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Obama's Big Power Play

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard - Nov. 06 (Interview) - President Barack Obama likes to point out that when President Dwight Eisenhower built the federal highway system in the 1950s, he created a network that fueled postwar America?s economic rise. Now Obama?s administration wants to do the same for the green economy with the smart grid?a system of interlocking technologies that could transform the way we use electricity. By receiving real-time data on their energy use, consumers could save big on their power bills by running appliances when electricity is cheapest, rather than during peak demand periods when it?s most expensive. Power distributors could use the system to transport excess energy from one region to another, instead of simply allowing it to go to waste as they do ...

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Britain rules out climate treaty at summit

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Independent - By Michael McCarthy - Nov. 06 (News Report) - Although there are various stumbling blocks, there is no doubt that the continued lack of a serious American offer on cutting its greenhouse gas emissions and providing climate finance for the developing nations – the bill which might provide them is stuck in the US Senate – is the principle obstacle to progress. "Copenhagen is one of the most important meetings in human history. But the politicians seem determined to blow it," said Joss Garman, climate campaigner for Greenpeace.

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How to boost fuel efficiency? Raise taxes, executives say

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Reuters - By Scott Malone - Nov. 06 (Opinion) - While politically unpalatable, gasoline that costs at least $4 a gallon would have a far greater effect on American fuel usage than Washington's $25 billion loan program meant to spark investment in new technologies

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Hopes fading for Copenhagen climate change treaty

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Allegra Stratton - Nov. 05 (News Report) - Political agreement rather than full treaty is now goal of the meeting, says global warming minister Hopes that a full, legally binding treaty on tackling climate change would be signed at next month?s Copenhagen summit are fading, Ed Miliband acknowledged today. The climate change secretary indicated that a political agreement, with a timetable setting out the path to a full international treaty, was now set to be the major goal for the meeting. He told MPs the government would have preferred a full treaty but any deal that does emerge from the talks must contain detailed commitments. African nations walked out of the latest round of UN climate change talks in Barcelona this week in a protest calling for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas ...

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The Greenest Place in the U.S. May Not Be Where You Think

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Yale Environment 360 - By David Owen - Nov. 05 (Special Report) - Green rankings in the U.S. don’t tell the full story about the places where the human footprint is lightest. If you really want the best environmental model, you need to look at the nation’s biggest — and greenest — metropolis: New York City.

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Gore’s Dual Role: Advocate and Investor

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By John M. Broder - Nov. 03 (News Report) - Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire,” profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.

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No Deal: Chamber Chief Battles Obama Agenda

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Stephen Power - Oct. 30 (News Report) - Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is working to defeat Obama on many of his top issues, sparking a furious reaction from the White House.

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Thirsty Gaza

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Heather Sharp - Oct. 27 (News Report) - Gaza's aquifer and only natural freshwater source is "in danger of collapse," the UN is warning. Engineers have long been battling to keep the densely populated strip's water and sewage system limping along. But in September the UN Environment Programme warned that damage to the underground aquifer - due to the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, conflict, and years of overuse and underinvestment - could take centuries to reverse if it is not halted now.

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Wildlife under threat from drug cartels

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Jamie Doward - Oct. 25 (News Report) - Colombia, one of the largest environmental hubs in the planet, with a territory of more than 1 million square kilometres, has been warning about the dangers of "ecocide" caused by the country's drug cartels for several years. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, it is home to 50,000 plant species and 18% of the world's bird species. But now it is attempting to make children aware that the threats facing its rainforests are a global issue that will have an impact on climatic stability.

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Campaign to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Levels Picks a Number to Make a Point

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Andrew C. Revkin - Oct. 25 (News Report) - Activists on Saturday performed synchronized demonstrations centering on 350 parts per million, which some scientists have said is the upper limit for heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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Poll: US belief in global warming is cooling

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Dina Cappiello - Oct. 23 (News Report) - At the same time, there has been mounting scientific evidence of climate change — from melting ice caps to the world's oceans hitting the highest monthly recorded temperatures this summer.

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A Level Field

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Oct. 23 (Opinion) - The antitrust division will not say if it is investigating Monsanto. But in recent months, it has asked Monsanto and its competitors for information to determine whether Monsanto is breaching antitrust laws.

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Scientists: Biofuel Laws May Harm Environment

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

wbur.org - By Richard Harris - Oct. 23 (News Report) - One key part of the climate bill has to do with fuels made from green plants. These can reduce the use of fossil fuels, and they also are a big draw for farm-state votes. But scientists writing in the current issue of Science magazine point out a huge error in existing biofuel laws that could actually make climate change worse. They say these rules inadvertently encourage deforestation, which in turn contributes to global warming.

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Proposed Water Plant Raises Growth Issues in Marin County

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Susan Sward - Oct. 22 (News) - Nothing about the Marin Municipal Water District storage yard and the run-down wooden pier protruding into San Francisco Bay give any hint of what they are: the site of what may become one of the fiercest water battles in Northern California in decades. It is, on the surface, a set piece: an emotional struggle over a large planned water project facing strong environmental opposition. But at a more basic level, it is a contest over the ever-volatile issue of growth in Marin County.

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They're showing what in schools?!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Glenn Beck - By Glenn Beck - Oct. 21 (Opinion) - The job of the government is to take care of you -- no it's not. They get this idea from the "promote the general welfare" part of the constitution. I can't believe they get it from there because I don't think they ever read it.

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Top Official: 'The EPA Is Back On The Job'

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - Oct. 18 (News Report) - Lisa Jackson says the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bush concluded greenhouse gases were dangerous, but the White House refused to regulate them. Now that President Obama is in office, she says, the agency is going to take action.

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The world's future is being decided this weekend

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Nicholas Stern - Oct. 18 (Opinion) - We must agree to halt deforestation and curtail air travel now if the Copenhagen summit is to succeed Energy and environment ministers from the world?s major economies are meeting in London today to try to accelerate crucial negotiations over an international treaty on climate change. Strong progress has been made in the past few weeks, with Japan, for example, announcing that it will cut its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 25% by 2020 relative to levels in 1990. But there are still major obstacles and some doubt whether a strong global deal can be hammered out in time for the United Nations?s conference on climate change in Copenhagen, now just seven weeks away. Agreement can be reached if governments now ...

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Earth's Life Support Systems Failing

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Inter Press Service - By Stephen Leahy - Oct. 15 (Special Report) - The world has failed to slow the accelerating extinction crisis despite 17 years of national and international efforts since the great hopes raised at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. [A loggerhead turtle. Biodiversity is not just weird-looking animals and pretty birds. It is the diversity of life on Earth that comprises the ecosystems that provide vital services, including climate regulation, food, fibre, clean water and air. (Photo: Damien du Toit; Creative Commons License)]A loggerhead turtle. Biodiversity is not just weird-looking animals and pretty birds. It is the diversity of life on Earth that comprises the ecosystems that provide vital services, including climate regulation, food, fibre, clean water and air. (Photo: Damien du Toit; Creative Commons License) The last big promise to act was in 2003, when government ministers from 123 countries committed to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

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Rabbits Deposit Radioactive Clues on the Landscape

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Matthew L. Wald - Oct. 15 (Special Report) - The Hanford site, overseen by the federal Department of Energy, produced roughly two-thirds of the plutonium used in the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal, beginning in World War II and ending in the 1980s. Today it is the focus of the nation’s largest environmental cleanup, an effort that has cost tens of billions of dollars and is expected to continue for decades.

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Biggest Obstacle to Global Climate Deal May Be How to Pay for It

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Elisabeth Rosenthal - Oct. 15 (Special Report) - The price of a climate agreement will be $100 billion a year by 2020, many economists estimate; some put the cost at closer to $1 trillion.

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"Surreal" Vegetarian Spider Found -- A First

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

National Geographic - By Matt Kaplan - Oct. 12 (News Report) - A tropical jumping spider that eats mostly plant buds has been identified, a new study says--making it the only known vegetarian out of some 40,000 spider species. A tropical jumping spider that eats mostly plant buds has been identified, a new study

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Giant, Mucus-Like Sea Blobs on the Rise, Pose Danger

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

National Geographic - By Christine Dell'Amore - Oct. 09 (News Report) - Beware of the blob—this time, it's for real. As sea temperatures have risen in recent decades, enormous sheets of a mucus-like material have begun forming more often, oozing into new regions, and lasting longer, a new Mediterranean Sea study says

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Experts Debate Ways to Reform 1976 Toxics Law

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Sara Goodman - Oct. 07 (Special Report) - An overhaul of federal toxics regulations will require prioritizing tens of thousands of chemicals currently in the marketplace, representatives of industry and advocacy groups agree.

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Acting Like a Bunch of Christies

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Spectator - By Peter Ferrara - Oct. 07 - Acting Like a Bunch of Christies

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Green Inc.: Apple Resigns From Chamber Over Climate

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Kate Galbraith - Oct. 06 (Opinion) - Apple became the latest company to resign from the United States Chamber of Commerce, citing climate issues.

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