jpg

San Francisco on track to become zero-waste city

PBS: SPENCER MICHELS: Each year, Americans throw away about 250 million tons of garbage. That's roughly four pounds per person per day. You can find all manner of trash in a landfill, old bent music stands, plastic bags, and a lot of items that could have been recycled, like bottles and cardboard. Beyond the obvious blight they cause, landfills create environmental damage and emit harmful greenhouse gases. They are monuments to waste. Those concerns have prompted San Francisco and a handful of other...

URL: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/climate-change/jan-june13/recycling_01-25.html
Enclosure: http://cdn.liverail.com/adasset4/1405/25719/73360/me.mp4

United Kingdom: Climate change back on the agenda at forum meeting

Oxford Mail: HUNDREDS of people, including some of Britain's finest environmental minds, will meet today for the fourth Oxford Climate Forum (OCF). Global warming is on the agenda, and students from across the UK are being asked to help solve the problems presented by climate change. The three-day event started last night and continues today at 5.30pm at the Said Business School in Park End Street. Tomorrow, Oxford Hub in Turl Street, which is helping to coordinate the event, is staging a day of action,...

URL: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10186902.Climate_change_back_on_the_agenda_at_forum_meeting/

Jerry Brown's water plan faces mixed reviews

Sacramento Bee: Nearly lost in the flurry of praise for Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State address on Thursday were a handful of tersely worded statements from lawmakers objecting to his plan to build two water-diverting tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The controversy is decades old. Yet the pointed nature of the criticism - and the eagerness of even Democratic lawmakers to challenge Brown on a day in which tradition suggests restraint - laid bare how significant a test of Brown's...

URL: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/26/5142201/jerry-browns-water-plan-faces.html
Enclosure: http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2013/01/25/21/28/BTXpo.Xl.4.jpeg

Australia: High price of Melbourne's hot weather

Sydney Morning Herald: The costs will be borne through transport delays, increased energy demand, health impacts and increased mortality, anti-social behaviour, and impacts on plants and animals. Photo: Andy Zakeli HOT weather in Melbourne is set to cost the city on average $46.5 million a year to the middle of the century, unreleased economic research has found. The study commissioned by Melbourne City Council, undertaken by consultancy AECOM, found projected total costs for 2011-2051 for the Melbourne municipality...

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/high-price-of-melbournes-hot-weather-20130124-2d9tq.html
Enclosure: http://images.smh.com.au/2012/11/29/3848448/art-sun-620x349.jpg

Greenland may contribute less than Antarctica to sea level rise

Scientific American: Portions of the Greenland ice sheet melted a "moderate" amount thousands of years ago during an extremely warm period, raising new questions about its likely behavior in the future amid rising temperatures, according to a new study from a team of international scientists. The conclusions about the Eemian interglacial period, 130,000 to 115,000 years ago, enlighten an ongoing debate over a deceptively simple question: To what degree will Greenland add to rising seas in a warming world, and to what...

URL: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=greenland-may-contribute-less-than-antarctica-to-sea-level-rise
Enclosure: http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/277xNxgreenland-may-contribute-less-than-antarctica-to-sea-level-rise_1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.5klxed9Lpg.jpg

Japan: Abe looking to renege on emissions pledge

Kyoto: Japan will drop its pledge to the global community to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 because of the country`s reduced future reliance on nuclear power, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a government panel Friday. During a meeting of the panel, which is discussing economic revival measures, Abe stated that he will revise the energy strategy compiled by the previous administration of the Democratic Party of Japan, which aimed to completely phase out atomic energy by the 2030s. He...

URL: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/01/25/national/abe-looking-to-renege-on-emissions-pledge/
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Obama's climate promise

Living on Earth: In his second inauguration speech, President Obama called for urgent action to address our warming climate. Van Jones, former White House green jobs advisor and current director of Rebuild the Dream, joins host Steve Curwood to discuss how Obama can turn words into action. Transcript CURWOOD: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. President Obama has pledged to fight climate change before, but as he spoke to the nation shortly after...

URL: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00004&segmentID=1
Enclosure: http://www.loe.org/content/2013-01-25/obamas-climate-promise.mp3

Preserved lands defend against climate change

Daily Journal: When President Obama referred to "our national treasure" during his inauguration speech, he wasn't talking about the gold in Fort Knox. He was referring to something far more precious, something "green" rather than gold — "our forests and waterways, our croplands and snowcapped peaks." In addition to providing clean water and air and fresh food, these open lands play a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of global climate change. Following years of scant public discussion on climate change,...

URL: http://www.thedailyjournal.com/needlogin?type=login&redirecturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailyjournal.com%2Farticle%2F20130126%2FOPINION02%2F301260024%3Fnclick_check%3D1

United Kingdom: Nicholas Stern: 'I got it wrong on climate change – it's far, far worse'

Guardian: Lord Stern, author of the government-commissioned review on climate change that became the reference work for politicians and green campaigners, now says he underestimated the risks, and should have been more "blunt" about the threat posed to the economy by rising temperatures. In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Stern, who is now a crossbench peer, said: "Looking back, I underestimated the risks. The planet and the atmosphere seem to be absorbing less carbon than we expected,...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/27/nicholas-stern-climate-change-davos
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/26/1359231180282/Nicholas-Stern-008.jpg

L.A. becoming more bike friendly, thanks partly to the mayor's elbow

LA Times: On July 17, 2010, after a P90X workout, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his police bodyguard began riding mountain bikes west in the bike lane on Venice Boulevard. About 6:30 p.m., heading toward La Cienega Boulevard, they were cut off by a taxi cab. Villaraigosa flipped over the handlebars. His elbow shattered on the asphalt. Two days later, with his arm in a cast, he told his staff, "Let's use this as a teachable moment" -- and for good reason. He and the city had a lot to learn about...

URL: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-0126-villaraigosa-biker-20130126,0,4079324.story
Enclosure: http://www.trbimg.com/img-5102e5ce/turbine/la-he-0126-villaraigosa-biker-20130126-001/600

Climate change: No more denying it

CBS: Withering drought, vast wildfires, town-leveling tornadoes, fierce heat -- not to mention superstorm Sandy -- all made 2012 one of the worst years in terms of lives lost and property destroyed from extreme weather. Most scientists believe climate change is partly to blame for last year's wild weather. Jeffrey Kluger, Time magazine's senior editor for science and technology, spoke to Jim Axelrod and Rebecca Jarvis about the record temperatures and massive storms and why we're seeing more of these...

URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57566015/climate-change-no-more-denying-it/
Enclosure: http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/01/26/CLIMATE_620x414.jpg

Hope and climate change

MSNBC: I will admit, as I watched the president`s inaugural address on Monday morning, I was definitely not expecting this: Obama: "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations...Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult....

URL: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/26/hope-and-climate-change/

Climate Change Resurfaces in President's Second Inaugural Address

Huffington Post: In his remarks at the 57th presidential inauguration, President Barack Obama discussed a topic Americans hadn't heard much about since his November victory speech -- climate change. In the nationally televised speech following his oath of office, Obama elevated the issue of climate change into the top tier of his second-term priorities, alongside gun control and immigration reform. "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-profeta/obama-climate-change-inaugural-address_b_2550257.html

Prosecutors take issue with Brazil's new forestry code

Agence France-Presse: Brazil's new forestry code -- approved last year at the urging of the powerful agrobusiness sector -- faced a constitutional challenge Tuesday from federal prosecutors afraid it threatens the Amazon rainforest. The prosecutors filed three actions against the legislation before the Supreme Court, demanding it be partially suspended on grounds it "reduces and abolishes areas previously viewed as protected," a statement from their office said. They also challenged the amnesty granted to those...

URL: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Prosecutors_take_issue_with_Brazils_new_forestry_code_999.html
Enclosure: http://www.spxdaily.com/images-lg/forest-spix-lg.jpg

Low carbon resilience in the least developed countries: a panacea to address climate change?

IIED: Low carbon resilience has become the new buzzword in climate policy. National governments and development partners are increasingly promoting an agenda that tackles reducing carbon emissions while simultaneously building climate resilience in a supposed win-win policy agenda says Susannah Fisher. Instead of talking about climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation, developed and developing national governments – including Laos, Cambodia, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Nepal – are making plans...

URL: http://www.iied.org/low-carbon-resilience-least-developed-countries-panacea-address-climate-change
Enclosure: http://www.iied.org/files/bhutan_0.jpg

World Bank’s Kim Urges Governments to Get Behind Carbon Market

Bloomberg: President Jim Yong Kim urged governments to help establish a global carbon market as the effects of climate change threaten the world's poor countries. In a November report the World Bank said that the earth risks "cataclysmic changes" caused by extreme heat waves, rising seas and depleted food stocks as it heads toward global warming of 4 degrees Celsius this century. "I would like to see governments get behind a carbon market," Kim said in an interview with Simon Kennedy of Bloomberg News...

URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-26/world-bank-s-kim-urges-governments-to-get-behind-carbon-market.html

Climate change and quotas spark new fish wars with Iceland

Guardian: When Graham Hall started out as a trawlerman, the port of Grimsby was crammed with so many boats local legend had it you could walk from deck to deck across the entire harbour. But just three turquoise trawlers could be spotted last week – 60% of the town's remaining fleet. The Icelandic cod wars of the 1970s, when Iceland extended its fishing zones and excluded UK trawlers from territory it had previously harvested, obliterated what had, in the 50s, been the biggest fishing port in the world....

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/26/climate-change-fish-wars-iceland
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Business/Pix/cartoon/2013/1/25/1359154106149/Grimsby-Docks-008.jpg

WWF and World Bank host international REDD+ forum

WWF: Tropical forest experts from around the globe will convene on January 28th and 29th for a technical forum on REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). The event, Building REDD+ Reference Levels, is being jointly hosted by the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the global conservation organization WWF. It will focus on developing benchmarks against which many countries will measure success in reducing rates of deforestation and degradation. Participants...

URL: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/climate_carbon_energy/forest_climate/news/?207358/WWF-and-World-Bank-host-international-REDD-forum&utm_source=REDD%2B+Digest+-+25+January+2013&utm_campaign=REDD+digest+9-11-12&utm_medium=email
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Ferocious Storm Set to Explode in North Atlantic

Climate Central: Some of the most powerful storms on earth form in the North Atlantic Ocean during wintertime, spelling peril for sailors unfortunate enough to encounter them. For the past few days, the meteorologists at the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) in College Park, Md., whose job it is to warn vessels of weather hazards, have been highlighting the likelihood of a treacherous storm event that is about to take place in the open ocean, to the south of Iceland. What is currently a relatively innocuous weather...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/ferocious-storm-set-to-explode-in-north-atlantic-15519?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/blogs/1_25_13_news_andrew_natlstormafter-600x450.jpg

Ecuador treads fine line in preserving Amazon reserve

Deutsche-Welle: Ecuador's plan to refrain from drilling for oil in its rainforests in return for money remains controversial. Critics have questioned the tangible benefits of the project for the forest and its residents. In 2007, Ecudaor's President Rafael Correa first took his radical proposal to the United Nations. He said his country would refrain from drilling for oil in a pristine rainforest in return for payments from rich countries. The proposal jumpstarted a new debate on developmental policies. The project...

URL: http://www.dw.de/ecuador-treads-fine-line-in-preserving-amazon-reserve/a-16539982
Enclosure: http://www.dw.de/image/0,,16512729_401,00.jpg

Boeing's Electrical Problem

Bad lithium-ion batteries on the Dreamliner could have negative repercussions throughout the clean energy industry which is staking much of its future on the light and power dense electrochemistry, particularly for use in hybrid and all-electric cars.

URL: http://green-energy-news.com/arch/nrgs2013/20130011.html

Passive House Institute U.S. Starts Training Builders

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Until recently, PHIUS focused its training sessions on designers and architects — but now it is beginning to focus on builders

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A new training program developed and presented by the Passive HouseA residential building construction standard requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Developed in the early 1990s by Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, the standard is now promoted by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Germany. To meet the standard, a home must have an infiltration rate no greater than 0.60 AC/H @ 50 pascals, a maximum annual heating energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (4,755 Btu per square foot), a maximum annual cooling energy use of 15 kWh per square meter (1.39 kWh per square foot), and maximum source energy use for all purposes of 120 kWh per square meter (11.1 kWh per square foot). The standard recommends, but does not require, a maximum design heating load of 10 W per square meter and windows with a maximum U-factor of 0.14. The Passivhaus standard was developed for buildings in central and northern Europe; efforts are underway to clarify the best techniques to achieve the standard for buildings in hot climates. Institute U.S. aims to get builders and remodelers up to speed on the Passive House standard. Among the topics covered during the four-day program are envelope details, HVAC(Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning). Collectively, the mechanical systems that heat, ventilate, and cool a building. systems, and bidding on Passivhaus projects.

The curriculum for the new training program has been developed by three experienced Passivhaus builders: Dan Whitmore, Adam Cohen, and Mike Kernagis.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/passive-house-institute-us-starts-training-builders

Solar Cell Efficiency Round-Up: Thin Film Closing the Gap with Silicon


A flurry of new solar-cell efficiency records — including a quiet surprise — are putting thin-film solar PV technologies tantalizingly close to silicon rivals.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/solar-cell-efficiency-round-up-thin-film-is-closing-the-gap-with-silicon?cmpid=rss

Soitec Opens CPV Module Manufacturing Facility in San Diego, Calif.


During the bustle of the holiday season, many may have missed a rare occurrence — a CPV module manufacturing plant opened its doors in the U.S. Soitec, known for manufacturing semiconductors, acquired the facility in December 2011, and it is now equipped to produce its Concentrix technology modules. I'll be headed to the plant in February for a tou

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/01/soitec-opens-cpv-module-manufacturing-facility-in-san-diego-calif?cmpid=rss

Window Installation Tips for a Deep Energy Retrofit

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Use 'Dudley boxes' for a hassle-free way to install new windows in walls that are being retrofitted with exterior rigid foam

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In May 2011 we began [a deep energy retrofit](http://6hillstreet.blogspot.com/) of our old, cold, drafty house Saugerties, New York. Because the house was poorly and cheaply built in the 1840s (apparently from scraps and salvage), we were leery of opening up the walls from the outside, lest we find that the clapboard siding and incomplete sheathingMaterial, usually plywood or oriented strand board (OSB), but sometimes wooden boards, installed on the exterior of wall studs, rafters, or roof trusses; siding or roofing installed on the sheathing—sometimes over strapping to create a rainscreen. were all that had kept the house from collapsing.

URL: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/window-installation-tips-deep-energy-retrofit

Oak Park test drives a blackout-proof, solar-powered smart grid

Grist: The village of Oak Park might seem indistinguishable from its neighbors. A suburb on the western edge of Chicago, it shares a street grid with the city and a sustainability plan with a bordering village, River Forest. But this community of 50,000 people has a historic character all its own - and is the hometown of an impressive range of talent, including Homer Simpson voice actor Dan Castellaneta, Ernest Hemingway, actress Betty White, political advisor David Axelrod, and journalist Tavi Gevinson....

URL: http://grist.org/cities/oak-park-test-drives-a-blackout-proof-solar-powered-smart-grid/
Enclosure: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/oak-park-home.jpg?w=250&h=167

North America’s Largest Wind Energy Storage Facility Fires Up In Texas

Clean Technica: Where else to site the nation`s biggest wind energy storage facility but in Texas, the state known for its extra bigness? Duke Energy has fired up the new 36 megawatt energy storage and management facility, which is linked to the Notrees Windpower wind farm in the western part of the state. Aside from showcasing some nifty new energy management bells and whistles, the new storage facility blows a Texas-sized raspberry in the direction of renewable energy nay-sayers, whose complaints about the "unreliable"...

URL: http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/24/largest-wind-energy-storage-facility-in-u-s-fires-up-in-texas/

Enbridge Says Eastern U.S. Gulf Coast Next Big Market for Canadian Oil

Reuters: Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) has started to sketch out plans for moving Canadian crude oil to a U.S. refining market it has so far had little access to--the eastern Gulf Coast region of Louisiana and Mississippi, its chief executive said on Thursday. Enbridge, the largest shipper of Canada's oil, has been a main player in adding pipeline capacity to the western Gulf Coast, most recently with the expansion of the Seaway pipeline between the hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, and the Houston area. That project...

URL: http://insideclimatenews.org/breaking-news/20130125/enbridge-says-eastern-us-gulf-coast-next-big-market-canadian-oil-sands-tar-sands-keystone-xl-transcanada?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+solveclimate%2Fblog+%28InsideClimate+News%29

Novozymes Says Biofuel May Supply 90% of Its Revenue by 2030


Novozymes A/S, the world's biggest maker of enzymes used in laundry soap, may get 90 percent of its revenue from biofuel makers by 2030 if more governments start promoting renewable energy, the company's next CEO said.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/novozymes-says-biofuel-may-supply-90-of-its-revenue-by-2020?cmpid=rss

Would White House green team help on climate?

Politico: The White House might need to create a centralized clearinghouse for climate policy if President Barack Obama wants to fulfill his promises to take on global warming, former advisers and other advocates say. One potential approach: create a climate and energy council inside the White House to coordinate efforts across federal agencies, much like the National Economic Council or the National Security Council. Another would be to have a White House appointee perform the same type of role. The...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/would-white-house-green-team-help-on-climate-86698.html?hp=l3
Enclosure: http://images.politico.com/global/news/100927_climate_action_green_ap_328.jpg

Kerry dodges Keystone pipeline question

Globe and Mail: Senator John Kerry ducked when he was asked directly at his confirmation hearing whether he would block or back the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, but President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state delivered a passionate pitch on the virtues of clean energy. When Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso, who supports TransCanada Corp.'s multibillion-dollar pipeline to carry Canadian oil sands crude to U.S. refineries, asked whether he agrees with the 53 senators who favour the project,...

URL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/kerry-dodges-keystone-pipeline-question/article7822943/
Enclosure: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/86a/report-on-business/article7822942.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/ib-kerry25rb1.JPG

Port Metro Vancouver approves first of two controversial coal export projects

Vancouver Sun: Port Metro Vancouver has approved a $200 million expansion project at North Vancouver's Neptune Bulk Terminals that will double the terminal's coal export capacity. The decision, announced on the port's website Jan 23, is the first of two applications before the port authority that will help secure Metro Vancouver's role as North America's largest coal export hub. It comes at a time when public awareness is growing over coal exports, the role coal plays in global warming, and the port's procedure...

URL: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Port%20Metro%20Vancouver%20approves%20first%20controversial%20coal%20export/7869281/story.html
Enclosure: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/7869282.bin

Can Emerging Wind Markets Compensate for Stagnating European Growth?


Growing speculation that the wind market in Western Europe is currently hitting a growth plateau has gathered weight in recent months. The EU as a whole has suffered significant reductions in forecast wind capacity growth as a result of the ongoing economic crisis.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/can-emerging-wind-markets-compensate-for-stagnating-european-growth?cmpid=rss

Davos 2013: new vision for agriculture is old news for farmers

Guardian: With the launch of the Enough food for everyone If campaign, global food security is once again high on the public agenda. The UK campaign hopes to harness public support leading up to the meeting of the G8 in June, in an attempt to replicate the achievements of Make Poverty History in 2005. One of the key pillars of the If campaign is land, and drawing attention to the plight of poor farmers who are being forced to relinquish their property in what has been described as a neo-colonial "land grab"....

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jan/25/davos-2013-vision-agriculture-farmers
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Columnist/Columnists/2013/1/24/1359027209902/Paddy-Farming-in-India-010.jpg

China Coal Producer Looks to Tasmania in Quest for Wind Energy


The Roaring Forties gales off Tasmania, where Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn was first smitten with sailing, are luring Chinese investors with a different passion -- harnessing wind to generate electricity.

URL: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/01/china-coal-producer-looks-to-tasmania-in-quest-for-wind-energy?cmpid=rss

Study finds Greenland’s ice may not be as vulnerable to climate change as scientists feared

Houston Chronicle: New research suggests that Greenland`s vast ice sheet isn`t as fragile as some climate scientists feared. The work, published in Nature this week (see abstract), indicates the majority of ice on Greenland could remain intact for hundreds of years even if the planet warms considerably. The study used ice cores to study conditions during a period of natural global warming that occurred between 115,000 and 130,000 years ago, when temperatures were about 14.5 Fahrenheit degrees higher than they...

URL: http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/01/study-finds-greenlands-ice-may-not-be-as-vulnerable-to-climate-change-as-scientists-feared/
Enclosure: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v493/n7433/full/nature11789.html

Apple admits litany of violations to green supply chain code of conduct

BusinessGreen: Almost 150 of Apple's suppliers failed to properly store or handle potentially hazardous chemicals, including one that was found to have been intentionally dumping waste cutting oil in a "rest room receptacle". That is just one of the stark revelations from the electronics giant's Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which has won plaudits for the company's commitment to transparency, at the same time as raising serious questions about environmental and labour practices across its supply chain....

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2239058/apple-admits-litany-of-violations-to-green-supply-chain-code-of-conduct?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Apple+admits+litany+of+violations+to+green+supply+chain+code+of+conduct+
Enclosure: http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2013_Progress_Report.pdf

Obama's climate strategy starts to take shape

BusinessGreen: A senior White House official has revealed some of the policy interventions currently being considered by the Obama administration as it seeks to make good on the president's bold pledge to "respond to the threat of climate change". In the most detailed articulation of the White House's thinking on climate policy since this week's inauguration address, Brian Deese, deputy director of the National Economic Council, told a conference in Washington that corporate tax reform was likely to be central...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2239119/obama-s-climate-strategy-starts-to-take-shape?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Obama%27s+climate+strategy+starts+to+take+shape

SocGen cuts EU carbon price forecasts for 2013-2015 by 30 pct

Reuters: Societe Generale cut its forecasts for average European Union carbon prices from 2013 to 2015 on Friday by around 30 percent, given falls to record lows this week, analysts said in a research note. The bank said it sees 2013 prices for EU Allowances averaging 6.5 euros, down from 9.3 euros forecast in a Reuters poll earlier this month. Prices in 2014 will average 7.5 euros, down from 10.9 euros and 2015 EUA prices will average 8.5 euros from 11.9 euros. On Thursday, benchmark 2013 EUA prices...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/us-carbon-price-socgen-idUSBRE90O0D420130125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Colombia: Controversy Brews Over Climate Change Adaptation Project

Inter Press Service: An ambitious programme of infrastructure works to overcome the risks of climate change in Cartagena de Indias, a city on the Caribbean coast in northern Colombia, has generated controversy, with authorities predicting benefits while parts of the affected population voice criticisms. Plans for adapting to climate change in Cartagena were first outlined back in 2004, and continue to advance in spite of the voices raised in protest. While the authorities applaud the plans, many local people have...

URL: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/01/controversy-brews-over-climate-change-adaptation-project/
Enclosure: http://ipsnews-net.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/Library/2013/01/8405446438_7a34131781_o-629x419.jpg

From words to deeds: How to push Obama toward climate action

Grist: The bloom is back on the rose. Since President Obama's strong words on climate in his inaugural speech, Facebook and the blogosphere have been abuzz with climate hopefuls. The consensus is that Obama has always really wanted to act on climate and has simply been stymied by opposition forces. This time around, though, the gloves are off. The executive branch is back in action. Forward climate action! Before we break out the champagne, though, I think our community needs to remember something: Barack...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/from-words-to-deeds-how-to-push-obama-toward-climate-action/
Enclosure: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/obama.jpg?w=250&h=166

Norwegian Sea can hold 100 years of Norway's CO2 emissions: NPD

Reuters: Norway could store 100 times its annual emissions of carbon dioxide under the Norwegian Sea to help fight climate change, adding to its even bigger potential under the North Sea, an official report showed on Friday. The findings are most relevant for natural gas finds such as the Sleipner field in the North Sea, where the gas contains high levels of carbon dioxide. Norway has imposed taxes on carbon emissions since 1991 as part of efforts to limit climate change. An atlas by the Norwegian...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/us-climate-norway-idUSBRE90O0GG20130125?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

John Kerry: Mr. Climate

Politico: President Barack Obama's chief global climate cop won't be stationed at EPA or on the White House staff. He'll be at the State Department. Obama's choice of John Kerry as the nation's top diplomat is the strongest signal to the international community — and the smart set in Washington's political class — that the president is truly committed to striking deals designed to save the world. Add that to his mention of climate change in his inaugural address, and it's giving hope to greens that Kerry...

URL: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/john-kerry-climate-change-86695.html
Enclosure: http://images.politico.com/global/2013/01/24/130124_kerry_climate_ap.jpg

Obama faces Keystone dilemma after Senate urges pipeline approval

Guardian: Barack Obama faced intense pressure to break with his inauguration day promise on climate change on Thursday, after a bipartisan majority in the Senate urged approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. The letter from 53 senators said there was no reason for Obama to deny the pipeline – as campaigners are demanding – because the project had now undergone exhaustive environmental review. The letter, signed by Democrats as well as Republicans, underlined the high political cost to Obama of living up to...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/obama-keystone-dilemma-senate-approval
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2013/1/24/1359048129802/Keystone-XL-pipeline-proj-010.jpg

Davos 2013: Four simple environmental ideas to consider

RTCC: The World Economic Forum 2013 has spawned an impressive collection of reports that build a strong case for prompt and substantial action on climate change, development and sustainability. The Global Risks Report 2013 warns that stresses on economic and environmental systems are on a "collision course" that could pose "unprecedented challenges" to global and national resilience. The Green Investment Report warns of the dangers of surpassing 2°C of warming and calls for investing US$700 billion...

URL: http://www.rtcc.org/davos-2013-four-simple-environmental-ideas-to-consider/
Enclosure: http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-2013-eighth-edition

Obama won't propose carbon tax

Washington Times: White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday confirmed that Mr. Obama would pursue stricter carbon-pollution regulations through the Environmental Protection Agency, expanding rules on carbon-emitting plants so they cover existing power plants, as well as newly built ones. But Mr. Carney repeatedly refused to say whether Mr. Obama would expend any political capital to back climate-change legislation on Capitol Hill, even as environmentalists call on him to get behind new measures. "I can`t...

URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/23/white-house-rules-out-carbon-tax/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

United Kingdom: EU referendum: Climate efforts could be 'collateral damage', warn MEPs

EurActiv: Fears are growing in Brussels that climate policy could become a political football in any referendum on EU membership, following British Prime Minister David Cameron's declaration of intent on Wednesday to hold an in/out poll. The UK Independent Party (UKIP), which has links to the eurosceptic right of Cameron's Conservatives, launched a petition on 21 January calling for the EU's climate and energy targets to be suspended. The petition's professed objectives -- to prevent carbon leakage,...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/eu-referendum-climate-efforts-damage
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/1/23/1358976658600/David-Cameron-010.jpg

In perceiving climate change, feeling the heat counts

PhysOrg: Human beings around the world are observing and accurately detecting changes in their local climates, according to a new study led by Yale University researchers. The finding provides the first global evidence for the phenomenon and could have meaningful implications for attempts to combat climate change, they said. "We wanted to see if people have accurately detected the signal of a changing climate through their own local experience," said Peter D. Howe, a postdoctoral associate at Yale and...

URL: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-climate.html
Enclosure: http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2013/inperceiving.jpg

Philippines: City is pilot for UN climate adaptation

Sun-Star: DAVAO City is among four cities in the Philippines chosen by the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat) as a pilot area for a study on climate change adaptations. Roberto Alabado III, City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) acting chief, speaking in Wednesday's Club 888 Forum at Marco Polo Hotel Davao, said the UN-Habitat cited Davao City as being receptive to the projects of UN and its being active in developing a disaster risk reduction program. Other cities shortlisted...

URL: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2013/01/23/city-pilot-un-climate-adaptation-264443

United Kingdom: Heavy rain and melting snow expected to cause floods

Guardian: Heavy rain combined with melting snow is likely to cause flooding in parts of the UK at the weekend, the Met Office has warned. Up to 40mm of rain is predicted to fall on hills in the west of Britain just as snow that has accumulated over the past week thaws. The Met Office said a final fall of snow was expected to hit parts of Scotland, Wales and England on Friday. It said snow would reach areas of Scotland during the morning and spread through other parts of Britain, reaching eastern England...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/24/heavy-rain-melting-snow-floods
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/24/1359034832452/Horse-in-the-snow-010.jpg

Climate change is back on the agenda, at last

Independent: There is certainly much to talk about at Davos this year. Under a characteristically banal official title - "resilient dynamism" - the five-day World Economic Forum meeting that began on Tuesday will take in such meaty matters as lacklustre global growth, the euro crisis, and the outlook for the Middle East. So far, so predictable. Less expected - and to be warmly welcomed - are the signs that climate change is heading back up the agenda. About time, too. Policymakers have lost much of their environmental...

URL: http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/environment/climate-change-is-back-on-the-agenda-at-last-1.1457076#.UQDoXiLc8mE
Enclosure: http://www.iol.co.za/polopoly_fs/davos-scitech-jan-23-1.1457075!/image/3622684518.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_300/3622684518.jpg

EU's carbon market suffers after parliamentary vote

Reuters: EU carbon prices briefly slid 40 percent to a record low after politicians opposed plans to support the market, raising concerns prices could hit zero and sending a warning to European governments to pull together in lowering carbon emissions. Prices in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on Thursday dropped to 2.81 euros a metric ton (1.1023 ton) after a vote in the European Parliament's energy and industry committee opposing a scheme known as "backloading" to support prices by extracting...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-eu-ets-idUSBRE90N0EG20130124?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

Obama Climate Change Vow Could Make EPA a Political Target

National Journal: President Obama's second Inaugural Address left no doubt about his desire to put climate change front and center in his second term. He's likely to pursue his agenda through executive actions rather than legislation, at least initially. That could put the Environmental Protection Agency at the center of a political battle, as Senate Republicans use the process of confirming a new head of the agency as a chance to weigh in on or even block what they see as regulatory overreach by the administration...

URL: http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/obama-climate-vow-could-make-epa-a-political-target-20130124
Enclosure: http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=25394&format=homepage_fullwidth

Scientists dismiss geo-engineering as a global warming quick fix

Smithsonian: Installing a giant mirror in space to block sunlight, dispersing mass quantities of minerals into the oceans to suck carbon dioxide from the air and infusing the Earth's upper atmosphere with sun-reflecting chemicals might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they're actual techniques that have been contemplated by scientists as possible quick solutions to climate change. More specifically, they're examples of geo-engineering, a hotly contested subset of climate science whereby the Earth's...

URL: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/01/scientists-dismiss-geo-engineering-as-a-global-warming-quick-fix/
Enclosure: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/files/2013/01/Yakutat-County-AK.jpg

Fracking and Farmland

EcoWatch: The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) has launched new webpages, Fracking and Farmland: Stories from the Field, that provide the personal stories of farmers concerned about Ohio's booming fracking industry and illustrations of how oil and gas extraction could impact Ohio's food producers. High-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as "fracking," is a method of oil and gas extraction that injects millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals and...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/fracking-and-farmland/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/farmland.jpg

Airlines 'made billions in windfall profits' from EU carbon tax

Guardian: Airlines made windfall profits of up to £1.2bn ($1.81bn) last year from a EU carbon tax they claimed would impose crippling costs on industry, according to a report into the measure's impact on the industry. The EU backed off on plans to charge airlines for their carbon pollution after ferocious opposition from American, Chinese, Russian and other airlines, which argued the charge would cost the industry billions. Congress passed a law last November shielding US carriers from paying the tax....

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/airline-windfall-profits-carbon-tax
Enclosure: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Environment/Pix/columnists/2011/7/7/1310031305208/-Lufthansa-starting-regul-006.jpg

To Tackle Runoff, Cities Turn to Green Initiatives

Yale Environment 360: In Northeast Philadelphia, along busy Kensington Avenue, sits a small park. What used to be flat ground is now sloping terrain that contains a low-lying area intended to gather and funnel storm water. At the park's southern end is a depression lined with well-arranged plants -- a new landscape carefully engineered to change how water flows through the area. This is Womrath Park, one of a handful of "green infrastructure' projects Philadelphia has begun -- with many more to come -- aimed at tackling...

URL: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/to_tackle_runoff_cities_turn_to_green_initiatives/2613/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

Japan faces nuclear shutdown for second time since Fukushima

Reuters: Japan may face a total nuclear shutdown in the summer for the second time since the March 2011 Fukushima disaster as the country's two operating reactors close for maintenance and tough new safety checks keep the rest of the fleet offline. That could force Japan to import even more fossil fuels for power generation, adding to an onerous energy bill that helped push the country into a record trade deficit in 2012. "It is unlikely that any of the idled reactors will re-start prior to September...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-japan-nuclear-shutdowns-idUSBRE90N06X20130124?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=20130124&t=2&i=697265343&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE90N0J4C00

China says major pollutant levels dropping, but hard task ahead

Reuters: China's environment minister said on Thursday that emissions of four major pollutants dropped last year and should fall by a similar level this year, but admitted the country faced a tough task in trying to end chronic air pollution. This winter's pollution, especially in northern China, has been so severe that even usually pliant state media has criticized government inaction, partly because it can't be hidden from the public unlike other sensitive subjects such as high-level corruption. But...

URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-china-pollution-idUSBRE90N0CF20130124?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=20130124&t=2&i=697303420&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=460&pl=300&r=CBRE90N0SIB00

India: Climate Change Adaptation in Rural India: A Green Infrastructure Approach

World Resources Institute: Water is a scarce resource in India, especially in the state of Maharashtra, where most rainfall is limited to the monsoon season from June through September. The Government of India has long promoted a Participatory Watershed Development (PWD) approach to deal with this scarcity, focusing on technical and social interventions to restore barren landscapes, boost agricultural production, and improve livelihoods. The PWD approach is now facing a major challenge: climate change. Over the past dozen...

URL: http://insights.wri.org/news/2013/01/climate-change-adaptation-rural-india-green-infrastructure-approach
Enclosure: http://insights.wri.org/files/insights/imagecache/story-feature/features/india_green_infrastructure.jpg

Illegally logged trees to start calling for help

Mongabay: Illegal loggers beware: trees will soon be calling-literally-for backup. The Brazilian government has begun fixing trees with a wireless device, known as Invisible Tracck, which will allow trees to contact authorities after being felled and moved. Here's how it works: Brazilian authorities fix the Invisible Tracck-smaller than a deck of cards-onto a tree. An illegal logger cuts down the tree and puts it onto a truck for removal, unaware that they are carrying a tracking device. Once Invisible...

URL: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0124-hance-invisible-tracck.html
Enclosure: http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/600/brazil_0333.jpg

Why Greenland’s Melting Could Be the Biggest Climate Disaster of All

Climate Desk: As an expert on Greenland who has traveled 23 times to the massive, mile thick northern ice sheet, Box has shown an uncanny ability to predict major melts and breakoffs of Manhattan-sized ice chunks. A few years back, he foretold the release of a "4x Manhattans" piece of ice from Greenland`s Petermann Glacier, one so big that once afloat it was dubbed an "ice island." In a scientific paper published in February of 2012, Box further predicted "100 % melt area over the ice sheet" within another decade...

URL: http://climatedesk.org/2013/01/why-greenlands-melting-could-be-the-biggest-climate-disaster-of-all/
Enclosure: http://climatedesk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/J_Box_paparazzi.jpg

Meeting the Climate Change Challenge: Cities Plan for Worst and Hope for the Best

Energy Collective: At the national and international level climate change action is stalled under the unyielding weight of factionalism and meeting the diverse agenda of a global community. At the personal level the issues of climate change and building a sustainable future for our children seems overwhelming; whatever efforts we can lend to the cause feels too small and inadequate. In many ways meeting the challenge of climate change and sustainable development is often most effective at the municipal level. Cities...

URL: http://theenergycollective.com/globalwarmingisreal/176211/meeting-climate-change-challenge-cities-plan-worst-and-hope-best
Enclosure: http://globalwarmingisreal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sustainable-cities-300x240.jpg

Global smart grid investment nears $14bn mark

BusinessGreen: Global investment in smart grid technologies climbed seven per cent last year to $13.9bn, led by strong demand in the US and China, according to new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The update, released yesterday, also predicts investment will accelerate in the coming years with the market predicted to almost double by 2018 to $25.2bn at a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent. The market is dominated by the rollout of smart meters and supporting infrastructure, which...

URL: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2238937/global-smart-grid-investment-nears-usd14bn-mark?WT.rss_f=Home&WT.rss_a=Global+smart+grid+investment+nears+%2414bn+mark

Eyes Turn to Antarctica as Study Shows Greenland's Ice Has Endured Warmer Climates

New York Times: An important discussion is developing among climate and polar researchers around the central point of a landmark Nature paper on Greenland conditions during Earth`s last (very warm) interval between ice ages. The paper, in which a critically important Greenland ice core is analyzed by 133 authors from a host of research centers, concludes that the vast ice sheet largely endured over a period of 6,000 years that was warmer than what is forecast for coming decades. The graph above, with the Eemian...

URL: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/eyes-turn-to-antarctica-as-study-shows-greenlands-ice-has-endured-warmer-climates/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Enclosure: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/01/24/blogs/dotgreenland/dotgreenland-blog480.jpg

Everything is awful

Grist: Grist finally got around to having its holiday party last night. Consequently, I am rather hungover and haggard, which is unfortunate, since the moment I arrived at my computer this morning I was besieged by bad news. Here's an annotated list of awful things that have happened this week: 1. Filibuster reform collapses. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came to an agreement [PDF] on the filibuster today. Joining hands in the spirit of bipartisan...

URL: http://grist.org/climate-energy/everything-is-awful/

Northeast Faces Stark Choice on Climate Pollution

New York Times: EIGHT years ago, a bipartisan coalition of Northeast and mid-Atlantic governors joined forces to reduce pollution from electric power plants. They agreed to cap overall emissions of carbon dioxide, the major pollutant driving global warming, and require the more than 200 power plants in the region to buy permits to emit the greenhouse gas. The governors reasoned that plant operators would have an incentive to clean up their emissions if they had to pay for the carbon dioxide they discharged. Over...

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/opinion/northeast-faces-stark-choice-on-climate-pollution.html

Liberian Farmers Take on Indonesian Palm Oil Giant

Agence France-Presse: Liberian farmers who survived a 15-year civil war are now fighting lucrative property deals with Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil companies that threaten the land they live on, if not their sacred burial sites. Thirty hours by car from the capital Monrovia, the green and yellow flag of Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), an Indonesian palm oil giant, floats over deforested hills in Sinoe County, southern Liberia. Local farmer Benedict Smarts looked at the scene, and said, "We are not against development,...

URL: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/liberian-farmers-take-on-indonesian-palm-oil-giant/567275
Enclosure: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/media/images/medium2/20130123155220622.jpg

Tanzania: Maasai herders breed fewer, stronger cattle to tackle climate change

AlertNet: The loss of more than half their livestock in the 2009 drought has led Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania's Arusha region to breed fewer, stronger cattle and end their traditional focus on numbers alone as symbols of wealth and status. The impact of that devastating drought, which dealt a blow to the whole nation's economy, is still visible in the small number of cattle in many villages of Engarenaibor in Arusha's Longido district. The district's cattle breeders and owners lost at least...

URL: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/maasai-herders-breed-fewer-stronger-cattle-to-tackle-climate-change
Enclosure: http://www.trust.org/contentAsset/resize-image/b71244a9-3257-4189-bad5-8480ad48ac36/photowide/?w=460&vn=201301250055

Make climate change a priority

Washington Post: The weather in Washington has been like a roller coaster this January. Yes, there has been a deep freeze this week, but it was the sudden warmth earlier in the month that was truly alarming. Flocks of birds -- robins, wrens, cardinals and even blue jays -- swarmed bushes with berries, eating as much as they could. Runners and bikers wore shorts and T-shirts. People worked in their gardens as if it were spring. The signs of global warming are becoming more obvious and more frequent. A glut of extreme...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/make-climate-change-a-priority/2013/01/24/6c5c2b66-65b1-11e2-9e1b-07db1d2ccd5b_story.html

'Climate change in Pakistan turning extreme'

Environmental News Network: Data presented at a seminar on climate change in Pakistan highlighted trends where this South Asian country, which stretches from high, snow-capped mountains to a deltaic coast, could be in for a sharp rise in average temperatures and extremely erratic weather. The seminar, held last month (29 December), analysed data in a new report produced by top non-government organisations, LEAD-Pakistan and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan, with funding from the European Union. Data gleaned from...

URL: http://www.enn.com/climate/article/45499?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29
Enclosure: http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/45499-1.jpg/medium

United Kingdom: Centrica talks down shale gas but may still invest

Guardian: Sam Laidlaw did his bit to rain on the Davos parade when he dissed the prospects for shale gas as the game-changer that will shake countries out of their economic torpor. Yes, said the Centrica boss, shale had produced astonishing changes in the price of natural gas in America, but it was unrealistic to imagine this could be replicated – at least in Britain. That is not what those on the Alpine jaunt want to hear. Global political and business leaders are desperate to find the equivalent of a...

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/centrica-talks-down-shale-gas

Greenland’s Ice Sheet More Stable Than Once Believed

Climate Central: The enormous sheets of ice that lie atop Greenland may not be as prone to catastrophic melting as many scientists thought, even if the planet continues to warm and temperatures remain high for hundreds of years. But while that may sound like good news, new evidence also suggests that parts of the even vaster ice sheets that lie atop Antarctica could be more unstable than once believed. That's the conclusion of scientists who have been drilling deep into the Greenland ice sheet since 2007, in a...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/greenlands-ice-surprisingly-stable-antarcticas-the-opposite-15500?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11789

Ukraine set to sign landmark $10 billion shale gas deal with Shell

Reuters: Ukraine will take a first major step away from dependency on Russian gas supplies on Thursday when it seals a $10 billion shale gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L). Due to be signed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the production sharing agreement will mark the biggest contract yet to tap shale gas in Europe and the largest single foreign investment in the former Soviet republic. Shell has not publicly confirmed the deal. But the Ukrainian government signed off on it on Wednesday...

URL: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-shale-ukraine-idUKBRE90N0N620130124
Enclosure: http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130124&t=2&i=697356328&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE90N13H300

Groups Initiate Federal Court Battle to Stop Illegal Coal Pollution

EcoWatch: Last March 22 on world water day, Waterkeepers all over the world took action to fight for swimmable, fishable and drinkable waters. Each Waterkeeper chose the issues they felt were the greatest concern to the health of their local community and waterway. The French Broad Riverkeeper and the Western North Carolina Alliance decided to spend world water day gathering hundreds of community members together to call for an end to air and water pollution from the Progress Energy coal fired power plant...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/stop-illegal-coal-pollution/
Enclosure: http://youtu.be/V2VK7FO0Krw

How Obama Could Nix the Keystone Pipeline (And Why He Won't)

Atlantic Wire: President Obama will be confronted with the first big policy decision of his second term where environmentalists and business interests are at odds: the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Despite promising to act on climate change in his inaugural speech, all signs point to the controversial project going forward. On Wednesday, a majority of Senators (44 Republicans and nine Democrats) sent a letter to President Obama urging him to move forward on Keystone XL, a massive pipeline that would carry oil from...

URL: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-could-nix-keystone-pipeline-why-wont-193417036.html

Buoyed by Obama, leaders press for climate action

Associated Press: Hurricanes, floods, droughts and a newly climate-conscious Barack Obama are helping boost efforts around the world to fight climate change. Top political and financial leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos say recent natural disasters, along with Obama's inauguration announcement this week that he's making the battle against rising temperatures a pillar of his second term, could rev up the glacially slow climate pact negotiations and revive fundraising for global action to cool the planet....

URL: http://c.o0bc.com/rf/image_539o215/Boston/2011-2020/Wires/2013/01/24/Boston.com/APOnlineImages/2013-01-24/6781db05c99b6d02270f6a70670047cc.jpg
Enclosure: http://c.o0bc.com/rf/image_539o215/Boston/2011-2020/Wires/2013/01/24/Boston.com/APOnlineImages/2013-01-24/6781db05c99b6d02270f6a70670047cc.jpg

Whole Foods CEO On Climate Change: John Mackey Says Warming Is 'Not Necessarily Bad'

Huffington Post: Whole Foods CEO John Mackey shared his views on climate change recently, saying that he is "not a 'climate change skeptic,'" but, contrary to the scientific consensus, suggested that "climate change is perfectly natural and not necessarily bad." Mackey, who founded the supermarket chain in 1980, told Mother Jones, "climate change is clearly occurring." He added, "What I am opposed to is trying to stop virtually all economic progress because of the fear of climate change." He suggested, "we will...

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/whole-foods-ceo-climate-change_n_2511482.html?utm_hp_ref=green

Fighting Unregulated Fracking in California

EcoWatch: The Center for Biological Diversity went to court today to compel California regulators to enforce an existing state law that should protect people and the environment from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a rapidly spreading new method of oil and gas extraction. The lawsuit filed this morning in Alameda County Superior Court says the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources has allowed fracking to expand without legally required oversight. California law applies safeguards and...

URL: http://ecowatch.org/2013/fighting-fracking-california/
Enclosure: http://ecowatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/cali.jpg

Energy, Water, Land Intertwined & Threatened, Says Report

Climate Central: Water resources, energy and land use are so mutually dependent that climate-related disruptions to any one of them could lead to economically devastating ripple effects -- especially as a growing population puts increasing strains on all three. That's one conclusion of a recent report issued by a federal advisory committee charged with assessing how climate change has already affected the U.S., and what the future holds. The National Climate Assessment draft report, nearly 1,200 pages long, explores...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/energy-water-land-all-intertwined-all-threatened-says-nca-report-15472?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/

Risks of Hurricane Sandy-like Surge Events Rising

Climate Central: The track of Hurricane Sandy was unprecedented in the historical record of North Atlantic Ocean Basin hurricanes, and its deadly storm surge -- while exceedingly rare -- is likely to become a more frequent event as the climate continues to warm due in large part to manmade greenhouse gas emissions. Those are the conclusions of a forthcoming study from researchers at NASA and Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Observatory. Timothy M. Hall, a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space...

URL: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/hurricane-sandy-unprecedented-in-historical-record-study-says-15505?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
Enclosure: http://www.climatecentral.org/images/uploads/news/1_24_13_news_andrew_sandytracks.jpg