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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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With tax break, a big carbon footprint

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

Boston Globe - By Edward L. Glaeser - Nov. 05 (Opinion) - ENVIRONMENTALISTS who are worried about global warming should pay attention to the congressional debate about extending the home buyers tax credit. Federal tax policies toward housing have long encouraged Americans to emit more carbon. President Obama could do the country, and the planet, a service by either refusing to sign the extension of the $8,000 credit or by insisting that it be accompanied by offsetting reductions in the home mortgage interest deduction.

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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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Michael Specter’s new book ‘Denialism’ misses its targets

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Grist - By Tom Philpott - Oct. 31 (Review) - Like the great institutions of European Christianity, modern science has amassed tremendous power—and not always lived up to its founding creeds. Science needs a Gibbon—someone who appreciates its intellectual grandeur and potential, but who also can train a cold eye on the “inevitable mixture of error and corruption” that has accompanied its tenure since the Enlightenment. That Gibbon is not Michael Specter, a New Yorker staff writer and author of the new book Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. His book purports to defend science from its philistine critics—people who, in Specter’s view, reflexively deny the validity of the scientific process. In his intro, Specter sets up the defining focus of the book. He contrasts the “rigorous and open-minded skepticism of science” with “the inflexible certainty of ideological commitment” (i.e., “denialism”). Already, we’re on thin intellectual ice; Specter evidently believes in a pure science, one that exists completely apart from ideology. In Gibbon’s phrasing, he’s defending a science as “she descended from Heaven [read: the Enlightenment], arrayed in her native purity.”

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Senate Climate Markup Set for Tuesday but Will Any Republicans Show?

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

New York Times - By Darren Samuelson - Oct. 30 (News) - But Boxer cannot hold the markup unless at least two Republicans show up, and EPW ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) signaled that he has unanimous support among the panel's minority members to boycott the session until they get more data on the legislation from U.S. EPA and the Congressional Budget Office.

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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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Obama may face fight on treaties

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

Boston Globe - By Bender, Bryan - Oct. 25 (Opinion) - President Obama's vision of global cooperation - symbolized by his surprise Nobel Peace Prize - is in for a crucial test in the months ahead when he begins sending a series of treaties to the US Senate, where skepticism ...Questions for Thorbjorn Jagland Peace Be With YouNew York TimesWSJIDEBATE: Was It Premature to Honor Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize?Wall Street JournalObama Gets 'Incomplete' as Decisions on War, Joblessness LoomBloombergBellingham Herald?-Niles Daily Star?-The MIT Techall 165 news articles??

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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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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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Beyond GDP: We need a dashboard for the whole economy

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

New Scientist - Oct. 21 (Editorial) - From stock markets to measuring GDP, conventional economics is in a mess.

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Rebranding America

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:09:36 -0700

New York Times - Oct. 18 (Opinion) - President Obama reminds us that America is not just a country but an idea, a great idea about opportunity for all and responsibility to your fellow man.

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Lindsey Graham: Not a Nuclear Wussypants

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Kate Sheppard - Oct. 16 (News Report) - When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called for legislation last week to cap carbon emissions, he revived hopes that a cap-and-trade measure could pass the Senate this year. (He also got branded a "wussypants" by tea party protesters for his trouble.) But

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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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Nobel committee defends Obama choice

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Financial Times - By Andrew Ward - Oct. 11 (News Report) - US president credited with promoting international fraternity in multilateral diplomacy, nuclear arms reduction and tackling climate change

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Shock: BBC Global Warming Honesty

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Paul Hudson - Oct. 10 (Special Report) - 'For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures' -- 'Debate about what is causing it is far from over' -- Cooling 'could last another 10-20 years'

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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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Obama uses L.A. program as a model for going green -

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

Los Angeles Times - By Jim Tankersley - Oct. 06 (News) - Urging the government to "lead by example," President Obama ordered federal agencies on Monday to set ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut energy use, save water and recycle more...The measures echo a Los Angeles sustainability program launched under the direction of then-Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley, who now heads the White House Council on Environmental Quality...Sutley said the initiative builds on the experience of Green LA, a 2007 program to reduce Los Angeles' greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030. That program includes measures such as strict efficiency standards in building codes and drawing power from renewable-energy sources.

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Unstoppable sea level rise

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Gerard Wynn - Oct. 05 (Special Report) - A rise of at least two metres in the world’s sea levels is now almost unstoppable, experts told a climate conference at Oxford University on Tuesday. “The crux of the sea level issue is that it starts very slowly but once it gets going it is practically unstoppable,’’ said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany’s Potsdam Institute and a widely recognised sea level expert.

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Errors of omission

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - Oct. 05 (Opinion) - Bumblebees cannot fly—or so physical models are said to have shown. That the insects routinely become airborne demonstrates the shortcomings of some theoretical accounts of the world. But one of the strengths of the scientific method is that, when presented with evidence that discredits their theories, scientists are forced to concede that their models are wrong and endeavour to learn from the failure. In science, observation always trumps theory, no matter how elegant the theory might be. The same is true of theoretical models of climate change. Over the past decade there have been large variations in the projected increase in global temperatures and sea levels over the coming years. ...

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G-20 leaders to pledge to end subsidies for fossil fuels

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Jim Tankersley - Sep. 26 (News Report) - World leaders at the Group of 20 summit pledged to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels in the "medium term" Friday, a nebulous goal that the leaders nevertheless said could make a noticeable dent in global warming.

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Lisa Versus Lisa: EPA's Jackson Bests Sen. Murkowski

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Stephen Power - Sep. 25 (News Report) - Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s plan to limit EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases won’t be coming up for a vote after all. This, after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers sent letters to Congress warning that the Alaska Republican’s amendment would prevent the EPA from completing its recent proposal to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions. If that had happened, the industry would face “a patchwork of conflicting state and federal regulations,” the Alliance warned in its letter. A Murkowski spokesman said Senate Democratic leaders prevented a vote on her amendment and that the senator disputes the EPA administrator’s view that the amendment would prevent the EPA from completing its vehicle proposal. “They’ve gone out of their way to refuse to debate the merits of this” amendment, the spokesman said.

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Can Obama Save the Global Economy (and Globalization) at the G-20?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Esquire - By Thomas P.M. Barnett - Sep. 25 (Opinion) - What does this "rebalancing" play from Washington amount to? In a nutshell, a near-term future in which America consumes less and China consumes a helluva lot more. But Obama's "framework" also promises diplomatic cover for all sides in this rebalancing process by empowering the International Monetary Fund to monitor G-20 member pledges and flag them for consultations if voluntary targets aren't being met. Since sanctions never work (even if Dmitri Medvedev and the West Wing think they're inevitable), this transparent approach is considered ideal — in effect, a multilateral version of the shaming technique historically employed by the IMF (and by the U.S. against mercantilist Japan in years past).

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G-20 is set to replace Group of 8, U.S. says

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Don Lee, Jim Tankersley - Sep. 25 (News Report) - r the Group of 20 summit have agreed that the organization will replace the Group of Eight as a permanent body for international economic cooperation, the White House announced late Thursday. The change reflects the world's shifting economic powers and a need for the U.S. and the traditional European powers to secure the cooperation of fast-growing economies such as China, India and Brazil to make progress on pressing issues.

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Satellite shows 'ominous' polar melting

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By David Perlman - Sep. 24 (News Report) - A NASA satellite has revealed more accurately than ever that polar ice in Antarctica and Greenland is melting from glaciers and ice sheets far faster than scientists had previously thought, a discovery that one UC Berkeley climate expert calls "ominous and distressing."

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