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		News Archive     09/01/2010 07:00 PM China would never accept checks at Copenhagen: official Agence France-Presse: China was never going to accept outside reviews in Copenhagen of its efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions, a top official said Saturday, after critics accused Beijing of blocking the talks. Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, told a forum that Beijing achieved its goal at the climate talks by ensuring aid for developing nations was not linked to external checks. "Developing countries, especially China, would surely never ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM EPA using grants to combat climate change United Press International: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is offering grants of up to $5 million to groups working on projects intended to combat global warming. The federal department said in a release Friday that U.S. and international organizations alike can get money through the Methane to Markets Partnership if they are working on projects aimed at limiting environmental pollution such as greenhouse gas emissions. The public-private partnership is already supplying other projects ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM At Detroit auto show, small cars make this year's big splash Washington Post: The North American International Auto Show, the annual automotive gala in Detroit, may be best known as a stage for manufacturers to display their latest rolling leviathans. But to judge from this year's show, the next big thing may be small. Driven in part by the recession, and in part by shifting consumer tastes and global marketing strategies, the U.S. manufacturers who once obsessed over trucks and muscle cars are casting a spotlight on their diminutives. Chevrolet ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Prius No. 1 in Japan sales as green interest grows Associated Press: The Toyota Prius is so sought after in Japan it is the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle to top annual sales, with buyers willing to wait six months for deliveries of the curvaceous "green" car The Prius has caught on in the U.S. and other parts of the world as well, although not with quite the same passionate intensity as it has in Japan, Toyota Motor's (TM) home market. Its success underlines the shift among consumers to embrace green auto technology that appears to go ... read more 07/01/2010 07:00 PM The Copenhagen disaccord Nation: We have entered the post-Copenhagen era of climate politics--but just what that means is still very much undecided. The summit was widely regarded as humanity's last good chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. It plainly fell short of that goal, but giving up is not an option, not for anyone who cares about preserving a livable planet for our children. Instead, we need the most unfettered, open-minded discussion possible of the terrain confronting us post-Copenhagen and how best to ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Canada: Pine beetles transform B.C. forests into greenhouse enemy Globe and Mail: In a single season, an army of pine beetles has transformed our allies in the battle against climate change into the enemy. Now the province is in a race against nature, as one billion beetle-killed trees across the province slowly seep the greenhouse gases they had so generously stored up in their decades of growth. Such a turnaround seemed unimaginable back in February, 2008, when Premier Gordon Campbell first seized on the value of B.C.'s forests in his campaign against ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM U.S. to give $2.3 billion in clean-tech credits San Francisco Chronicle: President Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits Friday for 183 ventures to build advanced batteries, wind turbines and other "clean energy technology" nationwide, including projects in the Bay Area. The tax credits, which are funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus package enacted in February, are designed to defray up to 30 percent of the cost of new investments in manufacturing facilities to produce clean energy products. "Building a robust clean energy sector is ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM China says achieved goal in Copenhagen climate deal Reuters: Chinese negotiators achieved their goal at Copenhagen climate talks in ensuring financial aid for developing nations was not linked to external reviews of China's environmental plans, its top climate envoy said on Saturday. Britain, Sweden and other countries have accused China of obstructing the climate summit, which ended last month with a non-binding accord that set a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius but was scant on details. China would never ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM United States: Climate expert in the eye of an integrity storm Philadelphia Inquirier: Michael Mann switched from physics to climate science back in graduate school because he thought climate offered a better chance to work "on a frontier." He got his wish, and now, as the director of Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, he has experienced an aspect of frontier life more like the Wild West - a bounty on his head. After dozens of Mann's personal e-mails were hacked in November, the tenured professor has been called a fraud, a clown, and ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Thousands of wind turbines coming to British seas New York Times: In an ambitious bid to revamp Britain's energy strategy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown awarded contracts to major energy companies that are to erect wind farms along Britain's coastline. The project will be one of the biggest wind power initiatives anywhere in the world. Beginning construction in 2014, it promises to be a bold, even risky bet to erect thousands of turbines along Britain's 7,500 miles of turbulent waterfront. For Mr. Brown, who remains embattled politically just ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Comparing Earth's current warming to the Pliocene Christian Science Monitor: About 4.5 million years ago, during the early Pliocene period (3 to 5 million years ago), temperatures on Earth were some 3 to 4 degrees C (5.4 to 7.2 degrees F.) higher in the tropics, and perhaps 10 degrees C (18 degrees F.) warmer near the poles. To get that much warming, current climate models have to pump up atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to between 500 and 600 parts per million -- about twice the preindustrial level of 280 ppm. We're currently around 387 ppm. And, ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM eSolar strikes deal to build power plants in China Bismarck Tribune: A U.S. solar power company said Saturday it will help build a series of solar thermal power plants in China, as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases tries to decrease its heavy reliance on coal, imported gas and oil. California-based eSolar Inc. will provide Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. with the technology and information to build the concentrated solar thermal power farms with a capacity totaling 2,000 megawatts. The $5 billion ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Philippines: A climate of insecurity Business Mirror: Sometime in May, mango producers belonging to the Mango Product Exporters Confederation Inc. (MPECI) complained that their output would go down by 15 percent year-on-year. The main culprit: erratic weather patterns due to climate change. MPECI president Roberto Amores complained that early and intermittent rains, coupled with the early onset of the typhoon, is projected to slash mango production this year to 650,000 metric tons (MT), from 750,000 MT in 2008. "Two years ago, ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Why Antarctica isn't melting much - yet New Scientist: Antarctica is warming, but not melting anything like as much as expected. In fact, during the continent's summer this time last year, there was less melting than at any time in the 30 years that we have had reliable satellite measurements of the region. The apparent contradiction is explained by the seasonal pattern of warming, say two glaciologists writing in Eos, the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union. The continent's winters and springs have warmed most, but it is ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM United States: State lawmakers, business groups reject proposed greenhouse gas limits Various: A bipartisan legislative panel Friday voted to delay the creation of rules to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant in Montana, after a host of business interests objected to the initiative. "I think we need to slow things down and get some answers," said Rep. Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, who made the motion to formally object to the Board of Environmental Review's rule-making process. The Environmental Quality Council, a legislative and citizen panel that examines environmental ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Hurricane propels Jackson's justice quest at EPA Associated Press: More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, the single-story brick rancher in Pontchartrain Park where Lisa Perez Jackson grew up stands empty. Floodwaters long ago ate away the walls of her corner bedroom, where the current head of the Environmental Protection Agency once hung Michael Jackson and Prince posters and studied her way to the top of her high school class. Faded spray paint, left by search teams to indicate that no bodies were found, serves as a reminder of the ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Biographical information on EPA's Lisa Jackson Associated Press: Lisa P. Jackson. AGE-BIRTH DATE-LOCATION -- 47; Feb. 8, 1962; Philadelphia. EXPERIENCE -- Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2009-present; member of President-elect Barack Obama's energy and natural resources transition team; chief of staff, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, 2008; commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2006-08; assistant commissioner for land use management, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2005; assistant ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Tidal energy: Tapping the power of the sea Spiegel: In Great Britain and other European countries, companies are preparing to use the energy of ocean waves and tides to produce electricity. The UK is hoping to produce as much as 5 percent of its electricity needs with tidal power plants. Great Britain hopes to soon to take the global lead in tapping the power of tides to produce clean energy. A single power plant is expected to cover 5 percent of the country's electricity needs by providing 8.6 gigawatts of CO2-free electricity, the ... read more 07/01/2010 07:00 PM Businesses oppose Wisconsin clean energy plan Associated Press: Wisconsin's business community is divided over Gov. Jim Doyle's clean energy plan that calls for increasing the use of renewable fuels and opens the door to nuclear power, with opponents saying the new mandates will weaken Wisconsin's already struggling manufacturing sector. Doyle's plan was introduced in the Legislature on Wednesday and the governor discussed it Thursday at a news conference in Madison. He and other proponents, including large employers like auto parts and ... read more 07/01/2010 07:00 PM United States: Feinstein desert bill attempts to reconcile landscape protection, clean energy Greenwire: When Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced a sweeping desert preservation bill last month, it garnered national attention for placing nearly 1 million acres of Mojave Desert off-limits to development -- a move that some believe would derail a dozen proposed solar-power projects. But a close reading of the "California Desert Protection Act" reveals a nuanced piece of legislation that includes several proposals to encourage renewable energy in the Mojave Desert and across the ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM UK plans for most ambitious offshore wind project in the world will need 'supergrid' Telegraph: The most ambitious offshore wind project in the world would see 6,400 turbines built around the coast by 2020 -- the equivalent of building almost two turbines every day for the next ten years. In the most significant boost for industry in the UK since the exploration of North Sea oil in the 1970s, the Prime Minister announced the power companies that will raise around £100bn to construct the new turbines including major players like E. ON, RWE Npower, Scottish Power and ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM How cold is Europe? Even Norway's buses can't take it. Christian Science Monitor: After three years sans snow, Paris got hit twice this week. The city doesn't do snow plows, and the novelty of icicles on the Eiffel is wearing off. Even city birds seem to be shivering. "Global warming I care about, but look outside," offered a denizen of the 8th District. "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow," is fine at Christmas. But in post-holiday Europe, bus engine oil is freezing in Norway. Ireland reports the lowest temperature in 50 years. In Britain, the Army got called ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Ark. environmental chief backs delay in air rules Associated Press: The state's top anti-pollution official said utilities that operate power plants in Arkansas should be allowed to wait and see what air-quality standards are imposed by federal authorities, instead of meeting a current 2013 deadline for complying with emission rules. Teresa Marks, director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, said in a news release Friday that she is recommending that the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission grant a variance from the state's ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM US solar company to build power plants in China Associated Press: Southern California's eSolar Inc. has signed a major agreement to build a series of solar power plants in China. Under the agreement announced Friday, the Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar will provide China Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing Co. with the technology and information to build solar farms with a capacity totaling 2,000 megawatts over the next decade. Company chairman Bill Gross says China is emerging as a major market for solar energy and is ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Heavy Rains End Drought for Texas New York Times: The worst drought to strike Texas in the last 50 years has broken, ending a year-and-a-half dry spell in which farmers and ranchers suffered devastating losses, climatologists and agronomists said this week. Heavy rains since September have replenished reservoirs, filled stock tanks and quenched huge expanses of parched earth across Central and South Texas, where state officials estimate that farmers and ranchers suffered losses of around $4 billion. John Nielsen-Gammon, the ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM China Tries a New Tack to Go Solar New York Times: As it moves rapidly to become the world`s leader in nuclear power, wind energy and photovoltaic solar panels, China is taking tentative steps to master another alternative energy industry: using mirrors to capture sunlight, produce steam and generate electricity. So-called concentrating solar power uses hundreds of thousands of mirrors to turn water into steam. The steam turns a conventional turbine similar to those in coal-fired power plants. The technology, which is potentially ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM E.P.A. Seeks Stricter Rules to Curb Smog New York Times: The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed a stricter standard for smog-causing pollutants that would bring substantial health benefits to millions of Americans while imposing large costs on industry and local governments. The standard would replace one set by the Bush administration in March 2008, which has been challenged in court by state officials and environmental advocates as too weak to adequately protect human health and the environment. The Obama ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM United Kingdom: £100bn wind farm plan heralds green energy era Independent (UK): Revolutionary plans for a massive expansion of offshore wind farms have been unveiled in a £100bn project designed to usher in a new era of green energy for Britain. A quarter of the country's electricity needs would be met through wind power by 2020 under the strategy, with the construction of 6,400 turbines within nine sites dotted around the coast. The programme amounts to the biggest energy supply shake-up since the discovery of the North Sea oil and gas fields more than 40 years ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM United Kingdom: If I hear another global warming joke, I'll . . . Times (UK): Right, there is something that is going to have to stop right this second, and that is people making jokes about "If the globe is warming up then where did all this snow come from, eh? Eh? Tell me that?' Because it is driving me crazy. And when I say "people', I mean mostly columnists, cartoonists and comedians. I know there is nothing else to write about at the moment (God help me, I'm writing about people writing about the snow) and I grant that it was a nice little coincidence that ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Both sides gird for bruising Senate debate over EPA amendment Greenwire: Senate climate legislation advocates are bracing for a floor battle this month over a Republican campaign that they fear could drag down efforts to pass a major global warming bill before the real legislative debate can start. Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has the green light to offer an amendment on the Senate floor as soon as Jan. 20 that is aimed at halting U.S. EPA regulations on climate change. Democratic leaders agreed late last month to let Murkowski have the roll call ... read more 09/01/2010 07:00 PM Maldives: Paradise threatened? LA Times: Here's what happens when you travel to the Maldives with someone who followed an Indian guru for 20 years: You find yourself convinced that the dazzling liquid topaz ocean surrounding you is energizing your chakras and healing your inner turmoil. You may not have been aware of any inner turmoil, but apparently most of us suffer it, and isolated tropical islands such as the Maldives are just the sort of place to wrestle it to the ground. Sally Tagg, a dear friend from New Zealand, was ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Three-quarters of hungry are rural poor Inter Press Service: Climate change, associated with a four-fold increase in natural disasters in the last decade, and the growth of world population, which is expected to reach nine billion by 2050, pose new challenges for aid initiatives like those of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). This warning comes from Gemmo Lodesani, head of the WFP office in Brussels, who is in charge of relations with the European Union and of fund-raising to fulfil the organisation's primary commitment: fighting ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Tide Of Arab-Turk Tension Rises Amid Water Shortage National Public Radio: Turkey's Bosphorus strait is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes for oil transport. On a recent day, more than a dozen tankers are on the horizon, but none of the oil comes from Turkey. The resource that counts here is water. Turkey is one of the only countries in the region to have enough water for its population. "The Arabs, the Iraqis and the Syrians feel very much that Turkey is asserting itself as a regional hydrological superpower," says Hussein Amery, a water specialist ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM EU to pursue climate deal through G-20 Associated Press: The EU said Friday it will pursue a new deal on global warming through the Group of 20, since last month's U.N. climate conference of nearly 200 nations led to unwieldy negotiations that didn't accomplish much. Herman van Rompuy, the new EU president, said halting global warming remains a key target for the Europeans whose proposal for ambitious pollution cuts by 2020 found no takers at the December climate conference in Copenhagen. "The European Union must continue to be the ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Obama awards $2.3 billion clean energy tax credits Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a $2.3 billion tax credit on Friday to boost jobs by promoting clean energy, as new data showed the country's unemployment rate remained stuck in the double digits. Obama said the credit, from funds earmarked under a $787 billion stimulus package he signed last February, would create 17,000 U.S. jobs and be matched by an additional $5 billion in private capital. "Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM W.Va. Experts Say Climate Change Debate Is Over Associated Press: There's no point in debating the science of climate change, because it's already a political and legal reality, energy industry experts said Friday. Representatives from the United Mine Workers of America and American Electric Power, the nation's largest single buyer of coal, told The Associated Press' annual Legislative Lookahead forum that West Virginia policymakers need to recognize that new reality. Requirements ordering companies to reduce their carbon emissions are on ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Uruguay: Coming Together to Tackle Climate Change Inter Press Service: Fighting the front line battle against global warming, with the participation of all sectors of society, is the cornerstone of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) pilot project in Uruguay that is drawing attention from the rest of the world. The idea is to identify the most vulnerable areas and design mitigation and adaptation strategies, based not only on expert opinions, but particularly on the input of all the people involved, project coordinator Federico Ferla told ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM New smog rule could be a surprise to some counties Associated Press: Parts of the country that haven't worried about air pollution may soon be in the fight California has faced for decades: cleaning up smog. Stricter rules proposed Thursday by the Obama administration could more than double the number of counties across the country that are in violation of clean air standards. That would likely have a big impact on other parts of the nation since California already sets stringent standards for cars, ships and trucks. "This kind of levels the ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Stricter new smog limit would hit rural areas, too Associated Press: Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed Thursday by the Obama administration. Costs of compliance could be in the tens of billions of dollars, but the government said the rules would save other billions - as well as lives - in the long run. More than 300 counties - mainly in southern California, the Northeast and Gulf Coast - ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Beat poverty first, then tackle emissions The Australian: THE climate change debacle at Copenhagen last month underlined the reality that any new global agreement will be on the terms set by developing countries. Leading commentators have written that China's leading role in this was a demonstration of its new influence as an economic power. In one important sense they are wrong. This was not just China, but India, Brazil and the Arab oil states as well. Furthermore, the position of these countries and the rest of the developing world has ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Mideast water crisis brings misery, uncertainty National Public Radio: The Middle East is facing its worst water crisis in decades. For three summers, the annual rains have failed to come. Farmland has dried up across the region in Iraq, Syria, southeast Turkey and Lebanon. While oil was the resource that defined the last century, water and its scarcity may define this one. Experts say the climate is warming in the Fertile Crescent, the area of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, contributing to the water shortage and helping to create a new ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM US car fleet shrinks for first time Business Green: Pundits are predicting an end to car culture in the US, following the release of statistics showing that the country's vehicle fleet is shrinking for the first time. The Earth Policy Institute said that the US had scrapped more vehicles than it sold last year, causing the national fleet to shrink by two per cent. The revelation left commentators divided as to whether the US was facing a temporary contraction in vehicle ownership brought about by the recession, or seeing a more ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Wildlife huddles down to beat the cold BBC: But with freezing temperatures affecting much of Britain and northern Europe, those who do fly south hoping to find some ice-free conditions could be out of luck, he says. "Birds will generally make short-distance movements when their energy levels are low," he says. "But those birds that fly even as far as southern Ireland at the moment aren't going to find what they are looking for. They may have to go further into southern Europe." The RSPB has also noticed that ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Echinoderms contribute to global carbon sink; impact of marine creatures underestimated ScienceDaily: The impact on levels of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere by the decaying remains of a group of marine creatures that includes starfish and sea urchin has been significantly underestimated. "Climate models must take this carbon sink into account," says Mario Lebrato, lead author of the study. The work was done when he was at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and affiliated with the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES); he is ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM NM utility to refile renewable energy plan Associated Press: Public Service Co. of New Mexico and environmental and energy groups have reached an agreement the utility says could lead to nearly 80 megawatts more of solar power -- enough for 26,000 homes. The agreement will be the basis for a renewable energy plan PNM will file with the state Public Regulation Commission by Jan. 25. The PRC gave the state's largest utility extra time to spell out how it will incorporate renewable energy into its portfolio. PNM, a subsidiary of PNM ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Obama to announce clean tech jobs effort - W.House Reuters: President Barack Obama will announce funding to promote clean technology manufacturing jobs in remarks expected later on Friday, the White House said. The money will go to projects including solar, wind and energy management, a White House spokesman said. Obama is scheduled to make a statement about the economy at 2:40 p.m. (1940 GMT). A Labor Department report showing unexpected U.S. job losses in December has boosted pressure on the administration to step up ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM UK plans massive wind farm expansion CNN: Britain is about to have a massive expansion in renewable energy after awarding licenses for nine offshore wind farms Friday. The energy generated from the new wind farms will provide a quarter of Britain's electricity needs by 2020, according to the Crown Estate, which awarded the contracts. Companies had bid for the right to build wind farms in nine zones around Britain, from the English Channel to the North Sea off Scotland. The successful bidders must now plan their ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM 'Wildlife in crisis' in frozen UK BBC: Britain's wildlife is being pushed to "the brink of a crisis" as sub-zero temperatures continue to grip the nation, according to conservationists. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is organising emergency feeding of several threatened species, including bitterns and cirl buntings. The RSPB is also asking people to feed garden birds, which are struggling to find food in the freezing weather. The harsh winter could hit bird numbers "for many years to ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Google wants to buy, sell electricity in US Agence France-Presse: Internet search giant Google is seeking government authority to buy and sell electricity in the United States, a further expansion of its operations aimed at boosting renewable energy. In a document filed last month with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and obtained by AFP, Google indicated that its Google Energy unit asked for "market-based rate authority." Under that authority, "Google Energy will engage in wholesale electric power and energy transactions as a ... read more 08/01/2010 07:00 PM Is Google poised to become a green utility? Business Green: Google's growing interest in the energy sector was underlined this week when it emerged that a new subsidiary of the company has lodged a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it be allowed to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market. The search giant created a Delaware-based company called Google Energy back on December 16 last year, and the Federal Register revealed earlier this week that the firm had been named in a formal request to FERC, the ... read more News Archive     Back to Homepage
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