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Climate Tipping Point? Concentration of Carbon Dioxide Tops 400 ppm For First Time in Human History

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 13 (News Report) - The 400 ppm threshold has been an important marker in U.N. climate change negotiations, widely recognized as a dangerous level that could drastically worsen human-caused global warming. We speak to leading climate scientist Michael Mann, distinguished professor of meteorology at Penn State University and author of the recent book, "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines." Mann warns, "We have to go several million years back in time to find a point in Earth’s history where CO2 was as high as it is now.

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Germany Doesn't Get Much Sun. How Did It Become a Leader in Solar Energy?

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Andrew Curry - Apr. 02 (Special Report) - This story first appeared in Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. It's been a long, dark winter in Germany. In fact, there hasn't been this little sun since people started tracking such things back in the early 1950s. Easter is around the corner, and the streets of Berlin are still covered in ice and snow. But spring will come, and when the snow finally melts, it will reveal the glossy black sheen of photovoltaic solar panels glinting from the North Sea to the Bavarian Alps. Solar panels line Germany's residential rooftops and top its low-slung barns. They sprout in orderly rows along train tracks and cover hills of coal mine tailings in what used to be East Germany. Old Soviet military bases, too polluted to use for anything else, have been turned into solar installations. Continue Reading ...

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We're Measuring Energy Efficiency Wrong

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Chris Nelder - Mar. 23 (News Analysis) - It is widely assumed that over the coming decades, increased energy efficiency will help the world meet its energy needs and reduce carbon emissions. That may be true, but recent research suggests that energy intensity—a widely used way of measuring efficiency—isn't the right metric. Energy intensity is a simple ratio: energy use per dollar of GDP. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the energy intensity of the U.S. economy declined by 1.6 percent per year from 1985 to 2004, suggesting that we're doing more with less energy. Energy companies have embraced this idea: "Energy per unit of income as measured by GDP continues to fall, and at an accelerating rate," asserts BP . "This is true in our outlook to 2030 not only for the global average, but for almost all of the key countries and regions. The combination of energy efficiency gains and a long-term ...

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We Can Now Make Snow From Poop. But Should We?

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Kiera Butler - Jan. 21 (News) - Sometimes a bad application of a good idea can make the idea itself seem worse. Examples abound: communism, social Darwinism, the last two seasons of The Office . And then there's Arizona Snowbowl , a ski resort outside Flagstaff that's poised to become the first to make all of its artificial snow from reclaimed sewage water . In wetter regions, resorts often get that water from nearby lakes or rivers, "but we simply don't have those resources," says resort general manager JR Murray. So Snowbowl intends to pump as much as 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed water each day from a source roughly 15 miles away. Now one could argue—and many have—that Snowbowl never should have been built here in the first place. Perched atop a 9,000-foot extinct volcano in the scenic San Francisco Peaks, it has been plagued by water shortages since its founding 75 years ago. Some seasons there isn't enough snowfall to make the place profitable. "The very notion of committing water to skiing in Arizona is ...

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Oysters Killed by Climate Change's Evil Twin

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

care2.com - By Jan Cho - Jan. 08 (Special Report) - The oyster industry is in trouble. A few years ago, oyster hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest began losing their “seed,” as oyster larvae are known, by the millions. They scrambled to figure out what was behind the massive die-off and discovered that ...

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Strategic Threat of Climate Change

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Consortiumnews.com - Jan. 03 (News Analysis) - Strategic Threat of Climate Change

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Will Colleges Kick Coal Out of Their Stockings?

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard, Tim McDonnell - Dec. 19 (Special Report) - Can college students reshape energy politics in the US by reforming their colleges' endowments? That's the hope of idealistic students on 189 different campuses across the country, who have launched campaigns to encourage their school administrators and trustees to dump all their investments in fossil fuels. The campaign, the students say, gives them a direct check on the power of the oil, coal and gas industries, which they hope will have broader effects nationwide. "We were feeling, like the rest of the climate movement, pretty frustrated with the political situation in the US," said Alli Welton, a sophomore at Harvard University and the co-coordinator of the school's divestment campaign. "We felt that fossil fuel corporations just had too much control over Congress, and it was really hard to see how we could overcome that barrier." "Divestment was really exciting," Welton, a native of Washington state studying the history of science, continued. "It was striking directly at the fossil fuel ...

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On Natural Gas, Green Groups Can’t Make Up Their Minds

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard - Sep. 12 (Special Report) - Gas is the new coal. At least that's what the Obama administration seems to think. In accepting his nomination to run for a second term, President Obama pledged to "continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet," and to create 600,000 new jobs in the natural gas industry. The two goals are directly related in the administration's policies; in March 2012, the Obama EPA announced new emissions rules for power plants that meant no new coal plants will be built in the US. All those coal plants will likely be replaced with gas-fired plants—a trend that was already in the works thanks to declining gas prices and increasing supply. But Obama's enthusiasm for gas puts the big, national environmental groups in a bit of a tough spot. While many recognize that burning gas to generate electricity emits 47 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than coal, concerns about environmental problems stemming from hydraulic fracturing have led many green groups to moderate their stance. ...

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HANDS OFF APPALACHIA!: Occupy MTR Investor USB

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Writing Corner - By Beth Wellington - May. 04 (Special Report) - May Day, of course, originally commemorated Chicago's 1886 the Haymarket Massacre, when, during a general strike for the eight hour workday, an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed a public meeting, and police fired on workers, killing several demonstrators and resulting in the deaths of several police officers, largely from friendly fire. Mayday, of course, is also "mayday" used as a distress signal for aviators because it approximates the French term "m'aider", meaning "come help me!"

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Unprecedented Ocean Acidification Underway

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Julia Whitty - Mar. 02 (Special Report) - A new and alarming paper in the prestigious journal Science reports today that the world's oceans may be acidifying faster now than at any time during the four major extinctions of the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring as much as 6 degrees C (10.8 degrees F).

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Renewables Are a Reality: How We Can Ditch Fossil Fuels Without Any Help From Congress

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Fen Montaigne - Feb. 21 (Special Report) - In an interview with Yale Environment 360 senior editor Fen Montaigne, Lovins discusses how business and society can pull off this transformation even if the U.S. Congress keeps failing to act, why climate change need not even enter the discussion, and why the oil industry will ultimately forego fossil fuels and jump aboard the green bandwagon. “One system is dying and others are struggling to be born,” says Lovins. “It’s a very exciting time.”

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Gingrich On Climate Change

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FactCheck - By Brooks Jackson - Dec. 07 (Fact Check) - Newt Gingrich went too far when he claimed that “I’ve never favored cap-and-trade.” It’s true he’s never favored the approach taken by Democrats, but he said in 2007 that he would “strongly support” cap-and-trade if combined with “a tax-incentive program for investing in the solutions”.

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Republicans for Dirtier Air and Fewer Jobs

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Steven D - Sep. 23 (News Analysis) - House Republicans have scheduled a vote Friday to cripple the Clean Air Act. Their bill would allow more pollution of our air and change the way the Clean Air Act has been implemented over the past 40 years. I'm sure anyone with COPD, asthma and other respiratory and auto-immune disorders is simply thrilled that this a major priority for Republicans in Congress:

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Dear Big Coal: You're Not Above the Law | Truthout

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

truth-out.org - By Sarah van Gelder - Sep. 22 (News Report) - On Friday, two public interest groups asked the attorney general of Delaware to revoke the charter of Massey Energy, a company they call a criminal enterprise.

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Charles Scott Howard: The Miner Who Took On Big Coal

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Dave Jamieson - Sep. 14 (News Report) - On a July morning four years ago, Charles Scott Howard left his home in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky and drove his pickup truck 150 miles to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Lexington. A career coal miner, Howard was headed to the posh hotel to testify at a public hearing held by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Climate Change and Disaster in Montana

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Naomi Klein, - Jul. 17 (News Analysis) - 'So the flooding may have caused the pipeline spill. But here is the really uncomfortable question: Did the pipeline cause the flooding? Not this one particular pipeline, of course, but all the pipelines, and all the coal trains, and all the refineries and the power plants they supply?'

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Coal company: ‘Birth defects aren’t from mining, they’re because you’re inbred hicks’

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Grist - By Jess Zimmerman. - Jul. 13 (News Report) - Babies born in areas with mountaintop removal mining have higher rates of birth defects -- we know that from a study that came out last month. But, say coal companies, that doesn't mean the mining CAUSES the birth defects! They could easily be caused by something else -- like, say, rampant inbreeding . A letter from law firm Crowell & Moring, representing the National Mining Association, rebutted the study's findings by saying they failed to account for "consanquinity." That is not a thing, but "consanguinity" is inbreeding. And inbreeding is a nasty (and false ) rumor about West Virginia, where a lot of mountaintop removal mining takes place. A Crowell & Moring spokesperson told Ken Ward, Jr. the West Virginia blogger who first noticed the epic foot-mouthing, that they hadn't meant anything by it: "Consanguinity is one of a number of commonly addressed issues in studies of this type, regardless of geography ... We did not ...

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Massey Energy Guilty: West Virginia Probe Finds Coal Giant Systemically Failed to Comply with Law

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 23 (News Report) - An independent state probe in West Virginia concludes that mining giant, Massey Energy, was responsible for the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 underground coal mining workers. It echoes preliminary findings by federal investigators earlier this year that Massey repeatedly violated federal rules on ventilation and minimizing coal dust to reduce the risk of explosion, and rejects Massey’s claim that a burst of gas from a hole in the mine floor was at fault. The report also notes Massey’s strong political influence, which it uses "to attempt to control West Virginia’s political system" and regulatory bodies. We speak with J. Davitt McAteer, who oversaw the probe and is a former top federal mine safety official.

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New charge filed against Massey security chief

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Charleston Gazette - By Ken Ward Jr. - May. 17 (News Report) - the indictment alleges: These statements and representations were false … And, it alleges that Stover: … Had himself directed and trained security guards at Performance’s Upper Big Branch Mine to give advance notice by announcing the presence of MSHA inspectors on the mine property over the radio.

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Is Scholastic Selling Elementary School Kids on Coal?

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard - May. 13 (News Report) - Environmental groups are going after the world's largest publisher of children's books for teaming up with the American Coal Foundation to produce "The United States of Energy," a lesson plan designed for fourth-graders. The foundation, online at Teachcoal.org, is devoted to creating "coal-related educational materials and programs designed for teachers and students."

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Response to legal threat to coalcares.org from Peabody Energy

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

theyesmen.org - By Andy Bichlbaum - May. 13 (Other) - As even you may agree, the root of the problem is not Peabody, but rather our system of subsidies, regulations, and lobbying that lets your whole industry continue its lethal work. To make this clear, we have changed every instance of the word “Peabody” on www.coalcares.org to a rotating selection of the names of other large U.S. coal producers who, like Peabody, also need to be stopped from killing kids.

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State bans coal tar sealants in big win for foes

Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

MSN.com - By Robert McClure - May. 05 (News Report) - Washington state has become the first in the nation to ban toxic asphalt sealants made from cancer-causing industrial waste that have been spread over vast swaths of the nation’s cities and suburbs. The toxic ingredients in coal tar-based sealants are turning up in ordinary house dust as well as in streams, lakes and other waterways at levels that concern government researchers. The chemicals have been found in driveways at concentrations that could require treatment by moon-suited environmental technicians if detected at similar levels at a toxic-waste cleanup site. The sealants are also applied on playgrounds and parking lots.

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Fayette Power Project, Coal Plant, Blamed For 'Environmental Catastrophe' (PHOTOS)

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Dec. 28 (News Report) - Visible above the horizon is what many plant specialists, environmentalists and scientists believe to be the culprit: the Fayette Power Project – a coal-fired power plant for nearly 30 years has operated mostly without equipment designed to decrease emissions of sulfur dioxide, a component of acid rain. The plant's operator and the state's environmental regulator deny sulfur dioxide pollution is to blame for the swaths of plant devastation across Central Texas. But evidence collected from the Appalachian Mountains to New Mexico indicates sulfur dioxide pollution kills vegetation, especially pecan trees. Pecan growers in Albany, Ga., have received millions of dollars in an out-of-court settlement with a power plant whose sulfur dioxide emissions harmed their orchards.

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Stopping the miners

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

roanoke.com - By Tim Thornton - Nov. 23 (Special Report) - It was dark and cold when they climbed the mountain, following a well-worn path nearly to its crest. Scrambling the last few feet through meager underbrush, the men settled in to wait for the first hints of daylight.

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The Battle of Blair Mountain, Round Two

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard - Nov. 12 (Special Report) - lawyers working for the coal companies in the area produced its own list of landowners who objected to the listing—after the deadline for comment had passed.... Listing advocates say that in addition arriving too late, the new list was full of errors—including the names of people who were dead and those who weren't actually the rightful landowners...They accused the coal companies of drumming up the list in order to prevent the site from being protected. "They'd like to get rid of the history and they'd like to take the millions of dollars of coal out of there as cheaply as possible."

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