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		News Archive     25/07/2009 08:00 PM China: The bicycle kingdom is going electric Associated Press: It's a simple pleasure, but Xu Beilu savors it daily: gliding past snarled traffic on her motorized bicycle, relaxed and sweat-free alongside the pedal-pushing masses. China, the world's bicycle kingdom -- one for every three inhabitants -- is going electric. Workers weary of crammed public transport or pedaling long distances to jobs are upgrading to battery-powered bikes and scooters. Even some who can afford cars are ditching them for electric two-wheelers to avoid traffic ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Revealed: the secret evidence of global warming Bush tried to hide Guardian: Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months. The pictures, kept secret by Washington during the presidency of George W Bush, were declassified by the White House last week. President Barack Obama is currently trying to galvanise Congress and the ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM India 'Getting Serious' on Climate Change OneWorld US: India is taking significant steps to fight climate change by switching to renewable energy sources, helping communities deal with the effects of warming temperatures, and more, said experts at a OneWorld-hosted meeting in the country's capital. The day-long conference, organized by a OneWorld.net sister organization headquartered in India, was held on July 16 in New Delhi. Meeting participants came together to build a dialogue between business, media, government, civilians, and ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM California kills offshore oil lease project Reuters: The California state assembly killed a chance on Friday for the state's first new offshore oil drilling lease since 1969, after the idea narrowly passed the senate earlier in the day. The measure was defeated by a 43-30 vote in the assembly and was taken out of the budget bill approved on Friday that seeks to close a $26 billion budget deficit. Plains Exploration & Production Co had wanted to drill off an existing platform in federal waters into state waters. The project ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: PM criticised over climate change BBC: Gordon Brown's outgoing adviser on sustainable development has accused him of "hindering" work on climate change. Sir Jonathon Porritt told the Independent the PM did not find the environment any more important now than when he was chancellor. Sir Jonathon also said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had to "change his ways" on environmental issues. Sir Jonathon was appointed Sustainable Development Commission chairman by Tony Blair's government in 2000. Sir ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Delayed U.S. climate action increases risks: EU Reuters: A U.S. proposal to cut greenhouse emissions slowly at first before making deeper cuts later will increase the risks of irreversible climate damage, a European Union report says. "The USA is stating that it is feasible to do less before 2020 and more after," said the internal EU report by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. "It is not possible to fully compensate in future decades for higher emissions in the earlier years in a so-called 'delayed action scenario'," ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU considers billions for poor before climate talks Reuters: Rich countries should immediately mobilize billions of dollars in development aid to the poorest nations to win their trust in the run-up to global climate talks in Copenhagen, a draft EU report says. OECD countries should also fulfill their existing commitments on overseas aid, which would more than double those aid flows to poor nations to around $280 billion annually by 2015, it added. The recommendations are made in a draft report by the European Commission and Sweden, ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Govt 'sceptical' over carbon import tariffs Agence France-Presse: Britain opposes the use of carbon import tariffs against developing countries to encourage them to tackle global warming, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband said on Saturday. A bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month could allow import taxes on products made in countries that do not have statutory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, sparking an outcry from emerging economies such as India and China. "We are sceptical about the notion ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Brazil: Fears that Amazon tribes won't be heard New York Times: As the naked, painted young men of the Kamayurá tribe prepare for the ritualized war games of a festival, they end their haunting fireside chant with a blowing sound – "whoosh, whoosh" – a symbolic attempt to eliminate the scent of fish so they will not be detected by enemies. For centuries, fish from jungle lakes and rivers have been a staple of the Kamayurá diet, the tribe's primary source of protein. But fish smells are not a problem for the warriors anymore. Deforestation and, ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM West Texas wind power waits for power lines WFAA: For decades, the census brought bad news to Sweetwater. The population of this West Texas town about 40 miles west of Abilene had been sliding since the sixties. Then came the wind. "I really sense, if you talk to our school district, that our population kind of hit bottom and really started to increase again," said Ken Becker, executive director of the Sweetwater Enterprise for Economic Development. "So things are really on the upswing." You don't have to look far to ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM A jump-start for new battery plants Washington Post: The Energy Department is getting ready to hand out about $2 billion in grants to create a domestic industry for electric-car batteries, and 122 companies are scrambling to get pieces. The companies range from small niche firms to giants such as Dow Chemical and Johnson Controls. All are promising a combination of innovation and ability to deliver new products on a commercial scale to prevent the United States from trading dependence on foreign oil or reliance on foreign-made ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Government readies biggest ever push for energy saving Washington Post: You're probably familiar with some of the federal government's incentives for home energy efficiency -- heftier tax credits for solar panels, solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, heavy-duty insulation and windows and electricity-saving air conditioning and the like. But these come-ons are just the beginning of an unprecedented government-wide push for energy conservation in housing -- and even "locational efficiency" -- benefits. At the Department of Housing and Urban ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Cold, wet summer doesn't disprove climate change, scientist says Maine Public Broadcasting Network: The relentless rain has become a stale topic of conversation this summer, but the National Weather Service says the end may be near. Scientists say there are some climate change lessons to be learned from the season. Record-breaking rainfall around the state might be letting up in the next two weeks, according to Todd Lericos, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Caribou. "There is some hint that we might be in for a slight pattern change that will bring, you know, ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM The China challenge Living on Earth: Among the developing countries reluctant to reduce greenhouse gas emission before developed countries make progress, China is the economic powerhouse. U.S. labor and industry groups worry capping emissions at home while China goes about its business as usual will put the United States at a competitive disadvantage. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke just returned from China. He tells host Jeff Young when it comes to climate change and trade with China, there are just as many opportunities as ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM 'Cash for clunkers' rules are released, sparking a rush LA Times: The federal government finally released the rules that dealers and their customers have to follow to participate in the much-discussed "cash for clunkers" program, which can provide consumers with up to $4,500 when they trade in an older vehicle and buy a newer, more fuel-efficient model from a participating dealer. The law creating the $1-billion program went into effect July 1, but many dealers were reluctant to participate until they got a look at the rules. The arrival of the ... read more 26/07/2009 08:00 PM Mexico City announces emergency water-rationing plan Latin American Herald Tribune: Mexico City authorities have announced an emergency, 10-month water rationing plan in response to severe shortages that Mayor Marcelo Ebrard blames on global warming. "This year we've had the least amount of rainfall in many years. That's caused the Cutzamala system, which ... accounts for a significant percentage of the city's supply, to have lower levels than it should have," Ebrard told a press conference on Thursday. The National Water Commission, or Conagua, has warned in ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Companies to decide on SD coal-fired power plant Associated Press: Five power companies will decide this fall whether to move forward on a proposed $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant that would serve more than a million customers in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana and Iowa. Minnesota-based Otter Tail Power Co. is leading the effort to build a plant in the northeastern corner of South Dakota that would generate up to 580 megawatts of power. The new plant would sit next to the 450-megawatt Big Stone Plant, which began operating in 1975. Otter ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU ministers shun French carbon tariff proposal Agence France-Presse: European ministers rallied on Friday against a French proposal to introduce so-called carbon tariffs on non-EU nations that fail to agree on a new global deal on climate change. France was a vocal supporter of carbon tariffs during negotiations on the EU's climate package and Paris insisted Friday they remain a plausible option if no deal is struck at December's UN climate talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, whose country currently holds ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Carbon capture to cost $3B a year to succeed Calgary Herald: If capturing and storing industrial carbon emissions is to succeed as a climate change strategy, Alberta and the federal government will have to provide as much as $3 billion a year for an undetermined length of time, says a provincial report released today. The report, which provides a road map for expanding carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the province, states energy consumers will ultimately bear the financial brunt of advancing this technology, which many critics ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM EU considers billions for poor before climate talks Reuters: Rich countries should immediately mobilise billions of dollars in development aid to the poorest nations to win their trust in the run-up to global climate talks in Copenhagen, a draft EU report says. OECD countries should also fulfil their existing commitments on overseas aid, which would more than double those aid flows to poor nations to around $280 billion annually by 2015, it added. The recommendations are made in a draft report by the European Commission and Sweden, which ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM 'Clunkers' draws customers to car dealers Wall Street Journal: Auto dealers said they saw a surge in showroom traffic and an uptick in sales Friday, the first day of the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program, which offers incentives for trading in old cars for more fuel-efficient ones. The program -- officially called CARS, for Car Allowance Rebate System -- provides up to $4,500 for a traded-in vehicle. It is aimed at lifting sales for the beleaguered auto industry and taking gas-guzzlers off the road. The launch ran into at ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Greenland comes in from the cold BBC: The musk ox steak on my plate was seductively dark and succulent. One of my dining companions was eyeing a slab of reindeer flesh big enough to feed a pack of huskies, while the other was drooling over scallops harvested from the clear cold waters of the Baffin Sea. But never mind this traditional, and sublime, Greenlandic fare, I really want to tell you about my side order of leeks. Without wishing to sound immodest I know a thing or two about vegetables - it comes from being the son ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Key Senators push back on Palin climate claims Reuters: Key U.S. lawmakers on Friday defended their plans to establish a system capping greenhouse gas emissions, disputing attacks from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin that climate change legislation in Congress would destroy jobs and hurt the economy. In an op-ed article in Friday's Washington Post, Democratic senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry argued that the climate change legislation they are crafting in the Senate will "create millions of jobs in America" by promoting the production of ... read more 25/07/2009 08:00 PM Developing nations may have to wait on climate aid: EU presidency Agence France-Presse: Developing countries could be made to wait until the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December before the EU reveals how much money it will give them to cope with the effects of global warming, the Swedish EU presidency said on Saturday. Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren told journalists the EU would be prepared to provide financial assistance but should not commit to any figures ahead of the talks aimed at forging a deal to tackle climate change after the existing Kyoto ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Senior Liberals at odds on climate change strategy The Australian: TONY Abbott has urged Liberal MPs to back the embattled leadership of Malcolm Turnbull and asked them to pass Kevin Rudd's flawed emissions trading scheme in the Senate to avoid a double-dissolution election that they cannot win. The one-time leadership opponent to Mr Turnbull has turned into his staunchest public defender and has appealed to Liberal MPs to "allow" the Opposition Leader to exercise his assessment on emissions trading and to save the Coalition "from a fight it can't ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Drought takes toll on Iraq revival efforts Reuters: What was known as history's fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea. Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up and sandstorms blot out the sun. Even "Saddam River," the flagship drainage system Saddam Hussein launched in the 1980s to restore Iraq to its ancient agriculture glory, has turned into a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Clouds may be thinning due to global warming USA Today: Clouds decline due to global warming, suggests a study of the Northeast Pacific, which in turn would lead to more climate change. Clouds reflect sunlight, cooling the atmosphere, note the Science study authors led by Amy Clement of the University of Miami. Whether global warming creates more clouds or less "remain a primary cause of uncertainty in global climate model projections," says the study. Global warming is projected to raise average atmospheric temperatures from 3 to 7 ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Ga. company agrees to penalty over air pollution boston.com: A Georgia company has agreed to pay $337,500 for violating air pollution laws at its western Kentucky aluminum processing plant, a penalty the Environmental Protection Agency calls the largest of its kind in the southeastern United States. The U.S. Justice Department and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet filed the lawsuit against Carrollton, Ga.-based Southwire Co., on the same day it filed the settlement in U.S. District Court on Thursday. Kentucky and the federal ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Planning Oversight Halts Food Security Programme Inter Press Service: A Food-for-Work programme, which cleverly aims to combat both environmental degradation and food shortages, has come to a halt due to lack of long-term planning. For the past few months, members of the Malindza community, a poverty-stricken area in the south of Swaziland, have built dams and anti-erosion structures, such as wire mesh boxes, barriers, trenches and fencing in exchange for food. In addition, programme participants are in the process of setting up food gardens to grow ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Mystery of the toucan's beak solved Independent (UK): Charles Darwin thought the toucan's oversized beak was a sexual lure for attracting potential mates, while some modern-day biologists suggested it was either for peeling fruit or to warn off territorial rivals. A new study has found, though, that the outrageously big structure helps to keep the bird cool in the heat of the tropical day. The beak of the toco toucan -- the largest member of the toucan family -- accounts for about one-third of the bird's body length, which is larger than ... read more 24/07/2009 08:00 PM Japan: Plan to use jumping lice in battle against Japanese knotweed Independent (UK): Jumping plant lice from Japan could be released in Britain to control Japanese knotweed, under plans from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The non-native sap-sucking insect would be released under licence to tackle the weed, notorious for causing terrible damage to buildings, roads and railway lines; driving out other plants; and eroding river banks. The ornamental plant was introduced in the early 19th century and escaped into the countryside, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM George Will / Syndicated columnist China and others turn a cold Seattle Times: Unfortunately, China's president had to dash home to suppress ethnic riots. Had he stayed in Italy at the recent G-8 summit, he could have continued the Herculean task of disabusing Barack Obama of his amazingly durable belief, shared by the U.S. Congress, that China -- and India, Brazil, Mexico and other developing nations -- will sacrifice their modernization on the altar of climate change. China has a more pressing agenda, and not even suppressing riots tops the list. China made ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Slow, costly and often dangerous road to wind power New York Times: On America's highways, wind turbines may be the ultimate oversize load. Trucks carrying silvery blades nearly half a football field long have been lumbering through this placid coastal town all summer, backing up traffic as they slowly exit the roadway. Huge, tubular chunks of tower also pass through. Tall pieces of machinery looking somewhat like jet engines travel at night because they require special routing to avoid overpasses. As demand for clean energy grows, towns around ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Foreign rail companies eye US stimulus money to build new passenger trains Associated Press: Foreign companies that dominate the international high-speed rail industry are trying to cash in on the Obama administration's plan to pump billions of dollars into U.S. rail systems to help stimulate the economy. The stimulus plan sets aside $8 billion for high-speed rail, a figure that has ambassadors and foreign leaders jockeying to get their preferred companies in on the deal. Though the law requires the U.S. to "buy American" with stimulus money, the rail plan requires so many ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Ah, the olive groves of balmy England Times (UK): SUBTROPICAL crops such as dates, figs and rice could become staples of British agriculture within 20 years, according to government forecasts. The assessment, produced by officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), outlines future possibilities for British food production based on recent climate data. The forecasts highlight some of the unexpected benefits of a warmer climate. It means the British diet will in future be able to include produce ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Scientists 'kept at arm's length' BBC: The government is keeping scientists at "arm's length" and treating science as "a peripheral policy concern," a group of MPs has said. The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee says knowledge from experts is not being properly used to make informed policy decisions. Instead of being sidelined, scientists should be able to communicate directly with the prime minister, it argues. Former chief scientist Sir David King said reform was "critical". A ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Kingsnorth policing 'counterproductive' Guardian: Kent police's blanket use of stop-and-search powers on thousands of environmental activists at the Kingsnorth demonstration was "disproportionate and counterproductive", according to an official review into the force's handling of protests released today. A total of 8,218 searches were carried out on protesters at the week-long demonstration last August against the energy company E.ON's proposed coal-fired power-station, after orders from senior commanders were misinterpreted "as an ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Poland: Meet Belcha - Europe's biggest carbon polluter Guardian: The biggest single producer of carbon emissions in the European Union has been named – and it is about to get even bigger. The appropriately titled Elektrownia Belchatow – a massive coal-fired power station – belched out 30,862,792 tonnes of CO2 last year and by 2010 the whole generating facility will have grown by 20%. The Polish energy giant was named as climate change enemy number one in a report by the London-based Sandbag Climate Campaign and its greenhouse gas output dwarfed the ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: More arrests at turbine factory protest Press Association: Police made more arrests overnight outside a wind turbine factory where climate change activists are staging a protest in support of workers occupying the site. Police said two men were detained close to the Vestas Wind Systems plant, on the Isle of Wight. Three people were arrested yesterday. Around 25 workers are staging a sit-in as part of a campaign to save the factory from closure, with the loss of hundreds of jobs, next week. The plant's Danish owners erected a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australian study reveals ancient secrets to climate change Xinhua: A groundbreaking study released in Australia on Thursday recorded sea temperatures over millions of years that could reveal the secrets to the climate change. Australian scientist Sindia Sosdian and research partner Yair Rosenthal studied the shells of tiny sea creatures for more than three years to examine major climate shifts over the past 3.2 million years. The research recorded two major cooling periods over that time -the first about 2.7 million years ago when a drop in ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Germany to propel Vietnam's wind power sector with $1.4m grant Business Green: A German development agency has provided Vietnam with a EUR1m ($1.47m, £865,000) grant intended to develop the nation's wind power industry while opening the door to Teutonic expertise in the sector. State-backed German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Vietnamese officials earlier this week signed an agreement aimed at helping Vietnam to implement a legal framework for connecting wind power projects to the national grid. Doing so would help attract foreign ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM US wind firms win capital funding Business Green: Two US renewables firms - First Wind and Terra-Gen Power - won capital funding for wind farms this week despite the harsh economic environment, while a third Nordex AG began construction on a manufacturing facility for turbines. Newton, Massachussetts-based First Wind, which generated sales of $12m (£7.3m) and a net loss of $73m in fiscal 2008, has just closed two transactions totalling $191m. The first is a $115m, 8.5-year loan facility from Alberta Investment Management, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Scripps-led study shows ocean health plays vital role in coral reef recovery Innovations Report: The new research study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego suggests that by improving overall ocean health, corals are better able to recover from bleaching events, which occur when rising sea temperatures force corals to expel their symbiotic algae, known as zooxanthellae. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon that is expected to increase in frequency as global climate change increases ocean temperatures worldwide. The new findings, published in the ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate insurance: what kind of deal can be made in Copenhagen? Guardian: As even the staunchest advocates will tell you, climate insurance is by no means a magic bullet. But clearly the tools of modern finance could certainly help make poor nations prepare for and respond to all manner of natural disasters big and small. We explore some of these ideas in this week's issue of Nature, taking a quick look at how the insurance debate is playing out in the ongoing United Nations climate talks. The upshot is that some kind of insurance mechanism is likely to ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM UN sees $10 billion aid as good start to climate pact Reuters: Aid of $10 billion from rich nations would be a "good beginning" to launch a U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, the United Nations' top climate official said Thursday. Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, also told the BBC World Service in an interview that rich countries needed to pledge deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and the poor had to slow the rise in their emissions. But cash was needed to kick-start a ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM EU could provide billions for forests - report Reuters: The European Union could provide up to 2.5 billion euros ($3.55 billion) a year to help poor nations protect tropical forests, the EU executive said in a report to ministers meeting in Sweden on Thursday. The European Commission report will be discussed at the meeting of EU energy and environment ministers in the mountain resort of Are. The talks will also tackle energy efficiency and preparations for global climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Forests and finance for poor ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM India: Obama's climate man talks of sticky deal with India IBN: While Hillary Clinton's visit to India is being considered a huge diplomatic success on the climate change front not much progress was made. As part of Hillary's contingent was President Obama's Special Envoy on climate change, Todd Stern. Stern spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN's Environment Editor Bahar Dutt on the road ahead for India and the US on sticky issue of climate change. Bahar Dutt: Would you say that talks between India and the US have been inconclusive as far as climate ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Spain: Rainfall to decrease over Iberian Peninsula Physorg: Scientists have recorded a decline in winter precipitation over the past 60 years in Spain, and they now forecast that precipitation will also decrease in spring and summer. A team from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (CSIC) has studied rainfall data from 1950 to 2006 and the climate projections for coming decades, showing that less rain will fall in future over the Iberian Peninsula. However, precipitation will continue to be more frequent in winter than in spring-summer. Have ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Even the Isle of Wight wants Miliband to buck the market Guardian: The Isle of Wight is an unlikely setting for an industrial rebellion. It's true Karl Marx was once a regular visitor, but the island's a generally conservative place, better known for sailing than strikes. That changed on Monday, when workers occupied Britain's only major wind-turbine factory in protest at its imminent closure. Tonight they were still there, barricaded in the Newport plant's offices, surrounded by police and security guards, as hundreds of other workers and their supporters ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Japan Denies Buying 'Hot Air' Credits Created in Kyoto Accord Bloomberg: Japan is defending itself against criticism that it is exploiting a surplus of assigned emission credits and buying "hot air." The Japanese government and its largest companies plan to buy more than 350 million tons of emission credits in the five years ending in 2012, said Keiji Hisata, an official in Tokyo's Kyoto Mechanisms Office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The purchase may include units assigned to the 37 countries with targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM China to subsidise solar power projects Malaysian Insider: China's government says it will pay up to 70 per cent of the price of new solar power systems in an effort to speed up development of clean energy industries. The Finance Ministry's announcement on Tuesday comes as Beijing tries to reduce China's surging demand for imported oil and gas and create companies that cash in on growing global demand for clean energy technology. The subsidies are meant to develop the solar industry as a new source of economic growth for the country, ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Wong pours cold water on nuclear power AAP: Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has poured cold water on suggestions Australia could move towards nuclear power. The government's own nuclear body, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), says it's time to give "active consideration" to nuclear power, which it says is safe, reliable and would become more cost-effective. Mining giant Rio Tinto has talked up nuclear power and called on the government to make a decision about it by 2020. But ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Nuclear is the answer: Opposition Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Nuclear power is the only suitable form of energy for Australia's long-term electricity needs as the country seeks to reduce its carbon emissions, the Opposition says. Speaking on ABC radio in Darwin this morning, Opposition spokesman on energy and resources, Ian Macfarlane, said: "It is the only zero-emission, base-load electricity that Australia can install in the next 30 years." Yesterday, the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, rejected calls for Australia to consider ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Wall St. seeks sunny forecasts in solar earnings Reuter: Investors are looking for signs of a recovery in solar panel demand when manufacturers report earnings in the coming weeks, though panel prices are still falling fast and earnings may not see a meaningful improvement until 2010. U.S. solar players including SunPower Corp, First Solar Inc and MEMC Electronic Materials are scheduled to report quarterly earnings this week and next, with Chinese and German companies' results also in the offing. Recently, companies including ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Ancient ocean temperatures 'could predict climate change' Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A Canberra scientist has released new research on ancient deep ocean temperatures which could be used to predict climate change. Sindia Sosdian studied shells from tiny sea creatures dating back more than three million years to understand changes in deep ocean temperatures and ice sheets. Overall the international research team found a cooling of 3 degrees Celsius in the deep Atlantic ocean. Dr Sosdian says the shells provide a lengthy historic record which can be used ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Carbon emmssions must be cut by 80 per cent: scientist Radio Australia: Despite urgent global warming warnings, there's little hope that December's Copenhagen climate change meeting will secure an international agreement. Even domestic measures are subject to bitter politics and trade-offs, like the Australian government's plans to cut emissions by five-to-15 per cent by the year 2020. Even if such measures did pass, one expert says it'd be like giving aspirin to a cancer patient. He says nothing less than 80 per cent emissions cuts over the next ten ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Emissions scheme 'extra stress' for farmers Australian Broadcasting Corporations: A biologist and climate change expert says it is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers to adapt to climate change, and being included in an emissions trading scheme will be of little benefit. Dr Jennifer Marohasy will today speak at a grains forum organised by the South Australia Farmers Federation. She says farmers need to keep informed about the changing climate and governments need to ease the strain they already face. "Placing additional stress on farming ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Downpours hurt harvest in Mekong Delta's shrinking rice fields Thanh Nien Daily: Farmers in Tra Vinh Province have harvested nearly 30,000 hectares of rice, of which 5,000 hectares were harvested during rainy days, the Vietnam News Agency reported Tuesday. Many farmers in the province have had to sell rice as animal feed at low prices to husbandry farmers after failing to dry the seeds that began to germinate. The same situation faces more than 52,000 hectares that are ready for harvesting. Farmers rely on sunshine for drying the rice and if the rains ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Wealthy nations urged to help poor deal with climate change Radio New Zealand: The United Nations' chief negotiator on climate change says wealthy nations will have to find at least $US10 billion to help developing countries deal with climate change. Yvo de Boer says that commitment would be one measure of success for a climate change conference to be held in Copenhagen in December. Mr de Boer says $US10 billion is just the bare minimum to help developing nations. Two other critical issues have to be resolved at the conference, the BBC ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: US scientists to tour Murray-Darling Basin Australian Broadcasting Corporation: A visiting group of American scientists will see first-hand the effect drought has had on the Murray-Darling Basin. Scientists from eight American states will arrive in Albury today for a three-day tour of the Murray. The Murray-Darling Association is hosting the tour, that runs from Albury to Mildura. The association's Adrian Wells says the scientists are studying the effect of climate change on water systems. "Well we've noticed over the years that there's an ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM GE Seeks Growth In Clean Coal, Wind In Australia Dow Jones: General Electric Co. (GE) is vying to cash in on Australia's push to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and expects to unveil several deals with developers of wind farms in the country soon. At the same time, GE is promoting gas turbines for power generation in expectation that Australia will try to cut the number of conventional coal-fired power plants in operation, said Kenji Uenishi, president of GE's energy business in the Asia-Pacific region. "We are talking about many ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM NZ says tough to set 2020 carbon reduction target Reuters: New Zealand's growing carbon emissions makes setting a reduction target for 2020 a tough task, the government said on Thursday, while it sees a trading scheme as the best means of fighting climate change. Data showing New Zealand's total emissions increased 24 percent from 1990 to 2008, has highlighted the scope of the challenge in setting a target for 2020, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said. "I'm certainly concerned that New Zealand's track record of emissions increases ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Greenwash: easyJet's carbon claims written on the wind Guardian: You probably weren't watching BBC3 at 4am on Monday morning. Not if you had a job to go to in the morning, anyhow. So you probably missed a nice little programme called Britain's Embarrassing Emissions. It door-stepped the budget airline easyJet about claims on the company's website that it is greener than a hybrid car. Or, more particularly, that its emissions were less than those of a Toyota Prius. It's greenwash, of course. As, I discovered, are several of its other environmental ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Report: US, China must improve climate cooperation Associated Press: The United States and China should use high-level meetings next week to work toward improved cooperation in curbing greenhouse gases, according to a new Senate report. The Foreign Relations Committee report released Thursday says new efforts to address emissions by the United States and China, the world's largest emitters of climate-altering pollution, could be "the key to a global solution" to climate change. The report urges the countries to make climate change a priority. It ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Is time running out to seal post-Kyoto climate pact? Reuters: Negotiators face a mammoth task to try to agree by the end of the year on the outlines of broader climate pact to replace the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol. Key issues such as financing climate change adaptation programs in developing nations, transfer of clean-energy technology and disagreements over rich nations' targets to cut planet-warming emissions still need to be resolved. Following are responses from Howard Bamsey, Australia's special envoy on climate change, on how the ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia: Rudd ridicules Opposition's nuclear push Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Labor's policy of opposing nuclear power generation in Australia is clear. The Labor Party's decision to scrap its limit on the number of uranium mines has seen several new mining operations open up. Opposition energy and resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane has called for the uranium to be used to generate electricity domestically. But Mr Rudd says that is not something the Government is considering. "Can I say our policy on this was ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate Change 'Not Simply About Polar Bears,' Senators Told Courthouse News Service: Senators were urged Tuesday to lead, rather than follow, in the battle against climate change, by experts stressing the national security implications of drought, famine, and disease that result in mass migrations and failed states -- the explosive ingredients of war. "We can't follow the public, we've got to lead the public," former Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner said. "Addressing the consequences of changes in the Earth's climate is not simply about saving polar bears or ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Taiwan doing on climate what China won't Carbon Positive: In a twist to the stand-off between China and the US over greenhouse emission reduction responsibilities, Taiwan appears to set to commit to the hard targets to cut emissions that mainland China rejects. There appears to be the broad political support necessary in Taipei for laws to cap greenhouse emissions and implement an emissions trading scheme with foreign carbon offset provisions. The Greenhouse Reduction Act is headed for a final vote in the Taiwanese parliament as early as ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate Change Needs Government Push in Global Investors' Poll Bloomberg: Global investors say climate change is a threat and want government action to combat it, even as a plurality says the effort will hurt corporate profits. Dissenting from a consensus in Asia and Europe, almost two- thirds of U.S. investors say climate change is a minor danger or "no real threat," according to the first Quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll. In Asia, 61 percent say higher global temperatures are a major problem, and 56 percent in Europe agree. The differences ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate bill a farm income boost, USDA estimates Reuters: U.S. farmers and foresters could earn more money from carbon contracts than they pay in higher costs from legislation to control greenhouse gases, the Agriculture Department estimated on Wednesday. In the near term, most of the money would go to people who plant trees to lock carbon in the soil or enroll woodlands as carbon sinks. Relatively small amounts would be generated by changes in tillage or crops. USDA's "preliminary analysis" was one of the first attempts at a ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Pachauri says India can't be forced on climate change Press Trust of India: Washington, Jul 22 (PTI) Supporting India's stand that it would not budge under pressure from the western world to accept emission reduction standards, noted environmentalist R K Pachauri today said New Delhi cannot be "pressurised" on the issue and asked the developed world to act first. Pachauri said the statement made by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh during a joint interaction with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that India would not budge under pressure from the western ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Report: Water overlooked domestic carbon saving push Business Green: Hot water could soon become the largest source of domestic carbon emissions unless efforts are increased to curb water use and enhance energy efficiency. That is the warning from a new report released today by the Energy Saving Trust and the Environment Agency, which argues that the government's initiative to improve building energy efficiency is guilty of failing to address the issue of energy being wasted to heat water. The report found that while domestic water efficiency ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Fall in plant life may hit butterflies and birds Western Mail: WALES` winged wildlife is under threat from a sharp decline in the food it needs to survive. The most comprehensive survey of the Welsh countryside ever carried out has revealed a marked reduction in the plants upon which butterfly larvae and farmland birds depend. The survey points to evidence of "decreasing plant species richness" and says sprawling, unmanaged hedgerows may be partly to blame. The number of butterfly larval food plants in an average area of study has ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate conundrum: how to get India to play ball Time Magazine: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit on July 19 to the Indian city of Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, was supposed to showcase the way India and the U.S. might work together to slow climate change. On the agenda was a tour of an ultra–energy efficient office building called ITC Green Center, which has earned the highest environmental rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. It was just the sort of project that exemplified how the world's second biggest carbon emitter (the ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Canada: Old cars are the real pollution problem out there Globe and Mail: As welcome as any advance is in the fight to save the environment, Canada's recent effort on emissions is like trying to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases by getting the condom makers to improve on their 95-per-cent reliability record while leaving millions to continue their totally unprotected ways. While forcing the auto makers to continue their efforts to stop their new products from polluting the air, in other words, the government took no steps to deal with the ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Ancient trees in danger of dying out says National Trust Telegraph: The UK has some of the most famous ancient trees in the world around country houses, in historic parkland and castle grounds. However the National Trust fear that chemicals used in modern agricultural practices, erosion caused by ploughing, pollution from towns and, in the long term, climate change, could kill the ancient trees unless action is taken. The charity, which owns the most land in the UK after the Government, is to survey some 40,000 trees on its stately homes and ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM State's high-polluting power plants seek to expand their output Sydney Morning Herald: GREENHOUSE pollution from the state's coal-fired electricity plants increased last year, making them overall the worst in the country, figures show, but the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, is now being asked to consider expanding them. Environmental reports lodged with Ms Keneally show the two state-owned power generators Macquarie and Delta want to greatly expand their output and are examining the option of both coal and gas power to achieve it. However, the latest ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United States: Winter heat threatens crops, UC study says San Francisco Chronicle: The state's abundant harvest of fruits and nuts is threatened by warmer winters, UC Davis scientists warn in a new report. All fruit and nut trees require periods of dormancy each winter before they can bloom again, and it's the cold that keeps them dormant. When the length of that chill is disrupted, the trees' flowering time is disrupted and crops can fail, the scientists said. At the current rate of global warming, the team predicted, the winter chill times in the Central ... read more 21/07/2009 08:00 PM US Congress revives hydrogen vehicle research Nature: US funding for hydrogen-fuelled transportation research got a boost on 17 July as the House of Representatives voted to restore $85 million to the research budget. The administration of President Barack Obama had proposed cutting the funds altogether. In May, energy secretary Steven Chu sparked an uproar when he proposed slashing current spending on research into hydrogen-based energy technology by 60%, from $168 million this fiscal year to $68 million in 2010, and cutting funding ... read more 21/07/2009 08:00 PM Gregoire: State has 47,000 'green' jobs Kitsap Sun: WASHINGTON -- Gov. Chris Gregoire testified before a U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday, touting the state`s success at creating clean, green jobs and tipping her hat to the green training programs at Washington`s two-year colleges. Democrats won passage for a cap-and-trade bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in June, 219-212. Now, the same back-and-forth of optimistic and apocalyptic predictions is on in the Senate. Democrats claim a cap-and trade-bill under consideration, which ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Australia opposition split over Rudd's climate plan Bloomberg: Australia's opposition has split over whether to support government legislation to tackle climate change, with one lawmaker calling leader Malcolm Turnbull "arrogant" for ignoring the wishes of party members. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd needs the support of at least seven lawmakers from the Liberal-National coalition to pass the draft laws in the upper house. Failure to approve the legislation may force him to call an early election, which surveys suggest his ruling Labor Party would ... read more 21/07/2009 08:00 PM Nigeria's $750 million climate change loss 234 Next: Nigeria loses about $750 million annually to the depletion of its 350,000 hectares of forest land by direct human activities and climate change, the Minister of Environment, John Odey said on Tuesday in Abuja. Mr. Odey, who spoke during a session with the House Committee on Climate Change in Abuja, also said that the Sahara Desert in Nigeria is moving southward at a rate of 600 meters annually. He added that about 100,000 farming families move southwards as a result of the ... read more 21/07/2009 08:00 PM Carbon capture for coal costly, study finds Charleston Gazette: Harvard University researchers have issued a new report that confirms what many experts already feared: Stopping greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants is going to cost a lot of money. Electricity costs could double at a first-generation plant that captures and stores carbon dioxide emissions, according to the report from energy researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. Costs would drop as the technology matures, but could still amount to an ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Genetically modified rice 'crucial in drought battle' Agence France-Presse: Genetic modification may be the only viable way to produce sufficient quantities of rice in the future as drought, climate change and dwindling acreage impact yields, experts said in a new report. Rice is the staple food of around three billion people and the main challenge facing producers is how to raise yields of the water-dependent crop as 70 percent of the world's food-growing areas turn increasingly parched, said the International Rice Research Institute in its latest quarterly ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM India leads demands for £120bn climate change fund paid for by the West Telegraph: In a proposal that appears to have astonished Western officials, the Indian government suggested that the price of co-operation would be for industrialised countries to pay at least 0.5 per cent of their GDP to help developing nations invest in cleaner renewable sources of energy and reduce their carbon emissions. While the size of the demand was dismissed by US officials as unrealistic, Gordon Brown has proposed industrialised countries contribute to a £60 billion fund to help the ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM USDA: Farmers to profit from climate bill Associated Press: Farmers stand to make more money than they will lose if Congress enacts legislation to limit the gases blamed for global warming, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Agriculture Department. The study, the first to look specifically at the bill's toll on the agricultural sector, shows that higher energy prices will cut into farmers' bottom lines in both the short and long term. But the projected 1 to 7.2 percent loss in income is far outweighed by the tens of billions of ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Protester arrested for trying to deliver food to Vestas sit-in Times (UK): A protester was arrested this morning as he tried to deliver food to workers occupying Britain's only substantial wind turbine factory. About 25 workers were still inside the Vestas factory near Newport on the Isle of Wight as the sit-in entered its third day. They have accused managers of trying to starve them out. A senior criminal lawyer has accused police of acting unlawfully by blocking food deliveries. Robert Brown, a member of the Law Society's criminal law ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM French panel to recommend carbon tax on fuel Agence France-Presse: A French experts' panel is to recommend introducing a carbon tax on fuel from January 2010, as part of a government drive to slash global warming emissions, the group's head said on Wednesday. The French government announced plans for a new Climate-Energy Contribution, aimed at steering consumers and business away from energy-hungry goods and services, following a nationwide environment conference in 2007. A government-named expert panel headed by former Socialist prime ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM NYC mayor restricts idling, but his SUVs do it Associated Press: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pushed an ambitious green agenda and cast himself as a national environmental leader, routinely runs afoul of his own anti-pollution policy by letting his official SUVs idle, sometimes for more than an hour. In spot checks over the past week, The Associated Press timed idling periods for the mayor's city-owned SUVs, which shuttle him around the city or trail him when he takes the subway. The parked vehicles idled at least eight times for periods of 10 ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United States: Study calculates warming threat to Colorado River Associated Press: BOULDER, Colo. -- University of Colorado researchers say global warming increases the chances that the Colorado River system's reservoirs could be depleted by mid-century. A study released this week says that if global warming cuts the river's average flow by 10 percent, the chances of draining the river's reservoirs by 2057 is 25 percent. The researchers say a 20 percent drop in stream flow translates to a 50 percent chance of draining the reservoirs by that date. The ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM When the Arid Northeast Turns Green Inter Press Service: The rain - usually much desired because it is so scarce - has come in excess this year, destroying many crops. But in this farming district in far north-eastern Brazil, the impact of the heavy rainfall was less marked than in the past, thanks to the diversification of crops and productive activities. "It rained much more than what our soil needs," said Francisco Soares Oliveira, 63. His village of Irapuá in Nova Russas, a municipality of 30,000 people in the northeastern Brazilian ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Ecuador: Chevron expects to lose $27B suit but will refuse to pay damages Mongabay: Chevron Corp. expects to lose a multibillion dollar environmental lawsuit in Ecuador but has no intention of paying damages and will continue to fight for "decades", reports the Wall Street Journal. The oil giant is facing up to $27 billion in damages for large-scale pollution caused in Ecuador by Texaco, a firm it acquired in 2001. Texaco's environmental liabilities were well established at the time of its acquisition by Chevron: the company fought a class-action suit filed by 30,000 ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Wind turbine protesters continue sit in as police accused of blocking food Times (UK): A handful of men - tired, hungry and soon to be unemployed - stood cheering on the balcony of a wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight, in what has become an unlikely front line of a clash over the future of Britain's green economy. About 25 workers were last night still inside the Vestas plant outside Newport, three days into a sit-in which has grown increasingly bitter. The occupiers of Britain's only significant wind farm factory have accused managers of trying to starve them ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Researcher develops cleaner CO2 capture United Press International: Separating carbon dioxide from its polluting source may soon be cleaner and more efficient, research at a California lab indicates. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher developed a screening method that would use ionic liquids -- a type of molten salt that liquefies under the boiling point of water -- to separate carbon dioxide from its source, the Livermore, Calif., lab said Wednesday in a release. The method is cleaner, more viable and more stable than what is ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM U.S. business warns Congress of "green trade war" Reuters: Leading U.S. business groups warned Congress Wednesday it could start a "green trade war" by passing a climate change bill that threatens other countries with tariffs on energy-intensive goods. "We urge the Senate to refrain from including provisions that could negatively impact U.S. relations with key trading partners and disrupt the global trading systems," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Foreign Trade Council and two other groups said in a letter to Senate ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Wind power plan blown off course Independent (UK): The Government was facing a growing credibility gap over green jobs last night as environmental campaigners and trade unionists united to fight the closure of Britain's sole major wind turbine plant. Only last week, ministers proclaimed a green employment future for the UK involving 400,000 jobs in environmental industries such as renewable energy -- yet this week they are declining to intervene over the forthcoming closure of the Vestas Wind Systems plant on the Isle of Wight, with ... read more 22/07/2009 08:00 PM Climate bill needs "off ramp": Senate farm chief Reuters: The climate bill being assembled in the U.S. Senate should include an "off ramp" allowing the United States to relax its greenhouse gas rules if other nation fail to control theirs, said the Senate Agriculture Committee chairman on Wednesday. Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa told reporters that he would allow other nations three to five years to act to curb carbon emissions. "If other countries don't join us ... hey, we're off the ramp," he said during a break ... read more 23/07/2009 08:00 PM Think Tank sparks row over biofuel jet fuel targets Business Green: Right-wing think-tank The Policy Exchange yesterday sparked a row over the best way to cut emissions from aviation with the release of a report urging the government to pursue measures designed to cut emissions rather than the number of flights. The report, entitled Green Skies Thinking, concluded that while measures to reduce demand for flying may be required, the government should also move to accelerate the development and use of sustainable aviation biofuels that promise to ... read more 17/07/2009 08:00 PM United Kingdom: Eco towns get green light despite local opposition Times (UK): Ministers gave approval yesterday for the building of four "pioneer' eco-towns and insisted that at least 10,000 homes would be in place by 2016 in the face of local opposition. Despite the depth of the recession and fierce local protests, John Healey, the Housing Minister, approved sites in Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Cornwall and Hampshire. The chosen developers for Gordon Brown's flagship programme will each be able to bid for part of a £60 million pot of extra cash. Rural ... read more 21/07/2009 08:00 PM Kerry panel looks at climate change and national security Boston Globe: Massive crop devastation, melting glaciers, water shortages, millions of displaced people -- all of these will drag the US military into conflict if global climate change goes unchecked, a Senate panel was warned today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, convened by Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, focused on what so far has received only modest attention in the climate change debate: the effect it is bound to have on national defense. "Addressing the ... read more News Archive     Back to Homepage
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