BlogNetNews.com » Environment

Earth Blog: ALERT! PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Grand Chief "Carbon Cowboy" Off Soon in New Private Jet to Sell Landowners' Rainforest Carbon

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:37:27 -0500

By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal and ClimateArk

Sir Michael Somare -- Papua New Guineas (PNG) Prime Minister -- jets soon to Copenhagen pledging to protect the countrys rainforests in exchange for REDD carbon money. Yet back [...]

Ivan Enviroman: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-06

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:00:00 -0500

@dotBen you can only have a cell phone linked to one google voice #, if that helps? in reply to dotBen # Geeking out on git with Ross (@ Progressive Grounds in SF) [bit.ly] # Happy to be home in SF! Brutus doggie is home, too! YAY! [...]

After Gutenberg: He was willing to make a deal

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 23:03:29 -0500

Climate Progress promulgated an op-ed by Senator Robert Byrd published in West Virginia’s MetroNews, yet omitted my snarky comment, so I will try to recall the expressed viewpoint without as much of my biting wit. No promises.

As I recall my comment was mean to an old gray fox. To [...]

Jon Stahl's Journal: Noted in brief – 12/6/2009

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:35:26 -0500

Beware Social Media Snake Oil – BusinessWeek
“All the hype may obscure the real potential of these online tools.”What Just Happened?: The meaning of McGinn’s win
[...]

After Gutenberg: Go Bomber! Rah, Rah!

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:49:53 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Treehugger Kristin Underwood from Sacramento, California posts: “Climate Scoreboard is your new, easy to use tool that keeps you up to date on where we are with meeting those ppm carbon goals and how much further we have to go.” Which is an optimistic way of stating the concept, [...]

sustainablog: Clean Tech Finland: Funding & Support (pt. 1)

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:53:59 -0500

Quick: name five Finnish clean tech start-ups. You may have trouble with that one… in fact, you may have trouble naming any Finnish companies beyond Nokia. That doesn’t mean that such companies don’t exist; rather, as I heard from a number of business people and [...]

Triple Pundit: Profile of an Emergent Business- Original Restaurants

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:31:47 -0500

Ever take a side road out of town and stop for a bite at a truly charming restaurant and wonder how they stay in business? How they compete with the chains? The answer may lie with a rewards program run by Original Restaurants. Just two years old, they aim, “to [...]

Green Tallahassee: FLORIDA'S FOOTBALL GOES GREEN TODAY--NO, NOT TIM TEBOW

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:30:00 -0500

Today, the City of Tampa is hosting the "other" football game--the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game with Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Tampa Electric (TECO) announced that the entire stadium will be powered by renewable solar and biomass energy. The company estimates that powering the ACC game with renewable [...]

Green Car Congress: Nissan to Introduce New V-Platform and All-New Global Compact Car at Geneva 2010

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:15:32 -0500

Number of comments: 2
Teaser sketch of new Nissan compact. Click to enlarge.

Nissan will reveal its new V-Platform technology and an all-new global compact car employing that technology at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2010. (Earlier post.) The V-Platform will be incorporated into at least two [...]

The Green Skeptic™: Why I'm Not Going to Copenhagen

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:52:00 -0500

Why am I not going to Copenhagen? Because it's a waste of time, money, and CO2.

Seriously. Over the years, these large gatherings of nations, NGOs, scientists, policy brokers, lobbyists, celebrities, and demagogues has continued to spiral into irrelevance in my mind.

The result is always the same: [...]

It's Getting Hot In Here: Fight back against the hacked email hatchet job

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:33:36 -0500

Number of comments: 8
By: Jamie Biggar on Go-Beyond.ca On the eve of the most important climate summit ever hacked emails from a research center in England are being promoted as a “game changer” by people who don’t want to see climate action. These people say that the emails prove that global warming is a [...]

BLOGASSAULT: More Proof Of "Faked" Warming

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0500

It is beginning to look like the mortar is falling out of the brick wall that used to be global warming. Now the famed Kilimanjaro Ice cap that has become Al Gore's poster pic for global warming has just been assaulte [...]

Green Car Congress: Prius Accounts for 10% of All New Passenger Car Sales in Japan in November

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:57:46 -0500

Number of comments: 3

Toyota’s Prius maintained its top spot in Japan new passenger car sales in November for the seventh month in a row, posting 26,815 units, according to data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Total passenger car sales for the month were 268,450 units.

Monthly sales [...]

James Bruggers: Chemical jump start on life?

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:09:00 -0500

This can't be therapeutic: 90 percent of babies are born with BPA in their blood.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
More than 6 billion pounds of BPA are used each year to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. The chemical is used in thousands of common products, including the lining' [...]

Green Car Congress: Scientists at Climate Talks Call for New Assessment of Nitrogen and Climate

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:46:21 -0500

Number of comments: 18

A side event organized by the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) at the COP-15 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will highlight nitrogen’s role in climate change. The event organizers are calling for an immediate new assessment of nitrogen and climate which will identify innovative nitrogen management strategies for [...]

James Bruggers: How we got here

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:45:00 -0500

The BBC has assembled a fine animated explanation of climate science, and how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has climbed to the highest levels in at least 800,000 years. Find it here. With the big talks in Copenhagen starting Tuesday, this background might be helpful. [...]

Green Car Congress: Tsinghua Study Finds That Conventional Three-Way Catalyst Can Handle the Unregulated Emissions from Low-Content Methanol-Gasoline Blends

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:41:00 -0500

Number of comments: 1

A study by researchers at Tsinghua University characterizing the unregulated emissions and combustion characteristics of low-content methanol-gasoline blends has concluded that while engine-out methanol and formaldehyde, as unregulated emissions, increased almost linearly with the methanol content in the fuel, the conventional three-way catalyst (TWC) has a high conversion efficiency for those [...]

aboutMyPlanet.com: Nepal Holds Global Warming Meeting On Mt. Everest

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:30:36 -0500

Since the Kyoto Protocol, glacial melting has increased rather drastically in some parts of the world. For instance, in just the last seven years glacial melting in Greenland has doubled. Similar stories are occurring worldwide, including in the country of Nepal.

Glaciers in Nepal in the [...]

The Political Environment: Gretchen Schuldt Documents The SEWRPC Certification Sham

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:40:00 -0500

Excellent posting. [...]

Planet Gore: Analyzing Al Gore -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:30:34 -0500

With astrology.

[...]

Green Car Congress: Obama Switches Schedule, Will Attend Final Copenhagen Negotiations

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:05:00 -0500

Number of comments: 4

Following discussions with Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, US President Obama has altered his schedule and will attend the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties at Copenhagen on 18 December, the [...]

Climate news from Bali bloggers: Obama moves date of Copenhagen tripGreenpeace climate blog

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:00:23 -0500

President Obama has moved the date he'll be in Copenhagen. Now he just needs to move the US's emissions targets. ' [...]

It's Getting Hot In Here: Momentum Feels Good.

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:22:51 -0500

Number of comments: 2
On Wednesday around 150 youth leaders of this movement were invited to the White House for the first Youth Clean Energy Forum. They voiced the concerns and ideas of young people from around the country to Cabinet members. On Thursday, 1Sky and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network delivered banners from the [...]

ClimateScienceWatch: Holdren and Lubchenco warn Congress of climate disruption, call for emissions cuts and preparedness

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:18:00 -0500

Presidential science adviser John Holdren and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco warned of the growing impacts of climate change and the emphasized the urgency of curbing emissions and preparing for the impacts at a December 2 Congressional hearing on The State of Climate Science. “Notwithstanding the claims of some climate-change ‘skeptics’ [...]

The Understory : understory.ran.org: Richard Heinberg to Chase: Stop Funding a Planetary Dilemma!

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:07:46 -0500

Richard Heinberg is the author of nine books, including The Party’s Over, Peak Everything, and the newly released Blackout. He exposes the tenuousness of our current way of life and offers a vision for a truly sustainable future. His letter to Jamie Dimon is below: -Annie Dear Mr. Dimon: I am writing ... [...]

The Understory : understory.ran.org: RAN Chicago’s Blitz on Chase

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:07:45 -0500

RAN's Chicago chapter is amazing!!! -Annie RAN Chicago keeps the pressure on JPMorgan Chase. On Nov. 19 - Nov. 21 around 20 people in the Chicago area and Central Illinois delivered 73 letters over a 3 day period to branch managers of JPMorgan Chase. The letter addressed the banks role in funding ... [...]

Planet Gore: Tipping Point for the Climate Horror Show? -- By: Steve Hayward

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:20:11 -0500

Having spent a week reading through all of the CRUtape Letters, I've delivered the cover story about the matter in that other conservative magazine.

Concluding thought:

I have long expected that 20 or so years from now we will look back on the turn-of-the-millennium climate hysteria in the' [...]

Planet Gore: Re: On the Horn with the Warming All-Stars -- By: Stephen Spruiell

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:15:57 -0500

A few people have e-mailed to ask why none of the reporters on the Romm-Mann-Schmidt-Oppenheimer conference call asked this or that question. Guys, I hear ya. I was lucky to get one question and a follow-up, and the issue that interested me most was the corruption of the peer-review [...]

Planet Gore: We're Just Laughing at You Now -- You Know That, Right? -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:00:40 -0500

Gordon Brown: climate-change sceptics are 'flat-earthers'

[...]

The Political Environment: 113 Wisconsin Scientists Want Strong Climate Change Action

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:32:00 -0500

One hundred and thirteen Wisconsin scientists will urge the state’s US senators to enact strong federal policies to combat climate change.

A letter signed by the scientists will be delivered to Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold on Tuesday, December 8.

Leading scientists from the University of Wisconsin [...]

Dot Earth: Copenhagen, Climate Files, Hot Sharks

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:08:19 -0500

Number of comments: 18
A roundup on climate files, the treaty, angry Copenhagen prostitutes and a study claiming sharks are getting more aggressive in warming waters. [...]

Planet Gore: Kyopenhagen Carnivale -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:30:42 -0500

Hey, Grist. If Brazil is so serious about climate change, why is Lula sending 700 people to Kyopenhagen?

Via Tom Nelson:

[Is this really enough people?]: 700-strong Brazilian delegation for climate talks

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is to head a delegation of 700 officials at [...]

BLOGASSAULT: The Daily Show's Take On Climategate

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:15:17 -0500

I am not a particular fan of the The Daily Show; actually I have never watched a whole episode because his humor is boring after about 10 minutes. But Since Jon Stewart's show is so popular, you have to include his ta [...]

BLOGASSAULT: 10 Craziest Ideas To Solve AGW

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:57:50 -0500

Here is a list of the 10 craziest ideas to solve global warming submitted by Yahoo.news/Live Science. I will have to do one of my own. There are a couple of good ones, but I think I have heard some other solutions [...]

Green Car Congress: NOAA: North American 2008 Cooling Attributed to Natural Causes

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:55:14 -0500

Number of comments: 15

Cooler North American temperatures in 2008 resulted from a strong natural effect, and the overall warming trend that has been observed since 1970 is likely to resume, according to scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research Environmental Sciences), a cooperative institute of [...]

Green Car Congress: US DOE to Invest Up to $989M in Three Carbon Capture and Sequestration Projects; Total Project Value of $3.18B

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:52:45 -0500

Number of comments: 0

The US Department of Energy has selected three new projects with a total value of $3.18 billion to accelerate the development of advanced coal technologies with carbon capture and storage at commercial-scale. DOE’s investment of up to $979 million, including funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will [...]

Planet Gore: Obama's Change of Plans for Kyopenhagen -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:30:06 -0500

According to the enviro-mag Grist, this is a big risk for the president:

A couple of hours ago, the Obama administration announced a startling shift in plans: rather than stop by the Copenhagen climate talks on Dec. 9, Obama will be going on the 18th, the final day of [...]

Planet Gore: And the Hits Just Keep On Coming -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:00:44 -0500

The Telegraph's James Delingpole reproduces some helpful analysis of how big a story Climategate really is:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Al Gore has had to cancel a Copenhagen speaking event at which he had hoped to charge starry-eyed believers in his ManBearPig religion $1200 a piece for the privilege [...]

ClimateScienceWatch: Obama will go to last day of Copenhagen conference; emerging accord on aid to developing countries

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:59:00 -0500

The White House announced that President Obama will participate at the end of the Copenhagen climate conference on December 18, seeking to conclude a productive accord on issues under negotiation. The December 4 announcement emphasized emissions reduction targets set by China and India and an emerging multilateral consensus on mobilizing [...]

Planet Gore: Photographic Evidence of Global Warming -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:45:30 -0500

From Houston.

A reader writes in:

December 4 is the new record for earliest snowfall for the city (the previous record was set last year on December 10). According to Chris McKinney, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Houston, it has never snowed two years in [...]

eNewsUSA: Independent Review Of Hacked Emails To Be Complete Spring 2010

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:35:00 -0500

Dec 3: The University of East Anglia (UEA) announced that Sir Muir Russell KCB FRSE will head the Independent Review into allegations made against the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) [See WIMS 11/24/09]. The Independent Review will investigate the key allegations that arose from a series of hacked e-mails from [...]

Planet Gore: OPT: Save the Planet by Preventing African Births -- By: Brendan O'Neill

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:30:52 -0500

At my old Catholic school, religious do-gooders used to ask us for a penny to “sponsor a black baby.” Now eco-do-gooders want our pennies to prevent black babies from being born.

Rushing to the front of the race for the prize of Most Vomit-Inducing Environmental Initiative Ever Devised, the [...]

Triple Pundit: No Water No Beer: Big Issues in Beverage Companies’ Water Footprints

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:36:49 -0500

At the 2nd Corporate Footprinting Conference, which took place this week in San Francisco, big brands in the beverage industry were front and center, presenting sophisticated “bleeding edge” strategies for addressing their water footprints. Water, for obvious reasons, is critical to these players, and they sent executive directors to report [...]

CJR : The Observatory: Copenhagen’s “Climate Pool”

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:35:02 -0500

The Associated Press and ten other international news agencies have launched “The Climate Pool,” a Facebook page that they hope will help readers to interact with journalists covering the climate-change summit in Copenhagen, which starts Monday. Come on in, they seem to be saying, the water is… getting warmer. [...]

Green Car Congress: Sainsbury Confirms Order for 51 Smith Edison Electric Vans

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:30:36 -0500

Number of comments: 0

Smith Electric Vehicles received an order from J Sainsbury Plc for 51 Edison Electric vans. In June, Sainsbury announced it would buy another 50 electric vans, but did not specify the vendor at the time. (Earlier post.) Smith also won the fleet management contract, renewable annually, to maintain and [...]

OpenMarket.org » Environment: RGGI: A tax is a tax is a tax

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:13:05 -0500

President Obama and other cap-and-trade advocates assured us they had ”learned from Europe’s mistakes” and would auction all emission permits rather than hand them out at no charge to favored constituencies. Then the sausage factory known as Congress took over. The Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill proposes to dole out 85% of emission permits to preferred interest groups during the first [...]

Planet Gore: Re: Outside the Consensus -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:34 -0500

Reader K.W. suggests adding Michael Crichton's State of Fear to the climate-realist reading list. True, true -- big oversight on my part. Crichton's book not only presents many of the scientific issues in an approachable way, it includes an annotated biboliography.

Another oversight was leaving off the book [...]

Planet Gore: On the Horn with the Warming All-Stars -- By: Stephen Spruiell

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:45:04 -0500

I joined a conference call today, hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP), featuring Penn State’s Michael Mann, NASA’s Gavin Schmidt, and Princeton’s Michael Oppenheimer. CAP advertised the call as “setting the record straight” on this whole Climategate nonsense. Here are my notes from the call:

[...]

Triple Pundit: Business Not As Usual: Climate Action Chain Reaction And More

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:00:58 -0500

All manner of dramatic actions and hyperbolic statements are being made regarding the upcoming climate meeting in Copenhagen. No wonder industry leaders are keeping still. For a quick sampling of the latest, consider: Sen. Byrd to Big Coal: “Let’s Speak a Little More Truth.” and, Sarah Palin Issues Statement Calling [...]

Green Car Congress: Seambiotic and Chinese Power Company to Build $10M Commercial Microalgae Farm in China

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:49:10 -0500

Number of comments: 0

Seambiotic, a developer and grower of marine microalgae for the nutraceuticals and biofuel industries using flue gas from electric power plants, has signed a license agreement and a joint venture agreement with Yantai Hairong Electricity Technology Ltd. and Penglai Weiyuan Science & Trading Ltd., companies associated with [...]

Green Car Congress: DOE to Award Up to $564M to 19 Integrated Biorefinery Projects

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:26:52 -0500

Number of comments: 12

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 19 integrated biorefinery projects to receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale facilities. The projects selected are to produce advanced biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts [...]

Triple Pundit: Forests as Feedstocks: The Finnish Approach

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:06:13 -0500

I’m on the eve of my return home to San Francisco from a lovely time in Finland. Our wonderful hosts at Finnfacts planned a special last day for us in Nuuksio National Park where we hiked in the woods, smoked our own venison sausages over the fire, and dipped ourselves in [...]

Sierra Club Compass: Keeping Up With Copenhagen

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:58:33 -0500

Number of comments: 0
Just in case you hadn't heard yet, the Sierra Club will have a huge crowd of folks over in Copenhagen for next week's international climate talks. Top Sierra Club officials attending the talks and available for media interviews include:

-Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director
-Allison Chin, [...]

Green Car Congress: Bio-inspired H2-Evolving Nickel Catalyst Shows Promise for Fuel Cells; Step Toward Practical Electrode Based on Earth-Abundant Materials

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:41:24 -0500

Number of comments: 0
Architectures of FeFe (left) and NiFe (right) hydrogenases in the reduced active state and schematic representation of the structure of the bio-inspired H2-evolving nickel catalyst grafted on a carbon nanotube (Middle). Source: Le Goff et al., Science. Click to enlarge.

A team scientists in France have [...]

Green Fertility: Who are the angriest Americans?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:40:00 -0500

Number of comments: 0
Hm, don't quite know what this means, but it's interesting

Anger is more likely among the young, those with children at home, and the
less educated, a new study finds. A national survey of 1,800 Americans aged
18 and older questioned participants on how and when they feel angry' [...]

Planet Gore: Glenn Reynolds on Climategate -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:15:39 -0500

The Hill:

Of course ClimateGate matters politically, and the damage has only begun. Rasmussen polling shows a sharp decline in belief in global warming, and what's most striking about that is that the traditional-media cheerleading for Copenhagen, Cap-And-Trade, etc., has continued unabated. Most traditional news outlets (Jon Stewart [...]

The Thin Green Line: Last weekend to submit your wildlife photos

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:13:40 -0500

SFGreen's wildlife photo contest closes on Tuesday, December 8 . The submissions are fantastic, but of course we'd love to see a few more: yours! First prize is $100 gift certificate from Sports Basement, and second prize is a 20 x 30 image of your photo from Photoworks: either would' [...]

Climate Feedback: Countdown to Copenhagen

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:04:54 -0500

Keith Kloor

On the eve of a historic climate change summit, there are swirling political and scientific currents. India joins the U.S. and China in pledging to reduce its carbon emissions.

While Roger Pielke Jr. argues that India’s announcement is nothing to get excited about, Bradford Plumer [...]

aboutMyPlanet.com: Lab Grown Food: The Meat of the Future

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:33 -0500

The production of meat on a factory farm scale has caused a great deal of trials and tribulations for our environment and overall health. The animals’ manure pollutes our soil and groundwater, they require gallons upon gallons of water, they carry disease and sometimes the entire process is [...]

Planet Gore: Copenhagen's Green-Summit Stimulus -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:13 -0500

Fox News: Danish Prostitutes Offer Free Sex to Climate Conference Delegates

[...]

Dot Earth: A Murdoch Lays Out Logic for Cutting Carbon

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:52:42 -0500

Number of comments: 27
A conservative young media mogul tells "conservation-minded" conservatives why carbon cuts make sense. [...]

OpenMarket.org » Environment: CEI Weekly: Climate-Gate Continues

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:50:11 -0500

CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blog posts from CEI’s fellows and associates sent out via e-mail every Friday. Also included in the Weekly newsletter is a brief description of CEI’s weekly podcast and a feature on a major CEI breakthrough made during the week. To sign up [...]

BLOGASSAULT: New Viginia Tech Shooting Scandal

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:39:02 -0500

No problem here... The report indicates that students who were initially locked down at West Ambler Johnston residence hall, where the spree began, were later released from the building by the police and allowed to [...]

Environmental Economics: Where I wish I were going to be tonight

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:33:05 -0500

UPDATE: Congratulations Old Mill Patriots! 2009 Maryland Class 4A High School Football State Champions.

Place: M&T Bank Stadium (Home of the Baltimore Ravens)

Time: 7:30 PM

Event: Maryland Division 4A State Football Championship: Old Mill Senior High School vs. Wise High School

Why: I'm a 1987 graduate [...]

ClimateScienceWatch: IPCC statement on stolen emails from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:31:00 -0500

“Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) firmly stands behind the conclusions of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, the community of researchers and its individuals providing the scientific basis, and the procedures of IPCC Assessments …The body of evidence is the result of the careful and [...]

Planet Gore: Gore Wrong on the Snows of Kilimanjaro -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:30:22 -0500

Another theory bites the dust. Pajamas Media:

Newspapers and news sites in the Netherlands today extensively broke the news of the findings of a research team led by Professor Jaap Sinninghe Damste -- a leading molecular paleontologist at Utrecht University and winner of the prestigious Spinoza Prize -- about the [...]

BLOGASSAULT: Got to love Steyn's Take On Climategate

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:14:58 -0500

Mark Steyn has a great way of putting things, and this column is no different. Yet perhaps the most important revelation is not the collusion, the bullying, the politicization and the evidence-planting, but the fa [...]

The Greenpeace weblog: Nuclear Reaction - A Greenpeace blog about nuclear power: BBC World Service: How much radioactivity are you exposed to when walking in the streets of Akokan in Niger?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:09:00 -0500

Yesterday, the BBC World Service's Africa in Focus radio programme featured Greenpeace's findings of radioactive contamination on the streets of the villages close to AREVA's uranium mines in Niger. You can listen to it hereâ¦

AREVA have been uncharacteristically silent on this matter. As the radio presenter says at [...]

eco.psfk.com: Will Stoplights With Progress Bars Reduce Environmental Impact?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:07:16 -0500

The Eko Light stoplight concept adds a progress bar to the outside of each light, indicating how much time will pass until the next switch.

[...]

The Greenpeace weblog: Greenpeace - Making Waves: Microsoft goes to Copenhagen

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0500

Photo by uCrave.com.

Microsoft replied to our twitter petition today - more than 230 twitterers with more than 110,000 followers, retweeted our message. Our near crazed fantasies about Steve Ballmer morphing into a climate change hero have been met with a some response. Microsoft has [...]

The Greenpeace weblog: Nuclear Reaction - A Greenpeace blog about nuclear power: Nuclear-powered cargo ships: the short answer

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:03:00 -0500

Here's Captain Wei Jiafu, the head of Chinese shipping giant COSCO, suggesting that nuclear reactors be used to power container vesselsâ¦

`â¦they are already onboard submarines, why not cargo ships?'

One word, Captain Wei: Pirates.

' [...]

BLOGASSAULT: U.N. To Investigate Itself

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:01:02 -0500

Well, sort of anyway. A top UN panel is to probe claims that British scientists sought to suppress data backing climate change sceptics' views, its head said on Friday ahead of the landmark Copenhagen summit. ' [...]

ClimateScienceWatch: Obama will go to last day of Copenhagen conference; emerging accord on aid to developing countries

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:59:00 -0500

The Daily Score: If Only Hand Wringing Created Green Jobs

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:56:27 -0500

There have been a fair number of mainstream news articles expressing concern that the many promised green collar jobs created with stimulus funding are not appearing. These pieces often follow a certain hackneyed formula, citing a huge dollar figure from legislation passed earlier this year [...]

The Greenpeace weblog: Nuclear Reaction - A Greenpeace blog about nuclear power: Nuclear News: Double blow dents confidence in Â£40bn nuclear programme

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:51:00 -0500

Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:

Double blow dents confidence in Â£40bn nuclear programme
`Contractors are facing uncertainty about the Government's Â£40 billion nuclear programme after blows to both the decommissioning and new build programmes this week. The body in charge of decommissioning [...]

Planet Gore: Let the Investigations Begin -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:15:57 -0500

BBC:

The head of the UN's climate science body says claims that UK scientists manipulated data on global warming should be investigated.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the matter could not be swept "under the carpet".

The allegations emerged after e-mails written and received [...]

OpenMarket.org » Environment: Regulation of the Day 78: Green Energy Subsidies

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:12:29 -0500

Today’s New York Times has a classic dog-bites-man story. The green energy sector is shedding jobs, despite being given billions of taxpayers’ dollars by Presidents Bush and Obama.

As so often happens, regulators’ efforts to change people’s behaviors aren’t working as hoped.

To paraphrase Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren’s [...]

Green Car Congress: SAIC and GM Form New Investment JV for Asia-Based Expansion and New Production and Sales JV for Global Small Cars and Mini-Commercial Vehicles in India

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:11:48 -0500

Number of comments: 4
China domestic sales of SAIC-GM JVs and milestones. GM and SAIC JVs have sold more than 6.3 million vehicles inside China. They are growing their presence outside mainland China with the launch of an investment joint venture in Hong Kong and a new joint venture for [...]

Green Car Congress: Hyundai Makes Stop-Start System An Option for More i30 Models

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:34:34 -0500

Number of comments: 4

Hyundai has updated its i30 range for 2010, and is making its Intelligent Stop & Go technology (ISG) (earlier post) available as an option on all i30 models with manual transmission, giving improvements in fuel economy of up to 10 percent on the hatchback and 14 percent on the [...]

Planet Gore: Global Warming Strikes Houston -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:30:54 -0500

And by global warming, I of course mean snow.

[...]

Environmental Economics: Teaching externalities and the financial crisis

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:22:45 -0500

From the WSJ Micro Weekly Review e-mail:

An Economist's Invisible Hand
by John Cassidy
Nov 28, 2009

TOPICS: Externalities

SUMMARY: Early 20th century economist Arthur Cecil Pigou, overlooked for decades, provides a guide to the financial crisis.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: The article covers Arthur C. Pigou's contributions to [...]

Planet Gore: Diapergate! -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:15:25 -0500

BBC:

Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has incurred the wrath of eco-aware mothers by admitting he uses disposable nappies for his six-month-old son.

Mr Miliband claimed on the mumsnet site that disposables used little more energy than reusables once laundry was taken into account.

But mumsnet members said he failed to take [...]

Environmental Economics: A suggestion for economics.about.com

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:14:24 -0500

Mike's Economics Blog asks:

Over the past two weeks, our Economics - The Basics section has expanded greatly to include more Econ 101-level information. Is there anything you would like to see added?

Here are my two suggestions:

What are the various subfields of economics? I'd add environmental economics. It [...]

Planet Gore: Give Back the Oscar? -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:00:55 -0500

Who cares about the Oscar? Or the Grammy? Give back the Nobel (and the cash):

Hollywood Conservatives Say Gore Should Lose Oscar Over Climate-Gate

[...]

Transition Culture: Essential Viewing: the Human Power Station

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:57:27 -0500

Number of comments: 4
For years in talks, I have talked about the idea of “energy slaves”, trying to translate the amount of energy used in the average family house into the number of people pedalling on bicycles that would be required to meet their needs. Thus far, no-one has ever actually tried to [...]

Planet Gore: Right There in the Code -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:35:44 -0500

Must read at Watts Up With That, titled "Climategate: The Smoking Code."

Check out the "valadj" series of numbers (the "fudge factors" used to "Apply a VERY ARTIFICIAL correction for the decline") which appear in CRU source file "briffa_Sep98_d.pro." (To which Andrew Montford had alerted us some days [...]

Planet Gore: Aten Watch -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:30:29 -0500

The Sun is spotless again -- bringing the grand total of spotless days in 2009 to 264. Five more blemish-free days and 2009 will surpass 2008 to become the second-most spotlessest in the last 100 years (behind only chilly 1913).

[...]

aboutMyPlanet.com: Ocean Acidification Impact On Shells Varies Greatly

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:30:05 -0500

There is growing concern regarding the acidification of the oceans due to increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Studies in the past have shown that some shelled creatures in the oceans will have their shells become brittle and thin due to acidification. However, a newer study is shedding light [...]

Planet Gore: 'We-Don't-Want-to-Talk-about-It-Gate' -- By: Greg Pollowitz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:15:10 -0500

The latest from the Denver Post's David Harsanyi:

Americans honor the courageous informant, the gutsy citizen who stands against the savagery of the profit-mongering conglomerate. Well, sometimes. It appears, believe it or not, that there are those who aren't religiously tethered to this sacred obligation.

For now, due to revelations of the' [...]

Planet Gore: Friends of Spain and the Freedom of Information -- By: Chris Horner

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:00:32 -0500

So the Friends of Spain Caucus on the Hill held a briefing yesterday styled “Alternative Energy: Lessons from Spain.” As Planet Gore readers can immediately smell, this was another effort aimed at rehabilitating the Spanish Miracle that Barack Obama has swore we would all have to follow. Nothing made more [...]

The Greenpeace weblog: Greenpeace - Making Waves: Congratulations on a well-deserved award

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:33:00 -0500

Congratulatations to RenÃ© Ngongo, who receives the Right Livelihood Award (otherwise known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize") in Stockholm this evening. While we all hope we'd be ready to put our personal freedoms on the line for something we really believe in - like averting dramatic climate change -' [...]

Planet Gore: Next Up: NASA? -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:30:08 -0500

Chris Horner announced his intent to sue NASA just before Thanksgiving. The Washington Times editorializes today:

Proper science unlocks secrets; it does not create them. The scientific method is a social enterprise and requires openness to function properly. Data must be freely available and methodologies subject to strict scrutiny [...]

Planet Gore: Science in Bed with Advocacy -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:00:56 -0500

Dynamite Climaquiddick summary and analysis from the CBC's Rex Murphy (thanks to Planet Gore reader Eamonn Roche):

[...]

James Bruggers: A journey to India

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:00:00 -0500

Some Western Kentucky University students and professors are in India, attending the 2009 World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum.

Two of them -- former C-J reporter Sara Shipley Hiles and one of her students, Colleen Stewart, will also be reporting on agriculture in [...]

Planet Gore: Outside the Consensus -- By: Edward John Craig

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:30:58 -0500

An interesting Climategate reaction from David Solway on Pajamas Media yesterday (h/t to Candace de Russy on Phi Beta Cons):

Following the release into the webworld of hacked emails, computer codes, and a raft of supplementary documents recording the antics of sundry paleoclimatolgists at the University of East [...]

Green Car Congress: European, Japanese and American Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Manufacturers Call for Global Policy Cooperation to Improve Energy Efficiency and Emissions of Road Freight Transport

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:30:00 -0500

Number of comments: 3

The world’s leading heavy-duty vehicle and engine manufacturing companies are urging the close cooperation between policy makers in Europe, the United States and Japan to develop practical and effective fuel-efficiency measurement metrics, methodologies and regulations which would then be used all around the globe.

More than a dozen chief executives [...]

Triple Pundit: Study Shows Property Values Not Harmed by Wind Farms

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:25:30 -0500

A full scale wind farm is not a subtle piece of landscaping, and many folks express concern over losing their view, their rural character, or *gasp* their property values. As the number of communities considering wind energy development grows, the need to empirically investigate these concerns does, too. Good news, as [...]

Triple Pundit: Oybike Rolls into the Bike-Sharing Biz

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:20:15 -0500

As we’ve been reporting, some bike-sharing programs (well, okay, mostly the Velib system in Paris) have been navigating rough stretches of road, due to everything from vandalism to poor logistics to class distinctions. But that didn’t keep the curiously-named startup Oybike from introducing a bike rental system in the UK. What [...]

Green Car Congress: EIA: Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US Down 2.2% in 2008; Transportation Sector Emissions Down 4.7%

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:03:00 -0500

Number of comments: 11
Greenhouse gas emissions in the US economy, 2008. Source: EIA. Click to enlarge.

Total US greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 were 2.2% below the 2007 total, according to the just-released report by the US Energy Information Administration, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2008.

The [...]

Green Car Congress: PwC: Global Carbon Budget For 2000-2050 Could Be Exhausted By 2034

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Number of comments: 2

Global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has analyzed carbon emissions from 2000 to 2008 and concluded that the world’s “carbon emissions budget”, or ability to emit carbon dioxide while still maintaining a “fair chance” of limiting average global temperatures to no more than 2 ºC (3.6 ºF), is about 10% off [...]