A Few Things Ill Considered

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Sipping from the internet firehose...

March 7, 2010

• Chuckle, Copenhagen, Yvo de Boer, COP-16, UN-CFG, Anthony's Question, Precautionary Principle, Greenhouse Effect
• Bottom Line, Carbon Tariffs, World Bank, AAAS, IPCC Review, Interpreting Polls, Pushback, CRU Inquiry
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, C, N Cycles, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Ocean Currents, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Simpson Obituary
• UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Tobin Tax, Water Labelling, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• International Politics, Security
• America, Obama, Congress, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Japan, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Control, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
• Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Live and direct from the laugh, it's funny, damnit department:

1. 2010/03/07: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) American Impasse
2. 2010/03/07: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) Theories
3. 2010/03/05: ClimateShifts: (cartoon - TomTom) Too much crazy
4. 2010/03/05: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Copenhagen Accord-ing to Gort [5 parts]
5. 2010/03/05: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Hubble Bubble - Toil and Trouble
6. 2010/03/06: OilDrum: (cartoon) The Peak of Humanity - John Kinhart's Comic

   Further on Copenhagen:

7. 2010/03/04: CDreams: After Copenhagen: How Can We Move Forward?
   For all its complexity, the core of this problem can be stated simply enough: What kind of a climate transition would be fair enough to actually work?
8. 2010/02/22: TripleCrisis: Beyond Copenhagen: Searching for climate resilient development paths

   It's not unusual for senior figures to develop sudden bouts of honesty as their terms expire...

9. 2010/03/03: BBerg: UN Climate Process 'Needs a Good Spanking,' Yvo de Boer Says
   [...]
   "Going back from Copenhagen, I was extremely disappointed," de Boer said. "My first feeling was it had been an absolute disaster."
10. 2010/03/03: CN: Rich need to be clearer on climate cash: de Boer
    Rich nations must outline firm plans on where finance to tackle climate change will come from. Only then will poor countries be willing to agree to structure carbon markets beyond 2012, outgoing UN climate chief Yvo de Boer told the Carbon Market Insights conference in Amsterdam today. "There is huge suspicion among developing countries that rich nations will try to escape using public finance responsibility through the carbon market," he said. "It's exactly that lack of clarity on financing that makes developing countries reluctant to talk about markets," de Boer added.

Looking towards COP16:

11. 2010/03/02: JapanTimes: Climate talks seek to prepare ground for Mexico meeting
    Climate negotiators from about 30 countries and international organizations began exploring ways Monday to advance talks on a new framework to combat climate change beyond 2012. At a two-day meeting in Tokyo, working-level participants at the Informal Meeting on Further Actions against Climate Change, cochairs Japan and Brazil will lead discussions on how to build on the failed Copenhagen Accord, and move toward the next meeting in Mexico, scheduled for late November.
12. 2010/03/03: RiskNet: Yvo de Boer: COP 16 won't produce binding agreement
    Countries such as China and India will not enter a legally binding agreement at the next United Nations Climate Change conference (Cop16) in Cancun, Mexico at the end of 2010, predicts Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, he does expect crucial progress to be made there. "The idea for the meeting in Cancun is to reach what I expected for Copenhagen," said De Boer, who is stepping down from his post on July 1. "This would be to deliver a functioning architecture, adopted through decisions that you could then turn into a treaty afterwards. It is not feasible to get this architecture in place as well as finalising a treaty text in the two weeks." Speaking at a carbon conference in Amsterdam on Wednesday, De Boer said he understood uncertainty is preventing developing countries signing up to a legally binding agreement. Just like a house, you would not like to sign a lease without seeing it first, he said. However, he still has big hopes for Cancun. "The meeting will create an international architecture in adaptation, mitigation, technology and finance that will create in the medium and long term a broader framework for sustainable development," he said.

The UN is organizing its Climate Fund Group:

13. 2010/03/05: Xinhua: Brown, Zuma commit to non-proliferation, climate change
14. 2010/03/04: EarthTimes: UN names panel to finance climate change technology [UNCFG]
15. 2010/03/05: UN: World leaders, top academics selected for Ban's climate change advisory group [UNCFG]
    Philanthropist George Soros and prominent British academic Nicholas Stern are among the 19 members of the high-level advisory group set up by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon seeking to mobilize financing to help developing countries combat climate change, it was announced today. Last month, Mr. Ban launched the Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, which will be headed up by the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Ethiopia, Gordon Brown and Meles Zenawi. It was also revealed in February that President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway will participate. The four leaders will be joined by high-level officials from Government ministries, including Mexican Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero Arroyo, as well as representatives of central banks, such as Jean-Pierre Landau, the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of France.

What is it Anthony? Pushing propaganda or seeking truth?:

16. 2010/03/05: Tamino: Message to Anthony Watts
17. 2010/03/06: AGWObserver: Will Watts set the record straight and apologize?
18. 2010/03/06: Deltoid: Tamino calls out Anthony Watts

    Here's something else that has been lost in the mad scramble:

19. 2010/03/05: ClimateShifts: The Climate Change Gamble -- or what happened to the precautionary principle?

    Eli takes another shot at the greenhouse effect:

20. 2010/03/04: ERabett: The Simplest Explanation [the greenhouse effect]

    And on the Bottom Line:

21. 2010/03/05: PlanetArk: Arctic Melt To Cost Up To $24 Trillion By 2050: Report

    Carbon Tariffs still have people on edge:

22. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Trade row looms as adviser calls for carbon tax on China
    Lord Turner proposes levy on cheap imports - Tariffs could antagonise developing countries

What will the World Bank do?

23. 2010/03/07: Reuters: Global climate battle plays out in World Bank
    The United States and Britain are threatening to withhold support for a $3.75 billion World Bank loan for a coal-fired plant in South Africa, expanding the battleground in the global debate over who should pay for clean energy.

Late coverage of the AAAS meeting last month:

24. 2010/03/03: KSJT: Independent: A Brit's view of the AAAS Meeting

    Details are slowly emerging on the IPCC Review:

25. 2010/03/01: UN: UN climate change panel to establish independent body to examine procedures
    The head of the United Nations-backed panel tasked with preparing regular scientific reports on the impact of climate change has announced the establishment of an independent review body to ensure that its procedures for producing assessments are closely followed, amid growing attacks from global warming sceptics.
26. 2010/03/01: ScienceInsider: More Details From IPCC Official on Coming Review
27. 2010/03/01: CCurrents: U.N. To Create Science Panel To Review IPCC
28. 2010/03/02: Guardian(UK): The IPCC needs to change and switch to shorter, more targeted reports
    A handful of errors does not mean that human-induced climate change is an illusion or that CO2 emissions do not need to be cut, writes the former chairman of the IPCC [Robert Watson].
29. 2010/03/03: EnergyBulletin: Validity of the fossil fuel production outlooks in the IPCC Emission Scenarios
30. 2010/03/06: ClimateP: Robert Watson: "There is no doubt that the evidence for human-induced climate change is irrefutable."
    Former chair says IPCC must acknowledge mistakes and "consider shorter reports focused on the key issues," but "In many cases, the IPCC is very conservative in its statements, e.g., the projections of sea level rise."

John Fleck points to a significant article:

31. 2010/03/05: USAToday: Scientists misread data on global warming controversy
    "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you," then, with apologies to Kipling, you might not be a climate scientist. Well-publicized troubles have mounted for those forecasting global warming.
    [...] But what "if" (apologies to Kipling again) scientists are misreading those poll results and conflating them with news coverage of the recent public-relations black eyes from e-mails and the glacier mistake? What's really happening, suggests polling expert Jon Krosnick of Stanford University, is "scientists are over-reacting. It's another funny instance of scientists ignoring science." Krosnick and his colleagues argue that polling suggesting less interest in fixing climate change might indicate the public has its mind on more immediate problems in the midst of a global economic downturn, with the U.S. unemployment rate stuck at 9.7%. The AAAS-released survey of young people, for example, finds that 82% of them trust scientists for information on global warming and the national average is 74%.

Scientists are playing [science] chess and the deniers are playing [PR] football:

32. 2010/03/05: MetOffice(UK): Climate change and human influence
33. 2010/03/05: NatureTGB: Mankind 'responsible for climate change' shocker
34. 2010/03/05: NewScientist:SSS: Which climate changes can be blamed on humans?
35. 2010/03/05: Guardian(UK): Met Office analysis reveals 'clear fingerprints' of man-made climate change
36. 2010/03/05: GWWatch: The 90% chance we cause observed global warming now sits at 95%
37. 2010/03/05: BBC: 'Case stronger' on climate change
    A review from the UK Met Office says it is becoming clearer that human activities are causing climate change. It says the evidence is stronger now than when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change carried out its last assessment in 2007. The analysis, published in the Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change Journal, has assessed 110 research papers on the subject. It says the earth is changing rapidly, probably because of greenhouse gases.
38. 2010/03/05: Guardian(UK): How public trust in climate scientists can be restored -- The Met Office's review of latest climate research will strengthen the case for human-induced climate change
39. 2010/03/05: Guardian(UK): Arctic sea ice: the data behind the climate change fightback

    The CRU Inquiry is carrying on in the UK Parliament:

40. 2010/03/02: NewScientist: Climategate scientist [Phil Jones] questioned in Parliament
41. 2010/03/01: TPL: Thoughts on the Inquiry -- Panel One
42. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Climate scientist at centre of email row to face questions from MPs
    Scientists Phil Jones and John Beddington and sceptics Nigel Lawson and Benny Peiser among those giving evidence
43. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Parliamentary climate emails inquiry - as it happened
44. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Climate science emails: witnesses and terms of reference
45. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Climate scientist admits sending 'awful emails' but denies perverting peer review
46. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): Phil Jones survives MPs' grilling over climate emails [Pearce]
47. 2010/03/02: HotTopic: CRU's Jones on the stand: Pearce offers opinion as news
48. 2010/03/01: BBC: MPs quiz 'climategate' scientist
    MPs have quizzed the scientist at the centre of the "climategate" scandal, the first time he has been questioned in public since the row erupted. Professor Phil Jones used his appearance before the science committee to say that he had done nothing wrong.
49. 2010/03/01: NatureTGB: Climate-gate goes to Parliament
50. 2010/03/01: JQuiggin: Four lies and an empty set
51. 2010/03/02: SolveClimate: Hacked Email Scientists: Temperature Data Withheld at Countries' Request -- Canada, Poland, Sweden Among Nations Refusing Release
52. 2010/03/02: TPL: Get Yer IOP Porkies here!
53. 2010/03/03: BCLSB: U.K. Institute Of Physics Sort Of Retracts
54. 2010/03/02: TPL: Coverage of the Hearings
55. 2010/03/02: Stoat: The IOP fiasco
56. 2010/03/02: Guardian(UK): Institute of Physics forced to clarify submission to climate emails inquiry
57. 2010/03/01: TPL: Blogging the Inquiry
58. 2010/03/01: BCLSB: Canada Withholding Climate Data!
59. 2010/03/05: Stoat: IOP: I hate it when they do that
60. 2010/03/05: BCLSB: The Institute Of Physics Regrets...
61. 2010/03/05: TPL: IOP Backlash
62. 2010/03/05: BCLSB: IOP Statement Authors Still Anonymous
63. 2010/03/04: Guardian(UK): Climate emails inquiry: Energy consultant linked to physics body's submission
    Evidence from Institute of Physics drawn from energy industry consultant [Peter Gill, an IOP official and head of Crestport Services] who argues global warming is a religion
64. 2010/03/04: DeSmogBlog: Evidence Provided In UK Parliamentary Inquiry Into Climate Scientists Was Prepared By Oil and Gas Industry Consultant
65. 2010/03/05: ClimateShifts: Climate emails inquiry: Fossil fuel industry consultant linked to physics body's submission
66. 2010/03/06: Stoat: Keep your eye on the ball
    [This post got extensively re-written after I realised that I, too, had been fooled by the septic FUD. Oh dear.] The septics are trying to pretend that there is a spat between the Swedes (SMHI) and CRU, but this is just smoke-n-mirrors.
67. 2010/03/06: RealClimate: A mistaken message from IoP?
68. 2010/03/06: Deltoid: IOPgate: IOP uses memory hole
69. 2010/03/06: DWWSJ: The Cold Hard Science Behind "Climate Gate"
70. 2010/03/05: Guardian(UK): Climate sceptics guilty of double standards in condemnation over data

    The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

71. 2010/03/02: CanWest: Experts warn of melting 'ice arches' -- Natural dams stop big Arctic Ocean icebergs from floating south
    A team of international scientists is sounding alarms about the state of a natural ice dam in northeastern Canada that has historically prevented older, thicker Arctic Ocean sea ice from drifting south through a narrow passage along Ellesmere Island and melting in warmer waters. A study by U.S. and Danish researchers -- including NASA's leading experts on the polar ice cap -- describes how the Nares Strait "ice arches" failed to form during the winter of 2007 in the 35-kilometre gap between Ellesmere and the northwest coast of Greenland. Sea ice typically consolidates in distinctive, curved structures at the north end of the strait -- not far from Hans Island, the subject of a decades-old territorial dispute between Canada and Denmark. But when the blockage failed to materialize as usual in 2007 -- the same year a record-setting Arctic thaw first raised global concern about polar warming -- the central Arctic Ocean discharged double the average annual amount of sea ice through Nares Strait, the researchers found.
72. 2010/03/01: CCP: R. Kwok et al., GRL, 37 (2010), Large sea ice outflow into the Nares Strait in 2007
73. 2010/03/01: CCP: "Warm Ice" signature in the Nares Strait/Robeson Channel?
74. 2010/03/03: BCLSB: The Canadian Arctic In A Warming World
75. 2010/03/05: CCP: North Pole's polar vortex virtually non-existent in February 2010
76. 2010/03/06: CCP: State of Arctic Sea ice extremely bad north of Ellesmere and northern Greenland -- ice arches goodbye

    The charismatic megafauna are back:

77. 2010/02/28: CanWest: Grizzlies, polar bears could soon be competing for territory
    Polar bears and grizzly bears, two mighty beasts of the Canadian wilderness, could soon be battling over territory. Hungry grizzly bears are increasingly encroaching on their northern counterparts' territory in Northern Manitoba, according to experts.
78. 2010/03/03: CBC: Reject polar bear trade ban, Nunavut urges
    Nunavut's environment minister is asking leaders around the world to vote against a U.S. proposal that would ban the global commercial trade of products derived from polar bears. Daniel Shewchuk has written to the 175 countries that have signed the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), as they prepare to vote on the U.S. proposal later this month in Doha, Qatar. The Nunavut government objects to the proposed trade ban, arguing that polar bear populations in the North are not in danger of extinction.
79. 2010/03/05: CBC: Baffin Bay polar bear hunting quota to be cut
    The Nunavut government is reducing the number of polar bears that hunters can kill in the Baffin Bay region, where polar bear numbers have been disputed by scientists and Inuit. Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk announced Friday that starting this year, the hunting quota, also known as the total allowable harvest, for polar bears in Baffin Bay will be cut by 10 bears annually for four years. That means the current quota of 105 Baffin Bay polar bears will be reduced to 65 after four years -- similar to the number recommended to Shewchuk by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.
80. 2010/03/06: G&M;: Canada opposes U.S. effort to ban polar bear trade
    Nunavut defends bear hunt in fierce dispute over an icon of the fight against climate change
81. 2010/03/06: TStar: Nunavut cuts quota for polar bear hunt -- Reduces number to be harvested in Baffin Bay in bid to avoid sanctions

    That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

82. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) Extensive Methane Venting to the Atmosphere from Sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf by Natalia Shakhova, Igor Semiletov et al.
83. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) How Stable Is the Methane Cycle? by Martin Heimann
84. 2010/03/06: RealClimate: Arctic Methane on the Move?
85. Wiki: Atmospheric methane
86. 2010/03/04: TCoE: Methane is venting
87. 2010/03/04: MongaBay: Massive methane leak in Arctic could trigger abrupt warming
88. 2010/03/05: ABC(Au): Scientists discover huge seabed methane leak
    Scientists have discovered the Arctic ocean seabed is leaking huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere.
89. 2010/03/04: NewScientist: Methane bubbling out of Arctic Ocean -- but is it new?
90. 2010/03/04: PhysOrg: Study: Arctic seabed methane stores destabilizing, venting
    A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability and widespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to the findings of an international research team led by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov. The research results, published in the March 5 edition of the journal Science, show that the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane, is perforated and is leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.
91. 2010/03/05: NatureTGB: Arctic methane leak, it's official
92. 2010/03/05: KSJT: Lots of Ink: In the Arctic, Methanegate (meaning the gas is coming through the gate, and fast)
93. 2010/03/05: ClimateShifts: Methane seeps rise from Siberian sea shelves
94. 2010/03/04: Time: More Warming Worries: Methane from the Arctic
95. 2010/03/05: TreeHugger: Even More Methane Found Leaking From Arctic Seafloor
96. 2010/03/05: Eureka: Methane releases from Arctic shelf may be much larger and faster than anticipated
    Thawing by climate change of subsea layer of permafrost may release stores of underlying, seabed methane
97. 2010/03/03: UAF: Study: Arctic seabed methane stores destabilizing, venting
98. 2010/03/05: AFTIC: Arctic seabed methane stores destabilizing, venting
99. 2010/03/05: HotTopic: Siberian seabed methane: first numbers [8 teragrams per year]
100. 2010/03/05: CIP: Unnatural Gas
101. 2010/03/05: CanWest: Study finds huge methane leak in the Arctic
102. 2010/03/04: NYT: Study Says Undersea Release of Methane Is Under Way
     Climate scientists have long warned that global warming could unlock vast stores of the greenhouse gas methane that are frozen into the Arctic permafrost, setting off potentially significant increases in global warming. Now researchers at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and elsewhere say this change is under way in a little-studied area under the sea, the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, west of the Bering Strait. Natalia Shakhova, a scientist at the university and a leader of the study, said it was too soon to say whether the findings suggest that a dangerous release of methane looms. In a telephone news conference, she said researchers were only beginning to track the movement of this methane into the atmosphere as the undersea permafrost that traps it degrades. But climate experts familiar with the new research reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science that even though it does not suggest imminent climate catastrophe, it is important because of methane's role as a greenhouse gas. Although carbon dioxide is far more abundant and persistent in the atmosphere, ton for ton atmospheric methane traps at least 25 times as much heat. Until recently, undersea permafrost has been little studied, but work so far shows it is already sending surprising amounts of methane into the atmosphere, Dr. Shakhova and other researchers are finding.
103. 2010/03/04: CCP: Natalia Shakhova, I. Semiletov, A. Salyuk, V. Yusupov, D. Kosmach & Ö. Gustafsson, Science, Extensive methane venting to the atmosphere from sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf
104. 2010/03/04: NSF: Methane Releases From Arctic Shelf May Be Much Larger and Faster Than Anticipated
105. 2010/03/04: ClimateP: Science stunner: Vast East Siberian Arctic Shelf methane stores destabilizing and venting
106. 2010/03/07: PeakEnergy: Siberia Seabed Leaks Methane, Threatens Climate, Scientists Say
107. 2010/03/05: Atlantic: Siberian Methane Could Fast-Track Global Warming
108. 2010/03/06: SkeptiSci: New observations find underwater Arctic Shelf is perforated and venting methane
109. 2010/03/05: DesdemonaDespair: Graph of the Day: Methane Fluxes Venting to the Atmosphere from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf
110. 2010/03/06: CCurrents: Arctic Methane On The Move?
111. 2010/03/05: MoD: Bad [CH4] news from the not-cold-enough arctic
112. 2010/03/06: CCP: John Cook, Skeptical Science: New observations find underwater Arctic Shelf is perforated and venting methane

     As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

113. 2010/03/01: CBC: Arctic experts to discuss border dispute
     The long-standing dispute over where in the Beaufort Sea the Canada-U.S. marine boundary should be located will be tackled by some Arctic experts this week. A group of academics and government officials will meet Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss options for resolving the dispute, which results from an 1825 treaty between Britain and Russia. As the treaty does not clarify how far the land boundary between the Yukon and Alaska extends into the Beaufort Sea, both Canada and the U.S. have been trying to claim 21,000 square kilometres of sea floor, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas. Both Canada and the U.S., along with other Arctic nations, have been mapping more of the Arctic seabed as they try to extend their Arctic sovereignty claims under the UN's Convention of the Law of the Sea.
114. 2010/03/01: EarthTimes: China will seek to exploit ice-free Arctic, study says
115. 2010/03/02: CSM: War over the Arctic? Global warming skeptics distract us from security risks
116. 2010/03/01: EarthTimes: China will seek to exploit ice-free Arctic, study says
117. 2010/03/03: OilChange: BP looks to Iraq and long-term to the Arctic

     While in Antarctica:

118. 2010/03/02: SciDaily: Understanding Global Climate Change Through New Breakthroughs in Polar Research [AAAS]
119. 2010/03/01: KSJT: AP: About that climate altering, Europe-freezing, Oxygen-Depriving iceberg duo? Sanity arises
120. 2010/03/01: NewScientist: Massive Antarctic iceberg threatens ocean circulation
121. 2010/03/01: ClimateP: Another massive iceberg is calved in Antarctica, with implications for local ocean circulation and wildlife
122. 2010/03/03: Columbia: Scientists Locate Apparent Hydrothermal Vents off Antarctica -- Discovery, a First, Could Spur Exploration of Distant Mid-Ocean Ridge
123. 2010/03/05: PhysOrg: Earth from Space: Icebreaker event [ESA gif of Mertz]

     The food crisis is ongoing:

124. 2010/03/01: UN: UN warns of harmful impact on poor farmers of narrow focus on biotechnology
125. 2010/03/03: SeedDaily: Where Will The Next Food Crisis Strike?
126. 2010/03/05: UN: UN reaches 2 million hungry people in Pakistan
127. 2010/03/03: EnergyBulletin: Food and Population
128. 2010/03/05: IPSNews: Malawi: Climate Change Is Changing Farming Methods
129. 2010/02/22: Wired: Red Menace: Stop the Ug99 Fungus Before Its Spores Bring Starvation

     The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

130. 2010/03/04: Reuters: EU drafts reveal biofuel's "environmental damage"

     So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

131. 2010/03/07: Guardian(UK): How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab
     An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

132. 2010/03/02: OilDrum: List of Foods by Environmental Impact and Energy Efficiency
133. 2010/03/02: BBC: GM potato cleared for EU farming
     The European Commission has cleared the way for a genetically modified potato to be grown in the EU - only the second GM product it has allowed. The starch of the Amflora potato can be utilised for industrial uses like making paper, and for animal feed - but not for human consumption.
134. 2010/03/01: WaPo: Manure becomes pollutant as its volume grows unmanageable
135. 2010/03/01: Eureka: Discovery in legumes could reduce [N] fertilizer use, aid environment: Stanford researchers
136. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: New rice research sows seeds for growing success
137. 2010/02/28: NBF: ISAAA Status Genetically Modified Crops Second Wave From Developing Countries
138. 2010/03/04: PhysOrg: Can corn be taught to fix its own nitrogen?
     Nitrogen fertilization is essential for profitable corn production. It also is a major cost of production and can contribute to degradation of the environment. Is it possible to "teach" corn to fix its own nitrogen, thus eliminating the need for nitrogen fertilizer applications? University of Illinois agricultural engineer Kaustubh Bhalerao believes it may be, through research in an emerging area of engineering called synthetic biology.
139. 2010/03/04: OilDrum: Food Security and Peak Oil: A Message to Local Citizens and Leadership
140. 2010/03/05: TreeHugger: The Impact of Food Waste on Climate Change (And Just About Everything Else)
141. 2010/03/06: WFP: WFP airlifts emergency food to help earthquake victims in Chile
142. 2010/03/05: BruneiNews: UN World Food Programme Launches Food Security Atlas of OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory]
143. 2010/03/04: FAO: Conference on agricultural biotechnologies stresses role of smallholders -- Participation of small farmers and producers in decision making process is needed
144. 2010/03/03: FAO: Germany to fund food security projects -- Smallholders targeted in sub-Saharan Africa
145. 2010/03/01: FAO: Biotechnologies should benefit poor farmers in poor countries -- Mexico conference takes stock of conventional biotechnology applications in food and agriculture
146. 2010/03/06: AlterNet: The Skinny on Oscar-Nominated Documentaries 'Food Inc.' and 'The Cove'

     In the hurricane wars, there was a lot of talk, but no cyclones:

147. 2010/03/01: TerraDaily: Taiwan fears more typhoons
     Global warming is raising the danger from typhoons, Taiwan experts warned Monday, saying the island may be hit in a year or two by a powerful storm like the one which killed more than 700 last August. Typhoon Morakot dumped a record 3,000 millimetres (120 inches) of rainfall and caused massive mudslides in the south of the island, and the government should be prepared for similar disasters in the future, they said.
148. 2010/03/03: RA: Too Easy To Be True? northern hemisphere sea surface temperatures and the number of named storms in the Atlantic basin
149. 2010/03/04: PhysOrg: Hurricanes' effects on ocean temperature revisited
150. 2010/02/21: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Tropical cyclones and climate change by Thomas R. Knutson et al.
151. 2010/03/04: IoD: The neverending hurricane-climate story
152. 2010/03/05: RA: Essentially The Same Graph, Different Smoothing [tropical cyclones]
153. 2010/03/04: RA: Literature on the Number of Tropical Cyclones
154. 2010/03/03: RA: Recent Storm Seasons Have Been Mild, Right?

     As for GHGs:

155. 2010/03/02: EarthTimes: EU court throws out ArcelorMittal's challenge to emissions scheme

     And in the carbon and nitrogen cycles:

156. 2010/03/01: Grist: Tracking down the public-health implications of nitrogen pollution
157. 2010/03/07: Guardian(UK): Rise in UK carbon emissions disputed by report
     Soil deposits of CO2 'not fuelling global warming yet -- but will in future'

As for the temperature record:

158. 2010/03/03: MGS: Why is the ocean cold?
159. 2010/03/03: ClimateWTF: Stations reporting in the past ~month
160. 2010/03/05: Tamino: Global Update
161. 2010/03/05: ClimateWTF: UAH switches to v5.3

     Aerosols are making their presence felt:

162. 2010/03/01: Eureka: Atmospheric nanoparticles impact health, weather professor says

     While in the paleoclimate:

163. 2010/03/02: Eureka: Were short warm periods typical for transitions between interglacial and glacial epochs? Researchers evaluate climate fluctuations from 115,000 years ago
164. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: Report: Strategic research program needed to determine whether, how past climate influenced human evolution
     Understanding how past climate may have influenced human evolution could be dramatically enhanced by an international cross-disciplinary research program to improve the sparse human fossil and incomplete climate records and examine the link between the two, says a new report from the [US] National Research Council.
165. 2010/03/04: CBC: Yukon rocks point to ancient 'snowball Earth'
166. 2010/03/04: Eureka: Oldest measurement of Earth's magnetic field reveals battle between sun and Earth for our atmosphere
     Scientists at the University of Rochester have discovered that the Earth's magnetic field 3.5 billion years ago was only half as strong as it is today, and that this weakness, coupled with a strong wind of energetic particles from the young Sun, likely stripped water from the early Earth's atmosphere. The findings, presented in today's issue of Science, suggest that the magnetopause -- the boundary where the Earth's magnetic field successfully deflects the Sun's incoming solar wind -- was only half the distance from Earth it is today.
167. 2010/03/04: Eureka: New evidence hints at global glaciation 716.5 million years ago -- Scientists find signs of 'snowball Earth' amidst early animal evolution
168. 2010/03/05: Eureka: Scientists find signs of 'snowball Earth' amidst early animal evolution -- New evidence hints at global glaciation 716.5 million years ago
169. 2010/03/07: SciDaily: Climate Fluctuations 115,000 Years Ago: Were Short Warm Periods Typical for Transitions to Glacial Epochs?
     At the end of the last interglacial epoch, around 115,000 years ago, there were significant climate fluctuations. In Central and Eastern Europe, the slow transition from the Eemian Interglacial to the Weichselian Glacial was marked by a growing instability in vegetation trends with possibly at least two warming events. This is the finding of German and Russian climate researchers who have evaluated geochemical and pollen analyses of lake sediments in Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Russia.

And on the ENSO front:

170. 2010/03/03: Scripps: Improved Near-real-time Tracking of 2010 El Niño Reveals Marine Life Reductions
171. 2010/03/05: PlanetArk: El Nino Dissipating, But May Linger Through 2010
172. 2010/03/05: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
     Synopsis: El Niño is expected to continue at least through the Northern Hemisphere spring 2010

As for ocean currents:

173. 2010/03/07: SciDaily: Tides, Earth's Rotation Among Sources of Giant Underwater Waves

     Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

174. 2010/03/03: SciDaily: Where Will the Next Food Crisis Strike? Extended Geographical Monitoring Using Satellite Observation
     The European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the American Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) are working to innovate and reinforce their food security monitoring systems and to develop more efficient early warning tools. These efforts come as a response to the 2007-2008 global food crisis that increased significantly the number of countries under threat of famine. Satellite observation is the key instrument that will allow to double in 2010 the number of countries monitored in real time for detecting first indications of adverse agricultural outcomes. The new Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system facilitates and accelerates the reaction time to food security crises by allowing a common and internationally recognised classification of their severity.
175. 2010/03/04: NOAANews: Newest NOAA Geostationary Satellite Reaches Orbit -- GOES-P has improved severe weather, solar storm detection capabilities
176. 2010/03/05: PhysOrg: NASA's high-tech GOES-P weather satellite lifts off

     More GW impacts are being seen:

177. 2010/03/01: SciNow: Global Warming Didn't Kill the Golden Toad
178. 2010/03/02: GreenGrok: Ocean Fish Sing: Where Has All the Oxygen Gone?
179. 2010/03/02: PhysOrg: Study: Climate change one factor in malaria spread
180. 2010/03/02: TerraDaily: Researchers Measure Impacts Of Changing Climate On Ocean Biology
181. 2010/03/01: WHTC: Climate change may extend allergy season: study
182. 2010/03/01: Eureka: El Niño and a pathogen killed Costa Rican [Monteverde golden] toad, study finds -- Challenges evidence that global warming was the cause
183. 2010/03/03: PlanetArk: Climate Change May Extend Allergy Season: Study
184. 2010/03/03: TreeHugger: Global Warming Hits World's Women the Hardest -- Especially When They Don't Have Equal Rights
185. 2010/03/03: Eureka: Study: Climate change one factor in malaria spread

     And then there are the world's forests:

186. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: Indonesia Allows Mining, Other Projects In Forests
     Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a decree to allow projects including mining, power plants, transport and renewable energy deemed strategically important to take place in protected forests. Yudhoyono has pledged to do more to cut through red tape and prevent overlapping regulations slowing down projects ranging from mining to toll roads in the resource-rich developing nation in his second term in office.
187. 2010/03/02: Reuters: Indonesia, Australia launch A$30 mln forest CO2 project
     Indonesia and Australia launched a A$30 million project on Tuesday to fight deforestation in Sumatra as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost a planned forest-carbon trading scheme. The project, to target Sumatra's Jambi province that has suffered rapid deforestation, is the second joint venture between the neighbouring countries keen to learn how to save forests by giving local communities incentives to keep the trees standing.
188. 2010/03/03: TreeHugger: More Evidence Palm Oil Plantations Are Bad for Biodiversity: Have Two-Thirds Lower Ant Species Than Forests
189. 2010/03/01: BBC: Can palm oil help Indonesia's poor? How palm oil is lifting Indonesians out of poverty
     Panorama last week reported on the disturbing destruction of orangutan habitats in Indonesia for palm oil plantations. But are there benefits from these plantations for local people?
190. 2010/03/05: Olympian: All those trees mean serious carbon storage -- Study: Olympic among region's national forests atop U.S. ranking
     The top 10 national forests for storing greenhouse gases in the United States are in the Pacific Northwest and southeast Alaska, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Wilderness Society.
191. 2010/03/02: TerraDaily: Indonesia, Australia announce carbon project in Sumatra
192. 2010/03/05: Reuters: Indonesia says Unilever move on palm oil "unfair"
     A move by Unilever to stop buying palm oil from Indonesia's top supplier Sinar Mas and to blacklist another supplier PT Duta Palma was "unfair," Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono said on Friday.

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

193. 2010/03/01: Wunderground: Winter Storm Xynthia kills 62 in Europe
194. 2010/03/01: EarthTimes: France begins to dig out after storm [Xynthia] that killed dozens
195. 2010/03/03: Wunderground: The future of intense winter storms
196. 2010/03/01: TheState: Europe storm death toll at 62; France hardest hit
197. 2010/03/01: BBC: Walls blamed for storm disaster
     Blame is being laid on weak and aged sea defences after violent storms left at least 50 dead and thousands homeless along France's Atlantic coast. Many died after the sea wall off the coastal town of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer was breached, allowing 8m-high (26ft) waves to crash through the streets. A local governor said the walls dated back to the time of Napoleon and needed to be replaced with taller barriers.
198. 2010/03/01: CBC: Storm [Xynthia] kills at least 51 in Europe
     A violent late-winter storm with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds battered France, Spain and Portugal on Sunday, leaving at least 51 people dead. Many of the victims drowned in France, while others died when they were hit by parts of buildings or trees and branches that were ripped off by the wind. At least a dozen people were missing and 59 were injured. The storm, named Xynthia, was the worst in France since 1999 when 90 people died.
199. 2010/03/05: Wunderground: A Brazilian tropical disturbance to watch
200. 2010/03/07: SkeptiSci: Does record snowfall disprove global warming?
201. 2010/03/07: PhysOrg: Mini-cyclone, record floods hit Australia
     Melbourne was bracing itself Sunday for further storms after a mini-cyclone ripped through Australia's second largest city, bringing with it hail stones the size of tennis balls.
202. 2010/03/06: EarthTimes: Wild weather lashes Australia's second city

     As for tornadoes:

203. 2010/03/01: NewScientist: Inside the biggest tornado hunt in history [VORTEX2]

     In the wild fire department:

204. 2010/03/02: TerraDaily: Australian firefighters battle wild blaze
205. 2010/03/01: PhysOrg: Australian residents urged to flee 18-metre flames [near Eneabba, north of Perth]

     Corals are dying:

206. 2010/03/03: MongaBay: Healthy coral reefs produce clouds and precipitation

     Acidification is changing the oceans:

207. 2010/02/28: AFTIC: The acid test [video]

     Glaciers are melting:

208. 2010/03/02: PhysOrg: Research team breaks the ice with new estimate of glacier melt
     The melting of glaciers is well documented, but when looking at the rate at which they have been retreating, a team of international researchers steps back and says not so fast. Previous studies have largely overestimated mass loss from Alaskan glaciers over the past 40-plus years, according to Erik Schiefer, a Northern Arizona University geographer who coauthored a paper in the February issue of Nature Geoscience that recalculates glacier melt in Alaska.
209. 2010/03/04: KSJT: Reuters: A corrective to news of IPCC's glacial error in Himalaya -- plenty of ice melting worldwide
210. 2010/03/04: Reuters: Glacier melting a key clue to tracking climate change
211. 2010/03/03: CSM: Glacier melting a key clue to tracking climate change

     Sea levels are rising:

212. 2010/03/03: SkeptiSci: Visual depictions of Sea Level Rise
213. 2010/03/03: CCP: Peter Hogarth, Skeptical Science: Visual depictions of Sea Level Rise
214. 2010/02/28: RA: Sea Level Rise - Part 3
215. 2010/03/04: CSM: As Florida Keys residents confront rising sea levels, what lessons?
216. 2010/03/06: Australian: States at sea over coastal levels
     Australia's six state governments have four different figures for predicted sea-level rise caused by climate change, leaving developers and councils confused and sparking calls for a federal takeover of coastal climate change planning.

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

217. 2010/03/01: GreenGrok: USA's Open Season on Chemical Dumping
218. 2010/03/02: Grist: EPA stands by as polluters ignore the Clean Water Act
219. 2010/03/01: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Blind Justices
220. 2010/03/01: TerraDaily: Sydney sweats through hot rainy summer
221. 2010/03/02: MongaBay: Western Australia has hottest and driest summer on record
222. 2010/03/03: ABC(Au): Dire water supply outlook
     Australia's top scientific research organisation says climate change is responsible for a sharp fall in Western Australia's water resources and that the worst is yet to come. The CSIRO has released a report showing significant climate change since the mid-1970s has impacted on surface and ground water yields and rainfall over that time has dropped by 10 to 15 per cent.
223. 2010/03/02: Grist: Water and the War on Terror
224. 2010/03/02: TerraDaily: Heavy rains cause flooding, commuter woes in desert UAE
225. 2010/03/03: EarthTimes: Record flooding in far-north of Australia
226. 2010/03/01: BBC: The high cost of fresh water in an Australian city -- Last stand against Victoria water [desalination] plant
     On the southern coast of Australia, the state of Victoria is now in its tenth year of drought. The authorities blame the current shortage of water on the weather phenomenon known as El Nino.
     [...]
     Regardless of the opposing views on global warming, the evidence of dried up reservoirs is there for all to see.
227. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): Water efficiency required as supply dwindles
     The Minister for Water, Graham Jacobs says the Government must use waste water more efficiently in order to prepare for dwindling water supplies in WA's south-west. A CSIRO report has found water supplies across the south-west could fall by as much as 49 per cent by the year 2030 as a result of the drying climate.
228. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): The big dry ahead
     The Department of Water says a report on Western Australia's future water supply presents significant challenges. The CSIRO report found water levels in south western WA will fall by an average of 25 per cent by 2030 but it is predicting they could possibly fall by half. The report blames climate change since the mid 1970s for a big drop in rainfall and surface and groundwater yields. It says as a result, once abundant wetlands and perennial streams have, in the worst cases, dried out.
229. 2010/03/05: CBC: Record floods hit Australia's outback towns
230. 2010/03/04: NatureN: Woody shrubs don't slurp up water -- Clearing encroaching plants from savannah might make drought worse
231. 2010/03/04: SciNow: Solving the Rangeland Paradox
232. 2010/03/04: JFleck: Low Bad
233. 2010/03/05: EarthTimes: Malaysian state to begin water rationing due to dry spell
234. 2010/03/05: EarthTimes: Flood nudges 120-year record in far-north Australia
235. 2010/03/04: BBC: Uganda village 'like a giant cemetery'
     [...]
     Forecasters are predicting a month more of heavy rains. By mid afternoon, the clouds had formed once more over Mt Elgon, and another downpour had begun as rescuers and villagers dashed for shelter. Rain like this triggered the devastating mudslide. Nobody expects this disaster to be the last.
236. 2010/03/05: Discovery: Regional Rainfall in a Warming World

     While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:

237. 2010/03/03: ClimateP: How to Create Green Rental Homes (a visual journey)
238. 2010/03/05: Guardian(UK): EcoBuild should show it's not just in it for the green pound
     The UK's green building exhibition can't prove a shining example of sustainability until it turns off the halogen lights

As for carbon sequestration:

239. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: Team Finds Way to Clean Up Coal, Harvest Hydrogen
     The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has awarded researchers at UT Dallas $1 million over three years to create a new class of membranes that produce hydrogen from coal while scrubbing out greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
240. 2010/03/07: HotTopic: US trial for Aquaflow [CCS] technology

     Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

241. 2010/03/04: EarthTimes: Cloud seeding to help drought-hit south-western China

     While on the adaptation front:

242. 2010/02/28: JFleck: Toward a More "Patient-Centered" Climate Science
243. 2010/03/03: Wiley: 'World's Most Useful Tree' Provides Low-Cost Water Purification Method for Developing World

     Meanwhile in the journals:

244. 2010/03/03: TCD: Degree-day modelling of the surface mass balance of Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Tian Shan, China by E. Huintjes et al.
245. 2010/03/02: PNAS: Cycles, phase synchronization, and entrainment in single-species phytoplankton populations by Thomas M. Massie et al.
246. 2010/03/02: PNAS: The Murray Springs Clovis site, Pleistocene extinction, and the question of extraterrestrial impact by C. Vance Haynes Jr. et al.
247. 2010/03/03: CPM: (ab$) Bioremediation of Turbid Surface Water Using Seed Extract from Moringa oleifera Lam. (Drumstick) Tree by Michael Lea
248. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) How Stable Is the Methane Cycle? by Martin Heimann
249. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) Calibrating the Cryogenian by Francis A. Macdonald et al.
250. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) Extensive Methane Venting to the Atmosphere from Sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf by Natalia Shakhova, Igor Semiletov et al.
251. 2010/03/05: Science: (ab$) Contributions of Stratospheric Water Vapor to Decadal Changes in the Rate of Global Warming by Susan Solomon et al.
252. 2010/03/02: AGWObserver: Comments on Spencer's strange statements on CRUTEM3
253. 2010/03/03: AGWObserver: Underground temperatures as indicators of surface temperatures - part 2
254. 2010/02/28: AGWObserver: Underground temperatures as indicators of surface temperatures - part 1
255. 2010/03/04: ACP: Finding the missing stratospheric Bry: a global modeling study of CHBr3 and CH2Br2 by Q. Liang et al.
256. 2010/03/03: ACP: Aerosol analysis using a Thermal-Desorption Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometer (TD-PTR-MS): a new approach to study processing of organic aerosols by R. Holzinger et al.
257. 2010/03/03: ACP: A semi-analytical solution for the mean wind profile in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer: the convective case by L. Buligon et al.
258. 2010/03/03: ACPD: Ozone over the Western Mediterranean Sea -- results from two years of shipborne measurements by K. Velchev et al.
259. 2010/03/03: ACPD: A global climatology of the mesospheric sodium layer from GOMOS data during the 2002-2008 period by D. Fussen et al.
260. 2010/03/01: ACPD: Analysis of accurate C13 and O18 isotope measurements of CO2 in CARIBIC aircraft air samples from the tropical troposphere, and the upper troposphere/lowermost stratosphere by S. S. Assonov et al.
261. 2010/03/01: ACPD: Tropospheric aerosol size distributions simulated by three online global aerosol models using the M7 microphysics module by K. Zhang et al.
262. 2010/02/21: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Tropical cyclones and climate change by Thomas R. Knutson et al.
263. 2010/03/03: OS: Mediterranean intermediate circulation estimated from Argo data in 2003-2010 by M. Menna & P. M. Poulain
264. 2010/03/03: OS: Seasonal variability of the Caspian Sea three-dimensional circulation, sea level and air-sea interaction by R. A. Ibrayev et al.
265. 2010/03/01: OS: Entrainment in the Denmark Strait overflow plume by meso-scale eddies by G. Voet & D. Quadfasel
266. 2010/03/04: OSD: On the numerical resolution of the bottom layer in simulations of oceanic gravity currents by N. Laanaia et al.
267. 2010/03/03: OSD: Anthropogenic carbon dynamics in the changing ocean by J. F. Tjiputra et al.
268. 2010/03/04: CPD: Perturbing phytoplankton: a tale of isotopic fractionation in two coccolithophore species by R. E. M. Rickaby et al.
269. 2010/03/03: NERC:NORA: Quantitative analysis of time-lapse seismic monitoring at the Sleipner CO2 storage operation by Andy Chadwick et al.
270. 2010/03/03: NERC:NORA: Lacustrine evidence of early-Holocene environmental change in Northern Iceland: a multiproxy palaeoecology and stable isotope study by P.G. Langdon et al.
271. 2010/03/05: ACP: Measured and predicted aerosol light scattering enhancement factors at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch by R. Fierz-Schmidhauser et al.
272. 2010/03/05: ACP: Statistical properties of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in South America by T. A. Jones & S. A. Christopher
273. 2010/03/05: ACPD: Stratospheric water vapour and high climate sensitivity in a version of the HadSM3 climate model by M. M. Joshi et al.
274. 2010/03/05: ACPD: Mineral dust effects on clouds and rainfall in the West African Sahel by L. Klüser & T. Holzer-Popp
275. 2009/07/06: GRL: (ab$) Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin by Graham K. Westbrook et al.
276. 2005/05/03: GRL: (ab$) The distribution of methane on the Siberian Arctic shelves: Implications for the marine methane cycle by Natalia Shakhova et al.
277. 2009/12/15: GRL: (ab$) Large-scale simulation of methane hydrate dissociation along the West Spitsbergen Margin by Matthew T. Reagan & George J. Moridis
278. 2009/09/17: GRL: (ab$) Observational constraints on recent increases in the atmospheric CH4 burden by E. J. Dlugokencky et al.

     And other significant documents:

279. 2009/06/19: USGCRP: [links to sections] Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
280. 2010/02/27: Platform: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] New Platform report reveals RBS is UK bank most involved in financing loans to tar sands companies

     As for miscellaneous science:

281. 2010/03/02: NewScientist: There's no war to fight over global warming [misc sci]
282. 2010/03/02: NYT: Scientists Taking Steps to Defend Work on Climate
283. 2010/02/26: CPunch: An Interview with David Noble -- Peer Review as Censorship
284. 2010/03/02: MTobis: [link to mp3] Some Heavy Hitters Take Press Climate Questions
285. 2010/02/24: RS: A history of Stommel diagrams

     More DIY science:

286. 2010/03/02: Tyee: Rise of the Citizen Scientists -- They're tackling gene research, charting the cosmos, crunching complex equations and more.
287. 2010/03/01: Tamino: Replication, not repetition
288. 2010/03/01: CC&G;: Tracking Nino34 Trends with ImageJ
289. 2010/02/28: ClimateWTF: Merging Duplicate Station Records
290. 2010/03/06: ClimateWTF: Test Cases -- Any method to solve the problems of duplicate combination and homogenization of stations has to...

     Simpson tribute:

291. 2010/03/05: ERabett: JoAnne Simpson 1923-2010

     While at the UN:

292. 2010/02/26: Reuters: U.N. meeting moots WTO-style environment agency
293. 2010/03/01: JakartaPost: RI to apply for UN climate change top position

     And on the carbon trading front:

294. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: At Least 3 More Firms Probed In Norway CO2 Case
295. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: EU Carbon At 2-Week High [13.14 euros ($17.85) a tonne] Supported By Oil, German Power
296. 2010/03/04: EurActiv: EU plans centralised CO2 auctioning from 2011
     The European Commission is considering auctioning emissions permits over centralised platforms from 2011 and might cancel auctions if carbon prices are "abnormally low," according to two leaked documents. Officials in the EU executive, pressured by industry calls for longer-term visibility on carbon permit prices, are deciding how to arrange auctions ahead of the third phase of bloc's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS), which starts in 2013. The scheme is the EU's main tool for reining in carbon dioxide emissions, blamed for warming the planet. Companies above their emissions cap must buy carbon permits from firms that have a surplus. The scheme's first two phases have been dogged by teething troubles that included low prices, stemming from an overall permit surplus and the economic slowdown, as well as windfall profits for industry as a result of receiving free permits. As a result, from 2013 the EU will force utilities to buy at auction most of their permits under a steadily tightening emissions cap.
297. 2010/03/03: Reuters: Hopes for $2 trillion global carbon market fade
     Investors are becoming less convinced that a global carbon market, estimated to be worth about $2 trillion by the end of the decade, can be established as uncertainty over global climate policy persists.
298. 2010/03/05: Grist: E.U.'s 'carbon fat cats' get rich off trading scheme, study finds

     The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

299. 2010/03/01: EurActiv: France to renew calls for EU carbon tariff
     EU ministers are set to give renewed consideration to French calls for a "carbon inclusion mechanism" in an attempt to curb unfair competition from countries like China, which have weaker climate protection laws. But opinion is still divided on the issue of carbon tariffs at the EU's borders.
300. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: Study: Reducing carbon emissions: High gas taxes equal low impact
     Increasing the federal gasoline tax would have only minimal effects in reducing vehicle carbon dioxide emissions, says a University of Michigan economist [Lutz Kilian]
301. 2010/03/05: EUO: Commission to table carbon emissions tax proposal
     The European Commission is planning in the next couple of months to table a proposal for a carbon tax, a move likely to cause division among member states. EU taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta told Brussels weekly European Voice that he is planning draft legislation on a minimum rate of tax on carbon emissions.
302. 2010/03/05: BBC: EU considers general carbon tax
     The European Commission is planning an EU-wide minimum tax on carbon as part of the EU's green energy agenda - but the UK opposes such a move. The minimum tax would apply to fuel, natural gas and coal. The EU's new Taxation Commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, is working to revise the EU's existing Energy Taxation Directive, his spokeswoman said. Carbon taxes already exist in EU members Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In France the idea is being hotly debated. Responding to the EU plan on Thursday a UK government spokeswoman said: "We do not support the idea of a mandatory pan-European carbon tax."

And the Tobin tax put in an appearance:

303. 2010/03/06: TreeHugger: Taxing Banks to Fight Climate Change: The Robin Hood Tax (Video)

     First there were Carbon Labels; then Water Labels?

304. 2010/03/03: TreeHugger: Water Footprint Labels to Become As Important as Energy Star

     The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

305. 2010/03/03: GG&G;: On Krugman's toy climate model [pricing carbon]

     Meanwhile on the international political front:

306. 2010/03/02: JakartaPost: Indonesia may join BASIC Group on climate talks
307. 2010/03/03: EarthTimes: EU's climate chief [Connie Hedegaard] looks to US to balance BASICs
308. 2010/02/28: CCurrents: North-South Divide And Tackling Global Warning
309. 2010/03/04: IndiaTimes: BASIC difference in increasing members to keep G-77 strong
     With BASIC countries -- Brazil, South Africa, India and China -- emerging as an influential grouping in climate change negotiations, Mexico, Argentina and Indonesia have expressed interest in associating themselves with the group. But the April meeting of BASIC, which to be held in Cape Town is unlikely to broaden the alliance. Sources said that Brazil and China have indicated that they are not keen on having either Mexico or Argentina participate in BASIC meetings. A senior Indian government functionary said that there has been no formal discussion among BASIC countries on this issue. However, the general sense is that they are not keen on the idea.

How do you provide limited liability for an accident that contaminates for thousands of years?

310. 2010/03/02: Reuters: India moves on U.S. nuclear deal with new law
     India's parliament will debate over the next month a new law to limit nuclear firms' liability in the case of industrial accidents, a move crucial for U.S. firms to tap into India's estimated $150 billion nuclear market.

On the security front, the Malvinas are still in play:

311. 2010/03/01: NewInt:TWMB: Storm warnings [Falklands]
     Instead of investing in clean energy, transnational corporations responsible for the destruction of the planet are fighting among themselves and against the people and governments who have denounced them. These corporations are the prime culprits in a war over natural resources which many see as part of a new type of colonial piracy.

And on the American political front:

312. 2010/03/02: Grist: The latest musical trend is annoying the Senate into climate action
313. 2010/03/02: AlterNet: L.A.'s New Scheme to Plunder Owens Valley Water, This Time with Solar Panels
314. 2010/03/01: LA Times: A stink in Central California over converting cow manure to electricity
     Air-quality rules in the region leave dairy farmers facing costly changes to generators used to burn methane to produce power. Some have put their renewable-energy plans on hold.
315. 2010/03/02: Grist: Democratic candidate in Colo. guv race [John Hickenlooper] questions climate science
316. 2010/03/02: TP:WR: Report: Fifteen States Have Polluter-Driven Resolutions To Deny Climate Threat
317. 2010/03/02: TP: Fifteen States Have Polluter-Driven Resolutions To Deny Climate Threat
318. 2010/03/01: CSM: From coal to clean energy: an Iraq war veteran's next fight
     [...]
     Our energy policy is limiting our global competitiveness, hurting our national security, and destroying our heritage of wild, natural beauty. We need comprehensive energy and climate legislation to ensure our way of life this century.
319. 2010/03/01: USAToday: More people apply for energy assistance to help with heating
     A record number of U.S. households are applying for help to pay home heating bills with 17 states fielding application requests that are up more than 20% from last year, the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association says. Almost 9 million U.S. households are expected to need help paying winter energy bills. That's up 15% from the record-setting 7.7 million last year, the association says.
320. 2010/03/03: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tennessee Minister Takes on Politicians Who Support Mountaintop Removal
321. 2010/03/04: SolveClimate: Veterans Launch Powerful Clean Energy Ad Tying Foreign Oil to Troop Deaths -- 'We're Literally Funding Both Sides of the Wars We're In'
322. 2010/03/05: ClimateP: When it comes to winning the clean energy race, is the US already 'out of the running?'
323. 2010/03/04: Reuters: CEOs seek firm signal on US climate change policy
     CEOs say need clarity on U.S. climate-change policy - Say investment stalled by uncertainty - Broadly support cap-and-trade type of legislation
324. 2010/03/03: LA Times: Texas-based refiners pledge to fund fight against California's global warming law
     Valero and Tesoro have reportedly pledged as much as $2 million to help gather signatures for a ballot initiative to suspend the greenhouse-gas-cutting law until the jobless rate improves.
325. 2010/03/02: HuffPo: A 72-Hour Campaign for Climate Action [Redford]
326. 2010/03/06: Reuters: Cap-and-trade key to U.S. energy reform: Exelon CEO
327. 2010/03/06: TEC: While We Consider, China Constructs
328. 2010/03/07: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil And The Tea Party Movement
329. 2010/03/01: REA: California Net Metering Bill Signed by Governor Schwarzenegger

     The Americans are beginning to notice how the Congressional impasse is impacting business:

330. 2010/03/06: TEC: While We Consider, China Constructs
331. 2010/03/06: ClimateP: Can we restore U.S. leadership in solar manufacturing?

     They're still laughing at South Dakota:

332. 2010/03/01: Forbes: South Dakota legislature declares that astrology can explain global warming
333. 2010/03/04: IoD: "Balancing" climate education in South Dakota and elsewhere

     In a related issue creationists and deniers are joining forces:

334. 2010/03/04: D-HW: Creationists come out of the closet . . . on global warming
335. 2010/03/04: DeSmogBlog: Intelligent Designers Enlist Climate Skeptics in the War on Reality
336. 2010/03/03: NYT: Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets
     Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation's classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools.
337. 2010/03/04: HuffPo: Creationists And Climate Deniers Take On Teaching Climate Science In Schools

     The Obama chatter is nonstop:

338. 2010/03/02: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Another Call to Action from Obama on Residential Retrofits [Home Star aka Cash for Caulkers]
339. 2010/03/03: PlanetArk: Obama Proposes $3,000 Home Energy Rebates
340. 2010/03/02: CSM: Obama's 'Cash for Caulkers' boosts energy efficiency
341. 2010/03/04: ScienceInsider: New Study Suggests Little Change Under Obama On Science Politicization
342. 2010/03/03: BWeek: 'Missteps' Don't Negate Climate Science, Obama Adviser [Holdren] Says

     The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

343. 2010/03/02: ScienceInsider: Summit Offers New Details on $400 Million "High-Risk" Energy Research Shop
344. 2010/03/03: ScienceInsider: Bingaman Gives ARPA-E Good Marks on First Year
345. 2010/03/03: KSJT: Specialty Press and bloggers: ARPA-E conference in DC full of ideas, money, hot shot political scientists (as in Chu...)
346. 2010/03/02: NRDC:SwitchBoard: There's a new sheriff in town: DOE means business on energy efficiency standards
347. 2010/03/03: BBerg: EPA Chief [Lisa Jackson] to Testify on Hill as Dissent Over Carbon Rules Grows
348. 2010/03/04: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA's Lisa Jackson and the Science of Mountaintop Removal
349. 2010/03/05: ADN: Interior Department chooses Alaska for climate center -- 'Ground Zero': UAA center set to be established in six to eight weeks
     Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Thursday that Alaska will be the site of the first of the department's eight planned regional climate science centers. "With rapidly melting Arctic sea ice and permafrost, and threats to the survival of Native Alaskan coastal communities, Alaska is ground zero for climate change," Salazar said in a release. The host institution for the center, to be based in Anchorage, will be the University of Alaska. The Interior Department hopes to have Alaska's climate science center formally established in six to eight weeks.
.
350. 2010/03/05: Reuters: U.S. needs fresh look at nuclear waste issue: Chu
     U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Friday that the United States needs to come up with a better system for storing or disposing of radioactive nuclear waste than a planned repository near Las Vegas. "The president has made it very clear that we are going to go beyond Yucca mountain. You should go beyond Yucca mountain," Chu said. "But instead of wringing my hands, let's go forward and do something better." The Obama administration, in January, announced it was stopping the license application for a long-planned multi-billion dollar nuclear waste storage site at Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas, which is opposed by environmental groups. The Energy Department formally asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to withdraw the application.

The EPA is still explaining how it will apply endangerment regulations:

351. 2010/03/03: Reuters: US EPA says to ease carbon rules on small business
     The Obama administration will give small businesses a break on coming carbon dioxide emissions rules but big emitters like coal-fired power plants will face a crack-down, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Wednesday.
352. 2010/03/03: Reuters: US EPA says to ease carbon rules on small business

     The carbonistas are still trying to kill EPA endangerment regulations:

353. 2010/03/01: TheHill: Top House Republicans ready bill to thwart EPA climate rules
354. 2010/03/02: TheHill: House Republicans join fight to block EPA
355. 2010/03/03: SolveClimate: EPA's Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases Comes Under Fire From All Angles
356. 2010/03/05: PlanetArk: Sen. Rockefeller Seeks EPA Carbon Rule Delay
357. 2010/03/05: TreeHugger: Is It Just Coincidence That States With Anti-Climate Action Resolutions Are Dependent on Coal?
358. 2010/03/05: WaPo: Lawmakers move to restrain EPA on climate change
     As climate change legislation stalled in the Senate, the Obama administration noted that it had a workable -- although admittedly unwieldy -- Plan B. If Congress wouldn't cap U.S. emissions, officials said, the Environmental Protection Agency would do it instead. Now, even Plan B may be in trouble. On Thursday, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) introduced a bill that would put a two-year freeze on the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants. His was the latest of various congressional proposals -- from both chambers and both parties -- designed to delay or overturn the EPA's regulations.
359. 2010/03/04: WVGazette:CT: Sen. Byrd splits with Rocky IV on bill to block EPA from issuing greenhouse gas limits
360. 2010/03/03: HillHeat: State Legislatures Work To Deny Regulation of Climate Threat
361. 2010/03/04: NYT: Lawmakers From Coal States Seek to Delay [EPA] Emission Limits
362. 2010/03/05: NYT:GW: Looming Climate Regulations Put EPA in Conservatives' Cross Hairs

     As for what is going on in Congress:

363. 2010/02/28: AutoBG: Senate passes HIRE Act, which could bode well for cleaner transportation bills down the road
364. 2010/03/03: Yahoo:AP: Senators seek to block stimulus money for overseas
     A group of Democratic senators [Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert Casey (D-Pa) & Jon Tester (D-Mont)] is urging the Obama administration to suspend an economic stimulus program aimed at financing renewable energy, complaining that money is going to projects that are creating jobs in foreign countries.
365. 2010/03/01: TP: [Senator Lindsey] Graham (R-SC) says GOP should stop demonizing climate change: You're risking 'your party's future with younger people.'
366. 2010/03/03: NYT: Murkowski Accuses EPA Leader of Conflicting Statements on GHG Regulations
367. 2010/03/04: TP:WR: Murkowski Wants To Save Alaska By Destroying It
368. 2010/03/03: EnergyBulletin: Senator Graham shouts "Play Ball!"

     Four Democratic Senators want to Buy American wind:

369. 2010/03/04: WaPo: Four Democratic senators aim to halt stimulus wind project
370. 2010/03/04: TreeHugger: Will Democratic Senators Stunt US Wind Power Growth in the Name of Manufacturing Jobs?
371. 2010/03/03: TheHill: Wind industry slams Schumer's 'Buy American' plan
372. 2010/03/04: NYT:GW: DOE Disputes Senators' Claims of Stimulus Grants Flowing Overseas
373. 2010/03/04: EnvFin: Senators demand US suspends renewables grant programme
     US senators have asked the Obama administration to suspend a successful grant programme for renewable energy projects because the vast majority of its funds are going to foreign companies.

Kerry-Boxer, Waxman-Markey or whatever -- the future climate bill -- defines a battleline:

374. 2010/03/01: Grist: Lindsey Graham's dilemma, part one: How ACES [Waxman-Markey] got dealt a poor hand
375. 2010/03/02: CSM: Senate climate bill may drop cap and trade
376. 2010/03/03: Grist: The "energy-only" bill and [Senator] Byron Dorgan's (D-N.D.) deficit hypocrisy
377. 2010/03/03: Reuters: Senator Graham calls cap-and-trade plan dead
     The idea of imposing a broad cap-and-trade system to cut America's greenhouse gas emissions is dead and will be replaced with a new approach, an influential Republican senator said on Tuesday.
378. 2010/03/02: Grist: Lindsey Graham's dilemma, part two: Trying to deal a winning hand without ACES
379. 2010/03/03: NYT:GW: Graham's Cap-And-Trade Pronouncement Reframes Hill Debate
380. 2010/03/04: Grist: Stupid things senators are saying about the Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman proposal

     What are the lobbyists pushing?

381. 2010/03/01: E2T: Utilities Push Back on FERC's Transmission Authority
382. 2010/03/01: TP: Progress Energy abandons dirty coal front group ACCCE.
383. 2010/03/01: MoJo: The Chamber of Commerce vs. Climate Science
     The business lobby's challenge to carbon regulations probably won't convince a court of law. The court of public opinion is another matter.
384. 2010/03/02: TPMM: Microsoft Distances Itself From Chamber On Climate Change
385. 2010/03/01: MoJo: Major Utility [Progress Energy] Quietly Quits "Clean Coal" Group [last November]
386. 2010/03/04: FuturePundit: Competitors Complain About Wind Unreliability Subsidy

     The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

387. 2010/03/01: Grist: Dr. Gore, Medicine Man? Gore's climate remedy must match diagnosis
388. 2010/03/01: KSJT: NYTimes, then a bunch more: Al Gore arises from the snowstorm, says IPCC screwed a few things up, so what?
389. 2010/03/02: Guardian(UK): Al Gore, ghost of climate change past
390. 2010/02/28: ERabett: Framing Al Gore
391. 2010/03/04: ClimateP: Anti-science crowd melts down as UT Knoxville presents Al Gore an honorary doctoral degree
392. 2010/03/05: TheHill: Gore-backed climate groups form single organization

     While in the UK:

393. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: UK Consumers Driven By Price, Not Saving CO2: Survey
394. 2010/03/03: EurActiv: Britain launches 'green homes' loan scheme
     British households will be able to take out soft loans to improve the efficiency of their homes under a proposed new law to fight climate change and cut fuel poverty, the government said on Tuesday (2 March). The aim is to overcome the high upfront cost of home refurbishments, for example to insulate lofts, thicken walls and install draught-proof windows, by allowing people to take out long-term loans at subsidised interest rates.
395. 2010/03/07: Guardian(UK): Rise in UK carbon emissions disputed by report
     Soil deposits of CO2 'not fuelling global warming yet -- but will in future'
396. 2010/03/05: BBC: The Met Office is to stop publishing seasonal forecasts, after it came in for criticism for failing to predict extreme weather. It was berated for not foreseeing that the UK would suffer this cold winter or the last three wet summers in its seasonal forecasts. The forecasts, four times a year, will be replaced by monthly predictions.

And in Europe:

397. 2010/03/02: EurActiv: EU targets action on forests
     The European Commission yesterday (1 March) launched an EU-wide consultation to quiz stakeholders on whether the 27-country bloc should act to protect European forests and enhance their resistance to climate change.
398. 2010/03/02: EUO: EU commission changes thinking on Russian pipeline
     German energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger on Tuesday (2 March) for the first time signaled openness on behalf of the EU executive towards South Stream, a Russian gas pipeline running through the Black Sea, and seen as a rival to Europe's similar project, Nabucco. "South Stream could be backed by the European Commission on condition that it meets the technical requirements for security," he said on the sidelines of an energy forum in Bulgaria, AFP reports.
399. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: Spain Eyes Doubling Renewables Output By 2020
400. 2010/03/01: Reuters: Spain needs electric cars, links for wind boom
     Spain needs electric cars and a lot more power links with France to better deal with big swings in wind output and spread the benefits of its clean energy boom across Europe, the head of Spanish grid operator Red Electrica said on Monday. Spain's 18,700 megawatts of installed wind turbines have supplied more than half of its demand at times this winter, forcing Red Electrica to stop some turbines to keep system stability because a dearth of grid connections prevented the green energy from reaching the rest of Europe. "The bottleneck is the French network but it's really about being connected to the whole European system," Red Electrica president Luis Atienza told Reuters in an interview.
401. 2010/03/01: Reuters: German state agency calls for quick energy plan
     Time will soon run out for Germany to build up enough power generation if politicians continue dragging their feet on decisions over the fuel mix, German state energy agency Dena said on Monday.
402. 2010/03/02: Reuters: Spain eyes doubling renewables output by 2020
403. 2010/03/01: EurActiv: Slovakia catching up on green technologies
     Slovakia may seem to have been a late starter in developing renewable and green energies, but its economic players are catching up, using research as an instrument to promote cutting-edge technologies. EurActiv Slovakia reports.
404. 2010/03/01: EurActiv: Poland ranks low on clean tech investment
     Due to its heavy reliance on coal, Poland is often referred to as the country with the greatest potential for green energy. However, the country still lags behind its European partners in clean tech investment, EurActiv Poland reports.
405. 2010/03/01: EurActiv: EU countries to report about energy investment plans
     The European Parliament passed a draft regulation on 25 February allowing the European Commission to obtain more information about major energy projects planned in EU member states. The move was hailed as a step towards a more coordinated EU energy policy.
406. 2010/03/03: EurActiv: EU court dismisses Arcelor challenge against ETS
407. 2010/03/03: EurActiv: Commission gives green light to genetically-modified potato
408. 2010/03/03: EUO: EU commission approves cultivation of first GM crop [Amflora potato] in 12 years
409. 2010/03/02: Reuters: Europe all mouth and no money in green tech race
     Europe's plan to lead the green technology race has a gaping financial hole for the next four years, handing the advantage to rivals China, Japan and the United States.
410. 2010/03/02: SeedDaily: Fury as Brussels authorises GM potatoes
411. 2010/03/03: EarthTimes: German cabinet approves cuts in solar power tariffs
412. 2010/03/01: Telegraph(UK): France seeking emergency aid from EU after storms leave 47 dead
413. 2010/03/04: EurActiv: EU mulls industry-wide goals as climate 'Plan B'
     Global agreements in areas such as cement or steel could offer a solution if the UN negotiation process fails to deliver a binding climate treaty, said Jo Leinen, chairman of the European Parliament's influential environment committee. Speaking in Brussels yesterday (3 March), Leinen conceded that Europe might need a Plan B for international climate change talks, considering the difficulties in reaching an agreement under the UN process, which requires unanimity. He pointed to the array of different views on the 'Copenhagen Accord' agreed in December, which was celebrated as a step forward by the US, China and India but regarded as a disappointment by Europe.
414. 2010/03/05: EurActiv: EU throws 2.3bn euros at gas, power connections
     The European Commission yesterday (4 March) cleared 2.3 billion euros from the EU's five-billion euro economic stimulus package to help finance 43 pipeline and electricity projects.
415. 2010/03/05: EurActiv: Steel, cement to cash free emission permit billions
     The ten companies holding the largest number of surplus emission allowances under the EU's cap-and-trade system stand to make a profit of 3.2 billion euros in the 2008-2012 trading period, according to a new analysis of EU data. The research, published on 3 March by climate NGO Sandbag, compared the emissions allowances that different companies had received under the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) with their actual emissions. It found that the overly generous free allocation of permits, compounded by a drop in production following the global downturn, had added significant assets to many companies' books.
416. 2010/03/05: EUO: Commission to table carbon emissions tax proposal
     The European Commission is planning in the next couple of months to table a proposal for a carbon tax, a move likely to cause division among member states. EU taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta told Brussels weekly European Voice that he is planning draft legislation on a minimum rate of tax on carbon emissions.
417. 2010/03/05: Grist: E.U.'s 'carbon fat cats' get rich off trading scheme, study finds
418. 2010/03/04: Reuters: EU climate funding threatened
     The European Union's development chief may be forced to name and shame France, Germany and Italy for not living up to their aid commitments, contributing to a roughly $17 billion funding gap this year.
419. 2010/03/05: BBC: EU considers general carbon tax
     The European Commission is planning an EU-wide minimum tax on carbon as part of the EU's green energy agenda - but the UK opposes such a move. The minimum tax would apply to fuel, natural gas and coal. The EU's new Taxation Commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, is working to revise the EU's existing Energy Taxation Directive, his spokeswoman said. Carbon taxes already exist in EU members Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In France the idea is being hotly debated. Responding to the EU plan on Thursday a UK government spokeswoman said: "We do not support the idea of a mandatory pan-European carbon tax."
420. 2010/03/03: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- GM Potato Approval 'A Big Step for Germany'
421. 2010/03/06: TreeHugger: How Did a Genetically Modified Potato Gain Approval in Europe?
422. 2010/03/05: DerSpiegel: Europe's Green Diplomacy -- Global Climate Governance Emerges as Test Case for EU
     The Lisbon Treaty provides new tools for the Europe Union to combat climate change. But Brussels will have to figure out how to put its new foreign service to use in order to avoid another failure of global environmental leadership like the one seen Copenhagen. Leading by example is no longer enough.
     The failure of the Copenhagen climate conference to broker a binding global climate treaty throws into question the European Union's strategy of operating multilaterally through the United Nations. The post-Copenhagen climate negotiations will be particularly challenging for Europe. In the multipolar world of climate governance, Europe lacks the veto power of China and the United States. Instead it must try to reconcile a fluid multipolar world with the European Union's vision of "effective multilateralism."

Meanwhile in Australia:

423. 2010/03/02: ABC(Au): Government admits failing to sell ETS
     Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has admitted the Government did a terrible job of explaining changes to its emissions trading scheme (ETS). In November last year the Government negotiated a series of amendments with then-Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and exempted agriculture from the scheme. The Opposition subsequently withdrew its support after Tony Abbott was elected leader. Mr Burke says the Government did not properly explain the benefits those changes would have for farmers.
424. 2010/03/01: ABC(Au): Lake Macquarie council is setting the pace for other coastal councils as it prepares a long-term global warming strategy
425. 2010/03/02: ABC(Au): Environment groups condemn Alcoa power deal
     Aluminium exporter, Alcoa, has signed a 20-year deal to use brown coal-fired electricity to power its Victorian smelters.
426. 2010/03/01: ABC(Au): Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson says he hopes a new wind energy map will help to attract more investment in wind projects
427. 2010/03/01: PlanetArk: Australia Overhauls Troubled Renewable Energy Scheme
428. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): The Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor says the [Victoria] State Government is prepared to investigate fears that noise from wind turbines is causing health problems
429. 2010/03/01: ForexYard:Reuters: Australia farmers fight miners for fertile soils
     Mining giants eye coal mines in rich farm land - Farmers concerned mines will damage water aquifers - Mining boom may limit Australia's farm output
430. 2010/03/01: Australian: Rudd sees Greens deal as climate solution
     Kevin Rudd has raised the prospect of a deal on climate with the Greens, who want an interim carbon price to end the Senate deadlock over an emissions trading scheme. But he is playing down the likelihood of using the impasse as a double dissolution election trigger in October, as talks continue between Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and the Greens' Christine Milne.
431. 2010/03/01: Reuters: AGL revives major wind farm plan after policy change
     Final OK to build windfarm subject to legislative changes - Macarthur wind farm to be built with Meridian Energy
432. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): Water efficiency required as supply dwindles
     The Minister for Water, Graham Jacobs says the Government must use waste water more efficiently in order to prepare for dwindling water supplies in WA's south-west. A CSIRO report has found water supplies across the south-west could fall by as much as 49 per cent by the year 2030 as a result of the drying climate.
433. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): The Grant District Council is developing a plan to help prepare the community for risks associated with climate change
434. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): Coastal councils lobby for climate change support
     A north Queensland mayor says it is vital coastal councils are given Government support to plan for rising sea levels and climate change. Mayors from across Australia attended a sea change conference in Byron Bay this week, identifying issues likely to face coastal councils. Whitsunday Mayor Mike Brunker says a list of recommendations has been drafted and will be presented to the state and federal governments for action.
435. 2010/03/05: ABC(Au): Councils demand climate change report action
     One of Queensland's executives on the National Sea Change Task Force says Australia's coastal councils want action on a parliamentary report into the effects of climate change on coastal areas. The task force hosted the Australian Coastal Councils Conference in Byron Bay, in northern New South Wales, this week. Last year, a federal parliamentary committee headed by federal Member for Throsby, Jennie George, handed down its report on managing coastal areas in the face of climate change. Cairns regional councillor Julia Leu says it was a focus at this week's conference.
436. 2010/03/06: Australian: States at sea over coastal levels
     Australia's six state governments have four different figures for predicted sea-level rise caused by climate change, leaving developers and councils confused and sparking calls for a federal takeover of coastal climate change planning.
437. 2010/03/03: EnergyDaily: Report: Australia's energy mix to change
438. 2010/03/05: OilDrum: The questions we don't ask: A review of the Australian Energy Resource Assessment
439. 2010/03/06: PeakEnergy: The questions we don't ask: A review of the Australian Energy Resource Assessment

     And in the Indian subcontinent:

440. 2010/03/02: Yale360: In India, a Clear Victor on The Climate Action Front
     In the internal struggle over the nation's climate policy, India's charismatic Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has triumphed and is pushing his country toward low-carbon policies both at home and internationally.
441. 2010/03/01: CCurrents: Is Kapil Sibal Behind The Draconian Provisions That Puts GM Critics In Jail?

     While in China:

442. 2010/03/02: Xinhuanet: Chinese political advisors asked for practical advice on climate change
443. 2010/02/28: Reuters: China says moving to enforce greenhouse gas goals
     China said on Sunday it will spell out greenhouse gas emissions goals and monitoring rules for regions and sectors in its next five-year plan, with monitoring to show it is serious about curbing emissions.
444. 2010/03/05: ChinaDaily: China sticks to int'l climate cooperation
     Reaching agreements on climate change will continue to be a key part of China's diplomatic work in 2010, said a government work report to be delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday morning at the convening of the annual National People's Congress.
445. 2010/03/06: TEC: While We Consider, China Constructs

     And in Japan:

446. 2010/03/03: BBerg: Japan's Draft Climate Bill Omits Mandatory Limit on Emissions
447. 2010/03/05: Reuters: Japan rift risks watering down climate bill
     A rift within Japan's government over legislation to fight climate change has raised the risk of it watering down plans for an emissions trading system that is at the core of its drive for greener policies. In its latest draft for a climate bill expected to be submitted to parliament next Friday, the environment ministry is vague on details of how the scheme would set emission limits and when trading would start. The environment ministry has favored setting volume caps on emissions. But the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has called for caps per unit of production, which would allow emissions to rise when businesses increase output. METI is under pressure from companies worried about limits on greenhouse gas emissions restricting growth.
448. 2010/03/03: CFO: Confusion reigns over Japanese climate bill

     Elsewhere in Asia:

449. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: Indonesia Allows Mining, Other Projects In Forests

     In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:

450. 2010/03/06: TStar: Budget takes the wind out of clean energy sails
     [...]
     ...officials in the renewable energy industry say that Ottawa's budget decisions have put in jeopardy the goal of producing 90 per cent of Canada's electricity from clean sources. Currently about 77 per cent of electricity is generated from non-emitting sources. "Basically it means the federal government has no policy to encourage renewable energy whatsoever," [Glen] Estill said. "That's shocking, isn't it?"
451. 2010/03/03: CanWest: Prentice plans end-run around 'aggressive press'
     Environment Minister Jim Prentice is planning to "push back" against criticism of policies announced in this week's federal budget as well as media coverage in the "aggressive press," a government official said Tuesday.
     [...]
     Prentice and previous environment ministers in the Harper government have struggled to generate positive media coverage of their policies, particularly regarding climate change. Environmental groups have frequently accused the government of focusing on communications instead of action.

Canada has asked CRU to withhold data from public release:

452. 2010/03/02: SolveClimate: Hacked Email Scientists: Temperature Data Withheld at Countries' Request -- Canada, Poland, Sweden Among Nations Refusing Release
453. 2010/03/01: BCLSB: Canada Withholding Climate Data!

     The Syncrude Trial promises to be a two month dog and pony show:

454. 2010/03/01: CBC: Syncrude asks for understanding -- Company faces federal and provincial charges in deaths of 1,600 ducks
455. 2010/03/02: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tar sands oil trial underway -- Charge: the death of 1,600 ducks
456. 2010/03/01: CBC: Syncrude duck death trial underway -- Case could set precedent for tailings pond operators
457. 2010/03/03: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Crude in Syncrude: ugliness at the tar sands duck trial
458. 2010/03/02: CBC: Images show dead ducks in Syncrude pond
     Dramatic pictures and video of ducks struggling in a toxic waste pond were released Tuesday at Syncrude's trial on environmental charges in the deaths of 1,606 ducks in a tailings pond in northern Alberta almost two years ago. On Tuesday, William Todd Powell, a senior wildlife biologist for the Alberta government, testified in a St. Albert courtroom about the video footage he took on his arrival at the pond shortly after the province learned about the duck deaths on April 28, 2008.
459. 2010/03/01: CBC: Syncrude trial to start Monday
     Lawyers for oilsands giant Syncrude are scheduled to appear in court in Alberta on Monday to defend the company against charges laid in the deaths of 1,600 ducks in a northern Alberta tailings pond in April 2008. The company has pleaded not guilty to charges under provincial and federal laws. Two months have been set aside for the trial, being held in St. Albert, Alta. Syncrude has apologized for the incident and says it has stepped up measures to scare birds away from their operations. The company doesn't dispute that the ducks perished in their tailings pond, but a lawyer for Syncrude said the charges won't accomplish anything. Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said the prosecution will proceed.
460. 2010/03/01: CBC: Syncrude duck death trial delayed
     The trial involving oilsands giant Syncrude's responsibility for duck deaths was delayed Monday morning as lawyers for the company filed a motion requesting the judge to consider removing himself from the case.
461. 2010/03/04: CBC: Air cannons were at Syncrude pond, court told

     The mouth of the St. Lawrence is unusally ice free:

462. 2010/03/01: CBC: Pack ice scarce off Eastern Canada -- Lack of ice could hurt seal population
     A Canadian Coast Guard official said Monday that many parts of the ocean near Newfoundland and Labrador are devoid of pack ice -- a condition that hasn't been seen in at least 40 years. "It's been an unusual year this year, to the point that there is no ice. There have been high temperatures, high winds, and as a result we have very little ice," said Dan Frampton, the Coast Guard's supervisor of ice operations. "By this time of year, pack ice is usually down to the St. John's area." Frampton said icebreakers have been idle because there's no pack ice in the Strait of Belle Isle between Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula and southern Labrador, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence or further north off central Labrador. "Our data says we haven't seen a year like this since 1969 but when I took a closer look at it, it looks like this year there is actually less ice than 1969," he said." The northeast coast [of Newfoundland] is wide open."

In BC, the throne speech drew mainly flak:

463. 2010/03/02: TreeHugger: BC Premier Blames "Spring Olympics" on Global Warming
464. 2010/03/02: G&M;: Campbell blames climate change for 'Spring Games' -- B.C. Premier boosts campaign against global warming after soggy winter disrupts events
465. 2010/03/03: CanWest: Taxpayers get a break on 'revenue neutral' -- B.C.'s new carbon tax was supposed to be revenue neutral, and in its first year it almost was
466. 2010/03/01: CanWest: Proponents, foes seek 'clarity' from Victoria on clean power strategy -- B.C. legislation will serve as template for sector development
     Both proponents and critics of private-sector power development are ready for a quick shift into post-Olympic mode as the provincial legislature reopens this week. The British Columbia government has promised to introduce a Clean Energy Act that may emerge as a highlight in the introduction of Tuesday's budget, if only because the government is facing a huge deficit as the global recession continues to resonate through the provincial economy. Premier Gordon Campbell has been promising the act will simplify and stabilize the process to develop renewable energy projects in B.C., and attract new investment and job opportunities. The Independent Power Producers Association of B.C. recently released a PricewaterhouseCoopers study suggesting the sector could attract $29 billion in capital spending by 2020. Scrutiny of the government's actions will be intense.
467. 2010/03/04: CanWest: Government promotes 'dirty fuel,' activists say -- Not enough on climate change, group charges
     The provincial budget helps "dirty fuel" at the cost of clean energy, says environmental groups, pointing to large incentives to the oil and gas industry, cuts to environment and forest ministry staff and small clean-energy incentives. High hopes raised by the carbon tax and Premier Gordon Campbell's commitment to fighting climate change were shattered by the budget, said Charles Campbell of the Dogwood Initiative. Charles Campbell estimates that $35 million over three years for the LiveSmart program and $100 million over three years for development of clean energy is less than 10 per cent of what the province will spend supporting the oil, gas and mining industries. Matt Horne of the Pembina Institute said the budget does not do enough to help B.C. meet its commitment of reducing carbon emissions by 33 per cent by 2020, pointing to fossil-fuel-friendly measures such as carbon tax loopholes, royalty breaks and oil and gas road infrastructure. Sierra Club executive director George Heyman said he likes the revival of LiveSmart, a program to help make homes energy efficient, but it pales in comparison to the $282 million in subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
468. 2010/03/03: Tyee: 'Hangover Budget' Pleases Few -- Housing spending up, but Libs draw fire from health, education, environment sectors

     Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:

469. 2010/03/03: TEC: Industrial efficiency plan for Ontario, finally
470. 2010/03/04: TreeHugger: Aiming for 300 Million Negawatts: Ontario to Announce Energy Efficiency Program for Big Industry

     Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

471. 2010/03/01: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tar sands oil lobby revolving door
472. 2010/03/03: CBC: Drilling industry sees rebound -- But only in specific areas
     Canada's hard-hit oil and gas drilling industry has noticed an upswing in business. Calgary-based Trinidad Drilling said Wednesday that 90 per cent of its Canadian drilling fleet is now active.
473. 2010/03/03: SolveClimate: Report Warns Oil Sands Investors of Toxic Wastewater's Financial Risk -- Government Mandated Clean-Up Could Wipe Out Earnings of Biggest Producer
474. 2010/03/04: OilChange: RBC is causing an "environmental holocaust"
475. 2010/03/05: OilChange: Welcome to Canada's AvaTAR Sands
476. 2010/03/05: Reuters: Environmentalists see "Avatar" in oil sands
     Environmentalists aim to hitch their stars to James Cameron's "Avatar" by trying to draw parallels between the sci-fi blockbuster and Canada's oil sands industry ahead of Sunday's Academy Awards.
477. 2010/03/04: Guardian(UK): A fund for climate chaos
     RBS investment in tar sand exploitation is a highly irresponsible use of public bailout money
478. 2010/03/01: HuffPo: The Attempted Corporate Greenwash of Canada's Dirty Tar Sands
479. 2010/03/04: TStar: Executives get grilled on oilsands lending -- Questions raised at annual meeting as bank reports strong quarter
     Top executives and directors of Royal Bank of Canada faced tough questions from shareholders on environmental and lending policies at its annual general meeting in Toronto Wednesday. The inquiries about the bank's lending practices to energy and oil companies, some of which operate in the Alberta oilsands, came as RBC reported profits of almost $1.5 billion for its first quarter.
480. 2010/03/05: NRDC:SwitchBoard: It's only like adding 20 million cars to the roads, eh?

     Also in Alberta, they won't do anything about the tar sands, but they're polishing the image:

481. 2010/03/01: NYT:CW: Alberta Works Quietly to Improve Image of Oil Sands
482. 2010/03/01: OilChange: "Morally Bankrupt" British Bank Funds Tar Sands

     In the North, they are arguing about the polar bear hunt:

483. 2010/03/05: CBC: Baffin Bay polar bear hunting quota to be cut
     The Nunavut government is reducing the number of polar bears that hunters can kill in the Baffin Bay region, where polar bear numbers have been disputed by scientists and Inuit. Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk announced Friday that starting this year, the hunting quota, also known as the total allowable harvest, for polar bears in Baffin Bay will be cut by 10 bears annually for four years. That means the current quota of 105 Baffin Bay polar bears will be reduced to 65 after four years -- similar to the number recommended to Shewchuk by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.
484. 2010/03/03: CBC: Reject polar bear trade ban, Nunavut urges
     Nunavut's environment minister is asking leaders around the world to vote against a U.S. proposal that would ban the global commercial trade of products derived from polar bears. Daniel Shewchuk has written to the 175 countries that have signed the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), as they prepare to vote on the U.S. proposal later this month in Doha, Qatar. The Nunavut government objects to the proposed trade ban, arguing that polar bear populations in the North are not in danger of extinction.
485. 2010/03/06: G&M;: Canada opposes U.S. effort to ban polar bear trade
     Nunavut defends bear hunt in fierce dispute over an icon of the fight against climate change
486. 2010/03/06: TStar: Nunavut cuts quota for polar bear hunt -- Reduces number to be harvested in Baffin Bay in bid to avoid sanctions

     In the Maritimes:

487. 2010/03/05: CBC: N.S. to announce wind-turbine plant
     Nova Scotia has reached an agreement with the South Korean firm Daewoo to open a $90-million plant to manufacture wind turbine towers and blades. Premier Darrell Dexter is set to make the announcement Friday in Trenton, a town a few kilometres north of New Glasgow. The Pictou County plant will initially create about 200 jobs. Deputy premier Frank Corbett said the operation would eventually employ more than 400 people. Daewoo will reportedly invest $20 million into the plant, with the province contributing $60 million and the federal government $10 million. That will give the province a 49 per cent ownership stake in the operation.

The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:

488. 2010/03/02: Eureka: Seeing the hidden services of nature
489. 2010/03/01: EnergyBulletin: Two Meanings of "Economic Growth" by Herman Daly
490. 2010/03/01: OilDrum: Dennis Meadows: "Growth versus Development"
491. 2010/03/03: PeakEnergy: True cost of oil 'not reflected at the bowser' [ie. gas pump]
492. 2010/03/01: CBaker: Finding a cure for the insidious cancers of "hope" and "faith"
493. 2010/02/28: CCurrents: "Getting Rid Of Hope And Faith": Abe Osheroff On The Struggle For A Better World
494. 2010/03/01: CCurrents: Marx's Ecology And The Ecological Revolution
495. 2010/03/03: AlterNet: We're Screwing the Environment the Same Way We Screwed the Economy
496. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: The Earth has its own set of rules
497. 2010/03/03: G&M;:JR: We're all PIGS now
498. 2010/03/07: PeakEnergy: Dennis Meadows: "Growth versus Development" [video]
499. 2010/03/04: CCurrents: Whither Our Exit?
500. 2010/03/04: CCurrents: Life After Growth [Heinberg]
501. 2010/03/01: MR: What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism

     And the reason they keep getting a free lunch is...:

502. 2010/03/01: NRDC:SwitchBoard: When the oil and gas industry trashes public land, taxpayers often clean up the mess

     IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:

503. 2010/03/03: EnergyBulletin: Food and Population

     Apocalypso anyone?

504. 2010/02/28: ResourceInsights: An uneven collapse (Hint: It's already happening)
505. 2010/03/04: DVoice: Whither Our Exit?
506. 2010/02/02: PeakWatch: Economic Growth And Climate Change --- No Way Out?

     As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

507. 2010/02/28: ClimateP: Foreign Policy's "Guide to Climate Skeptics" includes Roger Pielke, Jr. -- meanwhile, Andy Revkin campaigns for him to be an IPCC author!
508. 2010/03/04: ABC(Au): Climate change reporting [on ABC(Au)]: balanced or biased?
509. 2010/03/03: TWTB: Climate communication and public health
510. 2010/03/02: DeSmogBlog: Is AccuWeatherGuy Joe Bastardi Stupid or Dishonest?
511. 2010/03/01: TP:WR: The 'Climate Change Debate' Is Science Versus Snake Oil
512. 2010/03/03: ClimateP: "Just the facts" on climate science
513. 2010/03/06: MTobis: Why the Press Can't Remind Us

     While activists search for effective communication techniques:

514. 2010/03/01: TEC: Communicating Climate Change: It's Okay to Ignore the Crap
515. 2010/03/04: Warming101: Unfortunate Grist climate communication cluelessness

     And scientists ponder the travails of becoming PR flacks:

516. 2010/03/04: EnvChange: Speaking Science to the Public
517. 2010/03/04: TCoE: Mind the (communication) gap

     George Monbiot demonstrates the use of controversy:

518. 2010/03/04: TreeHugger: Are Solar Feed-In Tariffs a Rip Off?

     Here is something for your library:

519. 2010/02/25: Nature: [Book Review] The new world order
     The United States and European Union will face off against China and Russia as climate change starts to alter the geopolitical gameboard. _Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map_ by Cleo Paskal
520. 2010/03/01: NatureCF: The new world order [Book plug] _Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map_ by Cleo Paskal
521. 2010/03/04: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Seeing Further: The Story of Science & the Royal Society_ by Bill Bryson

     And for your film & video enjoyment:

522. 2010/03/01: Deltoid: The empirical evidence for man-made global warming [Sinclair video]
523. 2010/03/05: Deltoid: Naomi Oreskes on Merchants of Doubt [video]
524. 2010/03/06: AlterNet: The Skinny on Oscar-Nominated Documentaries 'Food Inc.' and 'The Cove'

     Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

525. 2010/03/02: WarmingLaw: Fifth Circuit to Rehear Katrina Victims 'Nuisance' Suit En Banc
526. 2010/03/02: EarthTimes: EU court throws out ArcelorMittal's challenge to emissions scheme
527. 2010/03/02: Yahoo:AP: ArcelorMittal loses court challenge on emissions
     The world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal SA on Tuesday lost a legal challenge that sought to exempt it from the European Union's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system. The EU's general court said the company could not annul the EU law that issues pollution permits to major carbon dioxide emitters and loads them with costs if they pollute more than allowed.
528. 2010/03/03: PlanetArk: Lawsuit Filed Over GMO Crops In Nature Refuge
     Environmentalists filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Monday accusing the service of illegally allowing farmers to grow genetically modified crops in a national wildlife refuge. The groups said up to 80 other national wildlife refuges across the United States are now growing genetically engineered crops and could be vulnerable to similar legal action. Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Joshua Winchell said the government agency had no comment. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Delaware by the Widener Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic on behalf of Delaware Audubon Society, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Center for Food Safety. The groups want the court to force the Fish & Wildlife Service to remove genetically engineered crops from the National Wildlife Refuge at Bombay Hook in Delaware, alleging the crops are a result of illegal cooperative farming agreements.
529. 2010/03/01: MoJo: The Chamber of Commerce vs. Climate Science
     The business lobby's challenge to carbon regulations probably won't convince a court of law. The court of public opinion is another matter.
530. 2010/02/25: OnEarth: Feds Wait as Whitebark Pines Die, Prompting Lawsuit
531. 2010/02/25: NRDC: Losing Our Forests: NRDC Sues to Protect Iconic Whitebark Pine -- Unique High Elevation Trees Threatened by Warming Climate
532. 2010/03/04: Grist: Citizen Hurricane -- Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse-gas emitters
533. 2010/03/03: TerraDaily: Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse gas emitters
534. 2010/03/04: AFTIC: Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse-gas emitters
535. 2010/03/04: Yahoo:AFP: Katrina victims seek to sue greenhouse gas emitters

     Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:

536. 2010/03/01: PhysOrg: Panasonic's Si-alloy anode technology to offer 30% increase in battery capacity
537. 2010/03/02: PhysOrg: Hydroelectric generator can be carried like a backpack
538. 2010/03/02: TEC: Wind vs. Natural Gas
539. 2010/03/02: PeakEnergy: Big potential seen in outback hot rocks
540. 2010/03/02: PeakEnergy: Australia's oil reserves 'dwindling'
541. 2010/02/28: OilDrum: Nuclear weapons and oil shale (Tech Talk)
542. 2010/03/01: TEC: Bloom off the rose
543. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: 'Distributed energy' has power to save billions
     Wide-scale adoption of low-emission distributed energy could reduce the cost of transitioning to a low-carbon future by as much a $130 billion by 2050, according to a new report released today by CSIRO.
544. 2010/03/03: CBC: Oil closes above $80 US -- Gains despite higher-than-expected inventories
545. 2010/03/03: OilChange: BP looks to Iraq and long-term to the Arctic
546. 2010/03/03: APSmith: The problems with combined heat and power (CHP critique part 3)
547. 2010/03/04: PeakEnergy: India Studies Feasibility of Over 100 MW Of Tidal Energy Projects
548. 2010/03/04: SolveClimate: Trash-Based Biofuels Could Alleviate Land Use, Emissions Issues -- Companies Converting Municipal Waste to Ethanol
549. 2010/03/05: EurActiv: Dutch-led renewable energy venture sets standard [heat pump in abandoned coal mine]
550. 2010/03/05: ClimateP: When it comes to winning the clean energy race, is the US already 'out of the running?'
551. 2010/03/03: SeekingAlpha: U.S. Natural Gas Hockey Stick: The Technology-Driven Energy Boom
552. 2010/03/05: PhysOrg: Catalyst could power homes on a bottle of water, produce hydrogen on-site (w/ Video)
     With one bottle of drinking water and four hours of sunlight, MIT chemist Dan Nocera claims that he can produce 30 KWh of electricity, which is enough to power an entire household in the developing world. With about three gallons of river water, he could satisfy the daily energy needs of a large American home. The key to these claims is a new, affordable catalyst that uses solar electricity to split water and generate hydrogen.
553. 2010/03/06: CCP: Can solid oxide fuel cells like the Bloom box remake the energy landscape?

     To what extent will control of distributed power generation become an issue?

554. 2010/03/05: SolveClimate: Hawaiian Utility Fights Solar Industry Over Private Installations -- U.S. Utilities Make Their Own Plays for Control of Distributed Power

     Fracking is back:

555. 2010/03/02: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Live on tape: dirty oil and gas waste being released into the environment
556. 2010/03/03: ClimateP: Getting to the bottom of natural gas fracking

     The answer my friend...:

557. 2010/03/01: SolveClimate: British Wind Industry, Aided by Mitsubishi, Awaits Wind Manufacturing Revival
558. 2010/03/02: Yahoo:AFP: Sweden to build 2,000 new wind turbines: [Enterprise and Energy] minister [Maud Olofsson]
559. 2010/03/01: Reuters: AGL revives major wind farm plan after policy change
     Final OK to build windfarm subject to legislative changes - Macarthur wind farm to be built with Meridian Energy
560. 2010/03/04: TreeHugger: US Gains 2500 Gigawatts of Wind Power Potential Thanks to Taller Turbines
561. 2010/03/03: TreeHugger: Sweden to Build 2,000 New Wind Turbines, Aims for 50% Renewables by 2020
562. 2010/03/04: TEC: High Altitude Wind Power - A Review
563. 2010/03/06: PeakEnergy: U.S. Could Generate 37 Million GWh of Wind Power Per Year

     Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

564. 2010/03/02: PlanetArk: SunPower Sets 32 MW [of solar panels] Supply Deal With Toshiba
565. 2010/03/01: Yahoo:Reuters: Sustainable Energy [Technologies Ltd] bets on Ontario solar market
566. 2010/03/01: TechRev: Scaling Up Solar Power
     Applied Materials makes the equipment needed to produce the biggest solar panels in the world.
567. 2010/03/02: PhysOrg: French energy giant EDF is building the world's biggest photovoltaic solar power plant at an abandoned NATO air base and plans to have it open by 2012, a spokesman said Tuesday
568. 2010/03/03: PhysOrg: Trapping Sunlight with Silicon Nanowires
569. 2010/03/03: OilDrum: Possible Breakthrough in Solar Thermal Costs for Industrial Process Heat
570. 2010/03/03: Yahoo:AP: Qatar, Germany set up solar power joint venture
     A state-run foundation in the natural gas-rich state of Qatar says it is setting up a joint venture plant with Germany's SolarWorld to produce [3,500 tons of polysilicon annually] the main ingredient in solar panels.
571. 2010/03/01: BBerg: Mitsubishi Electric Aims to Triple Solar [PV] Production
572. 2010/03/03: LBL: Trapping Sunlight with Silicon Nanowires
573. 2010/03/03: TEC: Will Solar Prices Fall into Grid Parity?

     On the coal front:

574. 2010/03/02: BWeek: Company pursues coal mines northeast of Billings [Montana]

     Biofuel bickering abounds:

575. 2010/03/04: PlanetArk: Vireol To Build Third Major UK Bioethanol Refinery
576. 2010/03/05: PlanetArk: EU Drafts Reveal Biofuel's "Environmental Damage"

     The nuclear energy controversy continues:

577. 2010/03/02: WaPo: Nuclear projects face financial obstacles
578. 2010/03/01: SolveClimate: Undoing the Mothballs: Long-Abandoned Nuclear Reactors Eyed for Restart -- TVA Looks to Finish Construction of Alabama Reactors Started in 1974
579. 2010/03/03: SolveClimate: Trouble Mounts for Entergy Following Leaks at Vermont Nuclear Plant
580. 2010/03/01: BBerg: Georgia [USA] Seeks $2.5 Billion for First Nuclear Plants in 30 Years
581. 2010/03/01: BNC: Cheap, green nuclear power?
582. 2010/03/04: NewScientist: Hybrid fusion: the third nuclear option
583. 2010/03/04: NewScientist: The US is lagging on nuclear reactor technology
584. 2010/03/03: IndiaTimes: Closed N-fuel cycle must to mitigate climate change threat
     World scientific community has acknowledged that nuclear energy is a mitigating one in the context of climate change threat, but to make it sustainable, completing the nuclear fuel cycle is a must, a top scientist has said. "By closing the nuclear fuel cycle with plutonium, the same amount of uranium can produce 50 times more power and if we close the cycle with thorium, it is much more," Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, R Chidambaram has said. He was delivering a lecture on 'Nuclear Energy: Energy Security & Climate Change' at the University of Mumbai yesterday.
585. 2010/03/05: BBC: Is fusion power really viable?
586. 2010/03/05: Reuters: U.S. needs fresh look at nuclear waste issue: Chu
587. 2010/03/05: NBF: Nuclear Roundup- China Increasing Companies Allowed to Build Nuclear Reactors, Belgium Making Accelerator Driven Reactor, Li Ka-Shing Will Bid for UK part of EDF

     Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

588. 2010/03/07: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil And The Tea Party Movement
589. 2010/03/04: OilDrum: Food Security and Peak Oil: A Message to Local Citizens and Leadership

     More people are talking about the electrical grid:

590. 2010/03/06: PeakEnergy: IBM's Chinese Smart Grid Ambitions

     And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

591. 2010/03/01: Slate: The Efficient Life -- Slate wants your best ideas for how to live a cheaper, more energy-efficient life.
592. 2010/03/01: Grist: What are your best ideas for saving energy at home?
593. 2010/03/05: TreeHugger: Energy-Saving Dynamically Tinted Glass Could Make Most Buildings More Efficient
594. 2010/03/04: OregonLive: Energy efficiency: The key to our clean energy future

     Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:

595. 2010/03/02: EurActiv: Electric cars 'no greener than diesel', study claims
     Switching from diesel to electric cars will not dent transport's carbon footprint over the next 15 years as long as Europe's electricity supply remains based on fossil fuels, according to Danish analysis. The study, prepared for the Danish Petroleum Industry Association by consultancy Ea Energy Analyses, compared the CO2 emissions of cars using different engine technologies from petrol and diesel to hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars.
596. 2010/03/02: TreeHugger: Volkswagen Plans to Sell 300,000 Electric Cars a Year by 2018
597. 2010/03/02: AutoBG: Daimler bonds with BYD for Chinese-market electric car
598. 2010/03/01: BBC: Carmakers' next crutch: Green subsidies
599. 2010/03/02: SolveClimate: EVO's Deal with Lotus Highlights the Other Part of the Electric Vehicle Equation -- Move Over Batteries, Here Comes the EV Powertrain
600. 2010/03/02: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales 10.4 Million SAAR in February
601. 2010/03/02: CalcRisk: General Motors: February Sales increase 12% compared to Feb 2009
602. 2010/03/04: Grist: Hand-made electric cars serve a niche market in Japan
603. 2010/03/04: NYT: Electric Cars Will Get More Popular - Shell CEO
604. 2010/03/06: TreeHugger: 10 Things That Could Suddenly Make Americans Love Electric Vehicles
605. 2010/03/06: AutoBG: U.S. Annual Energy Outlook predicts alternative vehicles" won't top 50% market share in 2035

     The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

606. 2010/03/02: TreeHugger: Eight Of Ten Climate Registry Companies Reducing Carbon Emissions Regardless of Government Policy
607. 2010/03/01: Grist: Dow trying to have it both ways on climate?
608. 2010/03/02: WiredSci: 10 Companies Reinventing Our Energy Infrastructure
609. 2010/03/05: SolveClimate: Record Number of U.S. Companies Face Shareholder Concerns About Climate Risks -- 40% Leap in Shareholder Resolutions; Coal Ash Gets Targeted
610. 2010/03/04: EnvFin: Shareholders target climate laggards in proxy season
     Activist shareholders are turning up the heat on US and Canadian companies to disclose climate change-related risks and opportunities, an effort that is expected to intensify further with new disclosure guidance from US regulators. A record 95 shareholder resolutions related to climate change were filed with 82 US and Canadian companies, representing a 40% increase from the 2009 proxy season, according to Boston-based Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups. The effort is expected to intensify now that the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued guidance clarifying what publicly traded companies need to disclose about the material effects that climate change has on their business.

Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

611. 2010/03/03: Tyee: Are the Green Police Bad for the Environment?
     Audi sells cars by making fun of eco-cops. It's greenwash, but don't ignore the ad's appeal. Audi's 'Green Police' Super Bowl commercial perfectly captures the successes and failures of modern environmentalism.
     [...]
     The commercial aims for laughter, but the butt of the joke is unclear. The geeky yet authoritarian green police -- who Audi calls "caricatures of today's green movement" -- are an obvious target. And yet the legitimacy of environmental concern is central to Audi's message.
612. 2010/03/04: GreenGrok: GE Is on a Coal-Beautification Mission [gwash]
613. 2010/03/01: HuffPo: The Attempted Corporate Greenwash of Canada's Dirty Tar Sands

     Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

614. 2010/03/01: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for March 1...
615. 2010/03/02: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for March 2...
616. 2010/03/03: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for March [3]...
617. 2010/03/04: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for March 4th...
618. 2010/03/05: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for March 5...

     The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

619. 2010/03/02: SkeptiSci: Every skeptic argument ever used
620. 2010/03/01: DM:CCM: Mike Mann on Point of Inquiry: Climate Denial Astroturfing Online?
621. 2010/03/02: IoD: Who are the people in your denial neighborhood?
622. 2010/03/02: Deltoid: Leakegate + The Australian's War on Science 46
623. 2010/03/02: BCLSB: Marc Morano Wields the Whip!
624. 2010/03/01: Deltoid: Leakegate: Jonathan Leake gets Sunday Times banned from EurekAlert
625. 2010/03/01: AFTIC: Some great work from Deltoid
626. 2010/03/01: ClimateP: Accuweather's Joe Bastardi admits, "Earth continues warmest winter since satellite measurements started" and "Feb should be warmest on record!!!"
627. 2010/03/01: ClimateP: Clive Hamilton: Manufacturing a scientific scandal
628. 2010/02/26: FP: The FP Guide to Climate Skeptics
629. 2010/03/01: TDC: Cyber bullying rises as climate data are questioned -- 'That is chilling the work of science in the agencies.'
630. 2010/03/01: SciAm: Cyber Bullying Intensifies as Climate Data Questioned
     Researchers must purge e-mail in-boxes daily of threatening correspondence, simply part of the job of being a climate scientist
631. 2010/03/03: ClimateP: Juan Cole's advice to climate scientists on how to avoid being Swift-boated
632. 2010/03/02: ClimateP: The rise of anti-science cyber bullying -- Morano says climate scientists "deserve to be publicly flogged."
633. 2010/03/02: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Who's behind the attack campaigns against cleaner transportation fuels? Part 1
634. 2010/03/03: JQuiggin: Lindzen and no statistically significant warming since 1995
635. 2010/03/03: TCoE: On a collision course with tragedy
636. 2010/03/02: Deltoid: Leakegate: Jonathan Leake strikes back
637. 2010/03/02: ClimateWTF: Contradictions
638. 2010/03/02: DeepClimate: Round and round we go with Lindzen, Motl and Jones
639. 2010/03/02: HotTopic: Sorry seems to be the hardest word
640. 2010/02/28: ClimateWTF: Willis Eschenbach Deconstructed
641. 2010/02/28: TCoE: Patrick Michaels, bought and paid for
642. 2010/02/28: Deltoid: Andrew Bolt takes back "nice words"
643. 2010/03/03: AFTIC: Lambert vs Monckton
644. 2010/03/04: JQuiggin: Birds of a feather [creationist & denialists]
645. 2010/03/05: JQuiggin: List of the clueless
646. 2010/03/05: RS: Naomi Oreskes on Merchants of Doubt
647. 2010/03/04: MTobis: They Got Nothin'
648. 2010/03/03: LA Times: Texas-based refiners pledge to fund fight against California's global warming law
     Valero and Tesoro have reportedly pledged as much as $2 million to help gather signatures for a ballot initiative to suspend the greenhouse-gas-cutting law until the jobless rate improves.
649. 2010/03/03: TP:WR: Heritage Foundation Has Lost Its Grip On Reality, Calls Science 'Magic'
650. 2010/03/03: GreenFyre: The deniers are discrediting themselves
651. 2010/03/07: SkeptiSci: Does record snowfall disprove global warming?
652. 2010/03/06: ClimateShifts: No Andrew, the Arctic is still melting [d]
653. 2010/03/06: ERabett: Idiots Delight...the new best thing in the denialsphere...
654. 2010/03/06: TPL: The Facts
655. 2010/03/06: UNDispatch: On Green-Bashing
656. 2010/03/05: CSW: E-mails show climate scientists struggling with push-back on anti-science political assault
657. 2010/03/05: NatureTGB: Internal NAS climate discussion goes live -- The emails were obtained by the Washington Times
658. 2010/03/05: ClimateShifts: NOW he tells us: Andrew Bolt, changes position, admits planet is indeed warming
659. 2010/03/05: CSW: Naomi Oreskes: How a handful of scientists obscure the truth on global warming
660. 2010/03/05: MoD: Contradictory denier arguments

     They're still talking about Inhofe:

661. 2010/03/01: CSW: UK Guardian: "US Senate's top climate sceptic accused of waging 'McCarthyite witch-hunt'"
662. 2010/03/02: DeSmogBlog: Inhofe Wants to Prosecute "Criminal" Scientists
663. 2010/03/01: Guardian(UK): US Senate's top climate sceptic accused of waging 'McCarthyite witch-hunt'
     James Inhofe calls for criminal investigation of climate scientists as senators prepare proposal that would ditch cap and trade
664. 2010/03/01: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Are you now or have you ever been a climate scientist?

     Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

665. 2010/03/03: GreenGrok: The 'Clean' in 'Clean Coal' Downgraded Again
666. 2010/03/06: NRDC:SwitchBoard: 'Dirty Pretty Things': Coal Ash Exposed
667. 2010/03/05: PhysOrg: Disposal of spilled coal ash a long, winding trip
     More than a year after a Tennessee coal ash spill created one of the worst environmental disasters of its kind in U.S. history, the problem is seeping into several other states.

Then there was the miscellaneous news and commentary:

668. 2010/03/02: TEC: Climate debate missing the point
669. 2010/03/02: AFTIC: A chilling effect on a warming theory
670. 2010/03/02: CC: Global Warming Maps/Graphs
671. 2010/02/26: FAIR: OJ and Global Warming: Fossil Fuels Have Their Own Dream Team
672. 2010/03/01: EnergyBulletin: The US in a high emissions scenario
673. 2010/03/01: TreeHugger: How Much Carbon Do Different Forests Store & What Size Offsets Your Driving For a Year?
674. 2010/03/02: Grist: Bill Gates and our innovation addiction: A recipe for climate inaction
675. 2010/03/02: ClimateShifts: Why melting glaciers means cleaner, cheaper cars...
676. 2010/03/03: AFTIC: Residual Analysis: Statistical Proof of Anthropogenic Global Warming v2.0
677. 2010/03/03: NatureCF: Climate Change in Quotes
678. 2010/03/03: RealClimate: Climate change commitments
679. 2010/03/04: ScienceInsider: Researchers Seek Funding to Study How Climate Change Influenced Human Evolution
680. 2010/03/04: JFleck: Climate Coverage: A Cheap Media Case Study
681. 2010/03/05: TCoE: Climate change and the 80/2050 challenge
682. 2010/03/05: DeSmogBlog: Canabalizing Environmentalism: Tzeporah Berman under attack
683. 2010/03/05: DWWSJ: A Potent Reminder That Scientific Facts Live Independent of Public Opinion
684. 2010/03/04: Stoat: Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes
685. 2010/03/03: MoD: Quote of the day [Easterbrook]
686. 2010/03/04: Nation: The Wrong Kind of Green
687. 2010/03/06: TreeHugger: The Nation Magazine Rips US eNGOs. Are They Right?
688. 2010/03/07: D-HW: Plus ça change [PopSci GW]
689. 2010/03/05: JFleck: Much Ado About Not Much?
690. 2010/03/06: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate debate missing the point [Brook]
691. 2010/03/05: EarthPM: Blowing away the records
692. 2010/03/05: TEC: Climate Change Leaders On the Defensive: How Did We Get Here?

     And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:

693. SkeptiSci: Global Warming Links, sorted by argument
694. SourceWatch on Marc Morano
695. Wiki: Photosynthesis
696. PLATFORM London
697. Change - Environment
698. USGS:WoodsHole: Gas Hydrate Studies
699. RS: Resilience Science
700. 72 Hours for Clean American Power
701. EarthPM [PM as in Project Management]
702. ProPublica: Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat
703. Wiki: Atmospheric methane
704. TripleCrisis -- Global Perspectives on Finance, Development, and Environment
705. DeSmogBlog - Clearing the air on climate change
706. Rising Tide (UK) - Taking Action on the Root Causes of Climate Change
707. Climate Justice Now!
708. Columbia: Dr. James E. Hansen [web page]
709. CDP: The Carbon Disclosure Project
710. Wiki: Carbon cycle

     ---

     Low Key Plug

     My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Foreword and the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

     <regards>
     -het

     P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

     ---

     "Call it mother if you will -- but Earth is not a doting parent." -Isaac Asimov

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     • Environmental Issues
     • ---
     • H.E. Taylor (homepage)