Another Week of GW News, July 22, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, Australian Cap&Trade, CU-Boulder SLR Report, North Pole Swim, Darfur
• Hurricanes, Proenza, Temperatures, el Niño, Glaciers, Tuvulu, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts, Rats, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Aviation, Building Codes, Adaptation, Planktos
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Strategy
• Politics, International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Apocalypso, Books
• Energy, NPC Report, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

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It's always nice to start with a larf:

• 2006/10/10: ClimateCartoons: Easter Bunny Island
• 2007/07/16: AFTIC: Climate Chaos Labrats
• 2007/07/21: ClimateP: Climate Cartoon of the Week (Stivers)

  John Howard has announced a cap-and-trade system just in time for the next election:

• 2007/07/19: NEN: Australian Cap-and-Trade Test Set For 2011
• 2007/07/17: ABC(Au): [Victorian Premier, Steve] Bracks backs PM's carbon emissions plan
• 2007/07/17: ABC(Au): Carbon emissions plan needs targets: lobby group [Climate Institute of Australia]
• 2007/07/17: ABC(Au): Businesses urge Govt to put price on carbon
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): Major [Australian] parties take climate change row online
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): WA Greens critical of PM's climate change plan
• 2007/07/17: NewScientist: Australia announces 'cap and trade' CO2 scheme
• 2007/07/17: ABC(Au): Howard announces emissions trading system
• 2007/07/22: ABC(Au): Govt climate change initiatives a 'PR exercise' [says GreenPeace]

  A report from CU-Boulder on sea level rise has twisted and turned through the media:

• 2007/07/20: TruthOut: Sea Levels May Rise By Nine Inches This Century
• 2007/07/21: ClimateP: The Independent blows the sea level rise story
• 2007/07/16: WaPo: Clues to Rising Seas Are Hidden in Polar Ice
• 2007/07/20: PhysOrg: Study: Glaciers And Ice Caps To Dominate Sea-Level Rise Through 21st Century
• 2007/07/20: TerraDaily: Glaciers And Ice Caps To Dominate Sea Level Rise This Century
• 2007/07/20: ENN: Beware Melting Glaciers This Century
• 2007/07/19: Yahoo: Melting glaciers raise sea level more than polar ice sheets
• 2007/07/20: OilChange: Sea Levels May Rise by 9 Inches This Century
• 2007/07/19: NewScientist: Melting glaciers will dominate sea-level rise
• 2007/07/19: Eureka: Glaciers and ice caps to dominate sea level rise this century, says CU-Boulder study
• 2007/07/19: Colorado: Glaciers And Ice Caps To Dominate Sea-Level Rise Through 21st Century, CU-Boulder Study Says

  Meanwhile in the mad dogs & Englishmen department:

• 2007/07/16: ABC(Au): Man swims in North Pole sea
• 2007/07/16: CBC: North Pole swim 'hostile' and 'surreal,' says British man
• 2007/07/15: Canoe: Ice man swims Arctic waters
  A British swimmer who says he wants to wake up politicians around the world to the threat of climate change has successfully completed a kilometre-long swim in the freezing water of the North Pole.
• 2007/07/16: TCE: Man Swims at the North Pole
• 2007/07/16: DailyMail: Briton astounds the world by becoming the first person to swim to North Pole

  This smells like magical thinking, but eventually the truth will out:

• 2007/07/20: BBC: Ancient Darfur lake 'is dried up'
  A vast underground lake that scientists hoped could help to end violence in Sudan's Darfur region probably dried up thousands of years ago, an expert says. Alain Gachet, who used satellite images and radar in his research, said the area received too little rain and had the wrong rock types for water storage. But the French geologist said there was enough water elsewhere in Darfur to end the fighting and rebuild the economy. Analysts say competition for resources such as water is behind the unrest.
• 2007/07/19: Guardian(UK): Ancient lake could help ease Darfur tensions
• 2007/07/18: KSJT: AP, Boston Globe, etc: Old lake water under desert may bring relief, better chance of peace to Darfur
• 2007/07/18: TCE: Darfur, Climate & Responsibility
• 2007/07/18: BBC: Water find 'may end Darfur war'
  A huge underground lake has been found in Sudan's Darfur region, scientists say, which they believe could help end the conflict in the arid region. [...] The discovery is "very significant", Hafiz Muhamad from the lobby group Justice Africa told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "The root cause of the conflict is resources - drought and desertification in North Darfur." He says this led the Arab nomads to move into South Darfur, where they came into conflict with black African farmers.

Greenpeace is having fun in Switzerland:

• 2007/07/19: ABC(Au): [Swiss] Greenpeace plan nude global warming stunt
• 2007/07/19: CanWest: Greenpeace seeks nude models for glacial protest

  And in the hurricane wars:

• 2007/07/21: Wunderground: Tropical update
• 2007/07/17: JFleck: The Hurricanes We Missed
• 2007/07/17: CCM: The Caribbean is a Hurricane Trampoline Right Now
• 2007/07/16: Wunderground: Atlantic hurricane outlook for the last half of July

  The Proenza saga grinds on:

• 2007/07/20: Wunderground: QuikSCAT science at yesterday's hearing
• 2007/07/20: Wunderground: Probe recommends Proenza's permanent removal - Atlantic and Hawaiian tropical update
• 2007/07/20: DailyIndia: U.S. Hurricane Center facing major changes [Proenza]
• 2007/07/19: Wunderground: New NHC revelations; Atlantic tropical update; Hawaii watches Cosme
• 2007/07/18: CCM: National Hurricane Center Saga Shifts to Congress
• 2007/07/18: Wunderground: Congressional NHC hearing tomorrow; Hawaii eyes Cosme

  I always like it when these easily verified projections show up:

• 2007/07/17: CCM: Will Global Warming Cause More "Medicanes"?
• 2007/07/16: Reuters: Warming may bring hurricanes to Mediterranean

  Meanwhile the temperatures are going up:

• 2007/07/20: Yahoo: Central and southern Europe sizzling [at least 13 dead this week]
• 2007/07/20: PhysOrg: California to Study Heat-Wave Deaths
• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: Heatwave Grips Balkans, Kills Five in Romania
• 2007/07/17: ClimateP: 2007: First or second hottest year on record so far
• 2007/07/15: MTobis: UKMO: Hot summers increasing in Europe
• 2007/07/22: Guardian(UK): Over-heated Med stokes tourism fears
  As temperatures in southern Europe reach record heights, traditional holiday playgrounds may soon become unbearably hot and dangerously dry

While on the el Niño/la Niña front:

• 2007/07/20: PhysOrg: La Nina pattern likely to play havoc with world's weather: UN
• 2007/07/16: ENN: Experts Plan Rating System for El Nino
  The ENSO Intensity Scale varies based on a a three-month temperature index, updated monthly. The scale varies from W1 to W5 for warm episodes and C1 to C5 for cool episodes, allowing climate researchers to develop comparisons with past ENSOs

Glaciers are melting:

• 2007/07/20: SciDaily: Melting Glaciers On The Tibetan Plateau
• 2007/07/17: Yahoo: Swiss glacier [Aletsch] retreats at a rapid clip
• 2007/07/17: KSJT: NY Times ScienceTimes: Intimate story of shrinking Indian glaciers, teaching physics that'll stick, Islamic creationism, more...
• 2007/07/17: OilChange: Crisis in the Himalaya

  Sea levels are rising at Tuvalu:

• 2007/07/16: CCurrents: Tuvalu Sounds The Alarm
• 2007/07/16: OilChange: S.O.S South Pacific [Tuvalu]

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/07/19: SciBlog: NASA satellite data can warn of famine
• 2007/07/19: JFleck: Modeling Famine
  A NASA group has come up with a new model that incorporates both remote sensing data and food prices to try to help anticipate food shortages
• 2007/07/19: Eureka: NASA researchers find satellite data can warn of famine
• 2007/07/17: TerraDaily: Extreme Weather Monitoring Boosted By Space Sensor [Envisat]
• 2007/07/16: PhysOrg: Extreme weather monitoring boosted by space sensor [Envisat]

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/07/20: CBC: Climate change could ruin fisheries: scientist
• 2007/07/20: WaPo: Warming Poses Threats To Chesapeake, Group Says
• 2007/07/20: DeSmogBlog: Ontario acknowledges polar-bear extinction, other widespread threats due to global warming
• 2007/07/20: ENN: Climate Change Threatening Canada's Polar Bears, Will Unleash Insect-Borne Diseases
• 2007/07/20: WarmingLaw: A Compelling Interest
• 2007/07/19: KSJT: LA Times: The weeds that will be - Higher CO2 means higher dandelions, more poison ivy
• 2007/07/19: ENN: Snowless in a Warming World, Ski Resort in French Alps Bids Adieu
• 2007/07/18: ABC(US): West Under Highest Wildfire Alert - Fire Officials Raise Nation's Wildfire Preparedness As Blazes Rage in the West
• 2007/07/19: AP: West Under Highest Wildfire Alert
• 2007/07/17: Yahoo: Climate change threatens Italy's Po River delta
• 2007/07/18: LA Times: Weeds shown to feed on rising carbon - Poison ivy and dandelions grow bigger and stronger as levels of CO2 increase, two studies find
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: It ain't natural [NCPA parks & GW report]
• 2007/07/18: PlanetArk: Effort to Curb Climate Change May Hurt African Farms
• 2007/07/17: OSU: Increase in Creeping Vines Signals Major Shift in Southern U.S. Forests
• 2007/07/16: ABC(Au): Claims climate change drying up China's major rivers
• 2007/07/21: DailyIndia: Three major wildfires burning in Utah

  Then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2007/07/19: TerraDaily: Peru Launches Drive To Regrow Lost Forests And Jungles
• 2007/07/19: MongaBay: Is peat swamp worth more than palm oil plantations?
• 2007/07/18: ENN: Picking Berries Protects Rain Forests Best, Study Shows
  Small community projects for picking fruits and nuts are the best way to alleviate poverty and protect the Amazon and other tropical forests, but are largely ignored by governments, a study showed Monday. Communities harvesting natural products generate more long-term income than many national parks or big timber companies, said a report by the International Tropical Timber Organization, or ITTO, released at a forestry conference in northeastern Brazil. "Someone depending on a forest for income and habitat will look after it," said Andy White, one of the report's authors. "We need people in forests."

This is supposed to be good news about desertification but he's claiming success for a 0.04% improvement, which is undoubtably within the margin of error:

• 2007/07/17: ENN: Problem with Desertification in China Decreasing as Area of Sanded Land Shrinks
  China said Tuesday it was winning the struggle against encroaching deserts, with the threat to vulnerable land steadily decreasing over the past half-decade. Desert coverage has been falling by about 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) each year for the past five to six years, Zhu Lieke, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said at a news conference. "This has been a trend that has been ongoing," he said. "This is a good thing that we have witnessed." Zhu said his data was backed up by satellite imagery and scientists in the field. China has planted thousands of hectares (acres) of vegetation to stop the spread of deserts in its north and west, which had been gradually expanding into populated areas and worsening sand storms that strike cities. Chinese officials said last year that deserts still cover 2.64 million square kilometers (1.05 million square miles), or about 27 percent of the country. Since 1981, China has planted 49.2 billion trees -- the equivalent of 219,000 square kilometers (84,500 square miles), said Jia Zhibang, head of the forestry administration, who also spoke at the briefing.

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2007/07/18: ChinaDaily: Worst storm in 115 years lashes Chongqing
• 2007/07/17: AzFamily: Large dust storm headed toward Valley
• 2007/07/17: KARE: Dust storm rolls across Arizona
• 2007/07/17: C411: Extreme Weather: This Season's Norm?
• 2007/07/16: CBC: Hail as large as baseballs falls on central Alberta
• 2007/07/22: PhysOrg: Weather extremes hit southeast Europe, England
• 2007/07/22: GWWatch: World Wide Weird Weather #2
• 2007/07/22: KVOA: Hail storm buries Mexican town just over the border

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/07/20: PlanetArk: More Than 50 People Killed in Sudanese Flooding
• 2007/07/20: PlanetArk: Weeks of Heavy Rain Show No Let-Up in China
• 2007/07/20: BBC: Torrential rain sweeps across UK - Torrential rain is sweeping across the UK, with flash floods leaving some homes waterlogged and schools closed.
• 2007/07/18: EUO: Droughts could be the rule rather than the exception in Europe
• 2007/07/18: TerraDaily: Sudan Flood Toll Hits 100, While Nairobi Panics As Tremors Rattle City
• 2007/07/18: ChinaDaily: Rainstorms kill 32 in Chongqing
• 2007/07/18: TerraDaily: Violent Thunderstorms Kill Dozens In China
• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: Storm Kills 37, Floods Cities in Southwest China
• 2007/07/18: PlanetArk: More Heavy Rain Hits Flood-Battered China
• 2007/07/15: JFleck: Australian Drought Easing
• 2007/07/16: CBC: Climate change shrinking Chinese rivers, scientists say
• 2007/07/22: DailyIndia: Texas rain [17 inches] strands Amtrak riders
• 2007/07/22: BBC: China storms kill more than 100
• 2007/07/21: PhysOrg: Torrential rain causes chaos in Britain
• 2007/07/21: BBC: [UK Press Review] Torrential rain soaks the papers
• 2007/07/21: BBC: Hundreds rescued as floods strike - More than 750 people stranded in cars, caravans, houses and boats have been rescued from floods in Worcestershire.

  That story on flood water driven mice in China is still echoing:

• 2007/07/20: CSM: Rising floodwaters play the cat to billions of Chinese mice
• 2007/07/18: TreeHugger: Two Billion Rats Invade China: From Eco-Disaster To Exotic Delicacy
• 2007/07/17: Guardian(UK): 'Rats' on the menu after China swamped by 2 billion rodents - Field mice plague caused by worst floods in 50 years

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/07/18: Globe&Mail: Ethanol fuels global run-up in food prices
• 2007/07/17: CCurrents: Biofuel Mania Ends Days Of Cheap Food
• 2007/07/16: TreeHugger: Corn Prices: Now It's Getting Serious
• 2007/07/16: EnvEcon: More and More Ethanol Dominoes [UN food report]
• 2007/07/16: Times(UK): Ice-cream makers frozen out as corn price rises

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/07/20: SciDaily: Insufficient Protection Of Crop Diversity Centres Threatens World Food Security, WWF Report Contends
• 2007/07/20: PlanetArk: Drought Threatens to Halve Hungary's Maize Crop
• 2007/07/15: FTimes: UN warns it cannot afford to feed the world
  Rising prices for food have led the United Nations programme fighting famine in Africa and other regions to warn that it can no longer afford to feed the 90m people it has helped for each of the past five years on its budget.
• 2007/07/16: TerraDaily: Organic Farming Can Feed the World [UMich study]

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/07/19: Telegraph(UK): Eating beef 'is less green than driving'
• 2007/07/18: NewScientist: Meat is murder on the environment
• 2007/07/16: EnvEcon: The costs of climate mitigation in the WaPo

  As for aviation & GHGs:

• 2007/07/18: BBC: Ryanair's green claims criticised
  Ryanair has been ordered not to repeat an advertisement that played down the impact of aviation on the environment

While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2007/07/16: TreeHugger: 88% of New [US] Homes are Crappy GHG Spewing Energy Hogs

  And on the adaptation front:

• 2007/07/21: TreeHugger: Italy Dresses Down to Fight Global Warming
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: Coral "Shuffle" Helps Reefs Survive Warmer World - Study

  Planktos keeps popping up:

• 2007/07/20: GristMill: Washington Post notes Planktos
• 2007/07/20: WaPo: Iron to Plankton To Carbon Credits - Firm's Emission Plans Have Critics Aplenty
• 2007/07/20: DailyIndia: [Planktos] Carbon dioxide plan reviewed in Washington

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/07/19: CliPast: Climatic Conditions for modelling the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets throughout the ice age cycle by A. Abe-Ouchi et al.
• 2007/07/18: GRL: ($) Is the number of North Atlantic tropical cyclones significantly underestimated prior to the availability of satellite observations? by Edmund K. M. Chang & Yanjuan Guo
• 2007/07/18: NEChoices: [link to 2.8M pdf] The Rush to Ethanol: Not All Biofuels are Created Equal
• 2007/07/17: PNAS: Hurricanes benefit bleached corals by Derek P. Manzello et al.
• 2007/07/17: PNAS: Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental history of the Iguala Valley, Central Balsas Watershed of Mexico by D. R. Piperno et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/07/20: Eureka: By ice floe to the North Pole
  An eight-month voyage through the Arctic Ocean, without ship or travel route: the North Pole drifting station NP-35 represents an unusual project of the International Polar Year
• 2007/07/20: Eureka: Researchers plumb mysteries of Antarctic Mountains
• 2007/07/19: PhysOrg: Flying Into a Thunderstorm
• 2007/07/18: PhysOrg: A new dawn for climate prediction
  Scientists must develop new, more adaptive approaches to predicting and monitoring climate, say climate modellers from the University of Exeter. In a 'perspectives' article published in leading journal Science, Professor Peter Cox and Professor David Stephenson argue that new prediction tools are required to help us to limit and adapt to climate change
• 2007/07/17: WarwickU: Decoding mushroom’s secrets could combat carbon, find better biofuels & safer soils
• 2007/07/16: Tamino: Lapse Rate

  While on the carbon trading front:

• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: World Voluntary CO2 Market Tripled in '06 - Report
• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: EU-UN Carbon Market Link Decision Due Autumn - UK
• 2007/07/19: EnvFin: US dominates booming voluntary carbon market

  The idea of a carbon tax endures:

• 2007/07/17: GristMill: Interview with green tax swap guy

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

• 2007/07/19: GristMill: Oh, jeez, not another carbon offset post...
• 2007/07/20: EnvEcon: Cap-and-trade with a safety valve
• 2007/07/19: GristMill: More fresh, hot data nuggets on carbon offsets
• 2007/07/19: TreeHugger: Zerofootprint Guides: Offsetting, Part 4 - Why Offset With Trees When Fossil Fuels Are To Blame?
• 2007/07/18: GristMill: Carbon offsets: now with data!
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: The economic and political foolishness of paying for carbon reduction
• 2007/07/17: EnvEcon: Thomas Friedman on carbon offsets
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: The My final word on carbon offsets

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/07/22: GWWatch: Ban Ki-moon calls for UN action on climate change
• 2007/07/19: GristMill: Exporting our greenhouse gases to China
• 2007/07/17: ChinaDaily: Climate change is reshaping global politics
• 2007/07/18: ClimateP: Exporting Our Greenhouse Gases to China
• 2007/07/16: SF Gate: Save the Earth, buy less
  China will over take the United States next year to become the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases. China and the United States together emit 40 percent of the planet's carbon dioxide, according to the International Energy Agency. [...] China's growth, however, is powered by America's demand for consumer products -- and this growth is fueled by coal. These two factors lie at the heart of the political impasse. China and the United States each worry that if they agree to binding greenhouse-gas reduction targets, their respective house of economic cards will collapse. This unhealthy symbiotic relationship needs to be unraveled if any global post-Kyoto global warming agreement is to be reached.
• 2007/07/17: ClimateP: Department of "Not Gonna to Happen" [Bush & Ban this Sept]
• 2007/07/17: TruthOut: UN Chief Will Ask President Bush to Give Top-Level Support to UN Meeting on Climate Change
• 2007/07/17: ENN: U.N. Chief Will Ask President Bush to Give Top Level Support to U.N. Meeting on Climate Change
• 2007/07/17: Yahoo: UN head [Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon]: US should be at climate meeting [in September]

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/07/19: ClimateP: [Ed] Markey (D-Mass) writes FTC after offset hearing
• 2007/07/18: PhysOrg: Teachers to Learn About Climate Change
  School teachers from across Alaska are getting lessons this month at the University of Alaska Fairbanks so they can more effectively teach their students back home about climate change.
• 2007/07/18: WarmingLaw: As Goes Arnold...
• 2007/07/18: WarmingLaw: Sorry Jack...[Cheney, EPA, GHGs, SCOTUS]
• 2007/07/18: CSW: Federal NextGen aviation planning is ignoring global warming
• 2007/07/18: Yahoo: House boosts energy efficiency programs
  The House voted Tuesday to award increases to programs aimed at making cars and buildings more energy efficient and boosting research and development of alternative energy sources. [...] But GOP leaders promise a veto could be sustained given the fact that almost 150 Republicans have signed a letter promising to uphold any of his vetoes of Democratic-drafted spending bills
• 2007/07/17: NYT: Albany Rebuffs City Traffic Plan
  Lawmakers on Monday shelved Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to charge a fee to drivers entering the busiest parts of Manhattan, dealing a setback to the mayor as he tries to raise his national profile and promote his environmental initiatives. The State Senate, which had convened in a special session, adjourned without taking up the plan after it became apparent that the votes for passage were not there.
• 2007/07/17: KSJT: Wash. Post: Slowing climate change will cost us, and politicians don't like the sound of that
• 2007/07/17: WarmingLaw: How Do You Like 'Dem Apples?
• 2007/07/17: TruthOut: Solar Power Wins Enthusiasts, but Not [federal R&D] Money
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: Carbon credit allocation [US legislative approaches]
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Bipartisanship on the environment
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Helpful energy legislation guides
• 2007/07/15: CSW: Union of Concerned Scientists Northeast climate change report does the government's job
• 2007/07/16: JFleck: The Albuquerque Journal on the Bingaman Climate Bill
• 2007/07/16: TreeHugger: Solar Power Wins Enthusiasts but Not [Government R&D] Money
• 2007/07/16: DeSmogBlog: Pollution control doesn't curb greenhouse-gas emissions, Utah task force says
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: Governor Signs Florida Greenhouse Gas Targets
• 2007/07/16: NEN: Cutting California Emissions Costs
• 2007/07/16: CDreams: AFP: Bush Administration Accused of Putting Ideology Above Science
• 2007/07/16: Missoulian: Park climate study urges new measures
  You would think that Glacier National Park might lead a list of America's parks threatened by changing climate, what with Glacier's glaciers on track to melt away within the next 25 years. You might think so, but you would be wrong. Turns out, there's more than enough examples to go around, and not only did Glacier not lead the list, it didn't even make the list. Last week, the National Parks Conservation Association released a report on climate change and its effects on parks, detailing more than two dozen specific case studies and calling for action from both Congress and the White House. "Global warming is harming our national parks," said Tom Kiernan, president of NPCA. "If our national parks are to survive and thrive into their second century, we must act now."
• 2007/07/21: ClimateP: Maryland Embraces California-style Decoupling
• 2007/07/22: PhysOrg: Governors Address Climate Change [at National Governor's Association conference]
  States should develop creative approaches to climate change, just as they have with challenges such as health care, despite their different economic interests, governors said Saturday

That Dingell bill is getting a lot of attention, mostly flak:

• 2007/07/19: TruthOut: Dingell's Energy Bill Blind Spot
• 2007/07/20: GristMill: Details on Dingell's carbon tax
• 2007/07/19: DeSmogBlog: Antediluvian Dingell Diddles Democrats' Prospects
• 2007/07/18: LA Times: Dingell's energy bill blind spot
  Once again, the Michigan Democrat is sabotaging energy policy in favor of playing politics
  Dingell's mockery of a solution that many of the nation's most prominent economists and environmentalists (as well as this editorial page) have endorsed is juvenile and destructive. Carbon taxes represent the simplest, most effective and economically least damaging option to fight global warming, because they encourage market solutions and their costs can be offset; higher prices for gas or power could be balanced by lower payroll taxes, for example. Yet a carbon tax comes with built-in political headaches, because voters are allergic to taxes and feel they're already paying enough for energy.
  To succeed, a carbon tax bill would have to be carefully crafted to avoid hurting consumers and the poor, and political leaders would have to explain its benefits. Instead, Dingell wants to propose an unpalatable tax that would be political suicide for any lawmaker to support. This could harm or kill more reasonable tax proposals and stall responsible policymaking for years --- time the world can ill afford to waste.
• 2007/07/21: NYT: Veteran House Democrat [Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich)] Guards Turf on Energy

  The 2008 campaign is always in the background:

• 2007/07/18: BSD: Health08 kicks HeatIsOn's butt

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/07/19: Yahoo: Indonesians told 'inconvenient truth' of climate change
• 2007/07/19: CCM: Shifting Focus from Gore to Improving Ocean Communication
• 2007/07/19: ThinkP: Attacks on Gore backfire [fishy biz]
• 2007/07/19: AspenDN: Gore: human species in a race for its life

  While in the UK:

• 2007/07/21: TreeHugger: UK Desalination Plans Attacked
• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: London to Get Desalination Plant in Climate Battle

  And in Europe:

• 2007/07/18: EUPolitix: EU parliament signals tough line on car CO2
• 2007/07/17: BBC: MEPs signal tough line on car CO2
  The European Parliament's industry committee has backed proposals to sharply cut CO2 emissions from cars, but failed to specify a deadline. The committee is the first of several that will be commenting on a European Commission plan for a 20% cut in average car emissions by 2012. The industry committee called for a bigger cut, of 25%. It did not support a proposal to give industry longer - until 2015 - to reach the target.
• 2007/07/17: NEN: Estonia Wants More Carbon Credit [from EU]
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: EU Court Denies Fast Verdict in Polish CO2 Case - Source
  A European Union court has denied Poland's request for a quick decision in a case it has brought against the European Commission fighting future carbon emission limits, an EU source told Reuters on Friday. Earlier this year the Commission, the EU's top regulator, cut Poland's proposed annual cap on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2008-2012 to 208.5 million tonnes, down from 284.6 million tonnes, prompting a lawsuit from Warsaw, which argued the tight limits would hurt its economic growth. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary are also challenging the limits set by the Commission.
• 2007/07/15: BBC: Emissions don't make Europe happy
  Europe's carbon emissions have risen markedly over the last 40 years, but the extra fuel use has brought little increase in happiness, a report says.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/07/19: ABC(Au): NSW Govt accused of breaking greenhouse promise
• 2007/07/19: PhysOrg: Save our [Great Barrier] reef, save our heritage
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): Young farmers raise concerns about climate change [Aus pol]
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): Parties' climate change policies lack detail: Flannery
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): AgForce calls for more climate change research
• 2007/07/18: ABC(Au): Worst polluters 'off the hook' under Howard
• 2007/07/18: GWWatch: John Howard 2.0 launched on stiff, clunky platform
• 2007/07/17: ENN: Australian Prime Minister Announces Carbon Trading System by 2011
• 2007/07/22: ABC(Au): Canadian expert calls for Aust renewable energy tariffs

  And in India:

• 2007/07/16: TreeHugger: India Announces New Climate Change Strategy
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: Five Facts on India and Climate Change
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: India Plans Global Warming Roadmap by Year-End
• 2007/07/22: GWWatch: India to develop climate change mitigation policy

  While in China:

• 2007/07/18: TerraDaily: Environment Protection Efforts In China Not Sufficient Warns OECD
• 2007/07/16: TerraDaily: China Vital Wetlands Shrinking Due To Climate Change
• 2007/07/18: ChinaDaily: China's forest coverage soars
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: China and the environment

  In Canada, the minority neocons show there is more than one way to shut up critics:

• 2007/07/17: Canoe: Green network faces funding crisis
  The Canadian Environmental Network, a backbone of communications within Canada's environmental movement, has warned its staff they may be laid off next week because of federal funding cuts.

Ontario is pushing green so much there must be an election coming:

• 2007/07/19: Globe&Mail: Ontario launching climate-change website
• 2007/07/16: CBC: Smog kills, groups warn, urging ban on coal power exports [from Ontario]

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

• 2007/07/19: OnlineOpinion: Addressing climate change through true cost pricing

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/07/17: NWN: In The Petri Dish: The Plight of our Energy-Sucking Species
• 2007/07/16: EnergyBulletin: On the precipice: Energy security and economic stability on the edge

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/07/: WWI: Vital Signs 2006 - 2007
• 2007/07/: WWI: Vital Signs Online
• 2007/07/18: TreeHugger: [Book Review] _Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming_ by Chris Mooney
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Storm World: Understanding hurricanes today

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

• 2007/07/18: REA: National RPS: July's U.S. House Vote Crucial
  The message is the same in report after report: The U.S. needs a National Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) or Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to spur the country's renewable energy market, generate millions of new jobs over the next decade, and lower electric bills for consumers and businesses alike -- not to mention help slow the devastating impacts of global warming.
• 2007/07/20: NewScientist: Taking the fossil out of fossil fuel [CH4]
• 2007/07/20: TerraDaily: US And Russia Facing Energy Crises
• 2007/07/20: TreeHugger: 50% Extra Free on Solar Installations: Solarcentury Moves Us Closer to the Tipping Point
• 2007/07/20: NEN: DOE Says Utilities Need Incentive To Be Efficient
• 2007/07/19: GristMill: Who says solar is expensive?
• 2007/07/19: TreeHugger: US Department Of Energy "Best Practices" Solar Guidebook
• 2007/07/19: HuffPo: Enrolling in the "University of Energy"
• 2007/07/18: Eureka: NJIT researchers develop inexpensive, easy process to produce solar panels
• 2007/07/18: TStar: Oil to hit $100 in 2008, predicts bank [CIBC World Markets report]
• 2007/07/18: SF Gate: Power burst - Bay Area and state warm up to solar energy, survey says
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: Benefits of large-scale energy storage
• 2007/07/18: PlanetArk: Solar Power Sector Will Need to Cut Costs [says Iain Dorrity, Chief Executive of PV Crystalox]
• 2007/07/17: NEN: Big Oil Buys Big Waves
• 2007/07/16: I-R-Squared: Storing Renewable Energy
• 2007/07/16: PlanetArk: Rooftops Key to Florida Green Energy Goal

  The US National Petroleum Council issued a report that reinforces last week's IEA report:

• 2007/07/19: DailyGreen: Oil Execs Push Doubling Of Fuel Efficiency - Serious Shortages Near On The Horizon: National Petroleum Council
• 2007/07/19: TEB: "Facing the Hard Truths about Energy" [NPC]
• 2007/07/17: EnergyBulletin: National Petroleum Council report comes up a dry hole
• 2007/07/18: OilChange: US Urged to Act on Energy [NPC report]
• 2007/07/17: Yahoo: [NPC] Report: Demand to outpace crude supplies

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/07/20: ABC(Au): Greenpeace challenges 'clean coal' claims
  Greenpeace says the word 'clean coal' is misleading, and has taken their complaint against the new coal-fired power station to the ACCC. The company behind a new coal-fired power station to be built in Victoria's Latrobe Valley has been taken to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over its use of the term 'clean coal'. Greenpeace says it has legal advice that the words 'clean coal' are deliberately misleading and could be in breach of the Trade Practices Act
• 2007/07/20: TomPaine: Coal Story's Next Chapter
• 2007/07/18: GristMill: Coal bashing: good, and good for you

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/07/20: TerraDaily: The Future Of Biofuels Is Not In Corn
• 2007/07/19: DesMoinesRegister: Ethanol stirs fear of water shortage - Some say Iowa fuel plants may be depleting supplies
• 2007/07/19: SciAGoGo: Report Pooh-Poohs Corn Biofuels
• 2007/07/18: EnergyBulletin: Agrofuels - Towards a reality check in nine key areas
• 2007/07/18: PhysOrg: The future of biofuels is not in corn
• 2007/07/18: NewScientist: Corn biofuel 'dangerously oversold' as green energy
• 2007/07/18: Eureka: The future of biofuels is not in corn - New, comprehensive analysis shows how ethanol is being oversold
• 2007/07/18: PlanetArk: Polish Refinery Resumes Biofuels Production

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/07/21: CPunch: Atomic Blowback by Ralph Nader
• 2007/07/19: TruthOut: Accidents Dim Hopes for Green Nuclear Option
• 2007/07/19: TerraDaily: Energy Worries Grow For Japan As Nuclear Plant Shut
• 2007/07/19: E&C: Uranium Spot Prices Fall - Is this the End of Uranium?
• 2007/07/19: PlanetArk: Fast Facts About Japan's Nuclear Power Industry
• 2007/07/17: CSM: Russia plans big nuclear expansion
  Leading the globe in construction of new plants, it also hopes to export as many as 60 plants in the next two decades
• 2007/07/20: Asia Times: Japan's nuclear plans in disarray [after the Niigata earthquake]
• 2007/07/19: CDreams: The Earthquake That Screamed "NO NUKES!!!"
• 2007/07/17: TerraDaily: Russia Will Build Floating Nuclear Power Plants
• 2007/07/17: CPunch: California's New Nukes War - Nuclear Surge
• 2007/07/16: DeSmogBlog: Global warming puts nuclear power on the hot seat in climate-change struggle
• 2007/07/16: CDreams: California's New Nukes War - A major pro-nuke "surge" against the renewable solution to global warming is about to erupt in California
• 2007/07/22: GWWatch: Australia's nuclear power created in Kirribilli

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2007/07/19: CNN: New Energy [Star] Guidelines For PCs Aim To Cut Energy Use By 60%
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: Green computing: Hope or hype?
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Blue dogs for energy efficiency
• 2007/07/16: NEN: U.S. Wastes Energy, Can Do Better

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

• 2007/07/20: P&P: Booming car industry fuels climate crisis
• 2007/07/20: GristMill: New study finds that plug-in hybrids rule in all possible futures
• 2007/07/20: ENN: Study Shows Plug-In Hybrids Could Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• 2007/07/19: PhysOrg: Study: Plug-In Hybrids May Cut Emissions
• 2007/07/19: IHT: Plug-in hybrids would slash carbon output by 2050, report says
• 2007/07/20: CanWest: Canadians continue to go green - hybrid vehicles sell briskly
• 2007/07/17: ClimateP: The Hottest Energy Policy Article [The car and fuel of the future]
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Why can't Detroit take the same approach? [as Boeing]
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Study: Raising mileage standards creates jobs
• 2007/07/16: AfterGutenberg: Xinri Electric Bicycle Company in Jiangsu Province
• 2007/07/15: AfterGutenberg: Electric taxis can't hack it
• 2007/07/22: ClimateP: Toyota moves to corner the "plug-in" market

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2007/07/20: Crikey: How are you going to make millions from climate change?
• 2007/07/19: DeSmogBlog: Businesses, worried about climate change, believe they must provide solutions
• 2007/07/19: EnvFin: Investors can cut carbon without sacrificing returns - Trucost [UK-based environmental research firm]
• 2007/07/19: EnvFin: US [Business Roundtable] CEOs call for quick action on climate change
• 2007/07/17: TAP: Environmentalism for Billionaires
  How businesses are looking to cash in on global warming with green-washed plans that aren't as eco-friendly as they seem
• 2007/07/18: DeSmogBlog: Corporate honchos [Business Roundtable] acknowledge global warming but falter on emission cuts
• 2007/07/18: PlanetArk: Action Needed on Climate Change - US Business Group [Business Roundtable]
• 2007/07/22: GWWatch: Is green-washing a global phenomenon?

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/07/19: TerraDaily: RAND Study Finds Wind Insurance Costly And Scarce On Gulf Of Mexico Coast

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/07/19: ClimateP: Nonplussed at Planet Gore - PG Disinfotainment Watch #39 and #40
• 2007/07/19: Reasic: Green Myth-Busting: 70's Ice Age Predictions
• 2007/07/19: DeSmogBlog: NRSP Launches Nationwide Radio Campaign
• 2007/07/18: DeSmogBlog: Is Fox News finally turning the Climate Change Corner?
• 2007/07/18: GristMill: Your media at work [anti-Gore intrigues]
• 2007/07/19: Deltoid: Joining the dots on an anti-Gore story
• 2007/07/18: TreeHugger: Shell Told To Pull Greenwashing Ad [by Dutch Advertising Code Authority]
• 2007/07/18: DeSmogBlog: Exxon Apologist Attacks Hoggan Campaign to Clean Up PR Industry
• 2007/07/18: DeSmogBlog: Denier Cult Strengthens as it Shrivels
• 2007/07/16: BSD: Hoisting myself up from the comments - Slagle versus the WMO and IPCC [denial]
• 2007/07/17: ERabett: The bunny curve - Kristen Byrnes has thrown in the towel...
• 2007/07/17: BCLSB: Tim Ball: He Was Denying Stuff Years Ago
• 2007/07/17: TreeHugger: What Makes Global Warming Skeptics Tick?
• 2007/07/17: DeSmogBlog: So What's the "Smog"-o-sphere?
• 2007/07/17: DeSmogBlog: Shell's Greenwashing Advertisements 'misleading'
• 2007/07/16: GWWatch: Global warming caused by too much science [GWB's global warming policy]
• 2007/07/16: SciBlog: Solar link to global warming ruled out
• 2007/07/16: Stoat: Wasting time on glaciers with RP Sr

  Late commentary on TGGWS:

• 2007/07/19: TCE: The Death of The Great Global Warming Swindle
• 2007/07/17: Deltoid: ABC makes lemonade [from the lemon that is TGGWS]
• 2007/07/16: DeSmogBlog: ABC Australia's Tony Jones and Durkin Transcript
• 2007/07/15: PRWatch: The Great Global Sceptic Swindle
• 2007/07/14: ABC(Au): [transcript & mp3] Study of climate sceptics
• 2007/07/15: MObjectivist: Swindler Inaction

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/07/20: GristMill: Playing climate change poker
• 2007/07/20: ClimateP: Playing Climate Change Poker
• 2007/07/20: GristMill: Brit's Eye View: Lose the doom and gloom
• 2007/07/19: ERabett: Tropopausing - Eli has been fooling with his Spectra Calc...
• 2007/07/19: C411: Global Warming from Soot
• 2007/07/19: CasaubonsBook: Talking Population With the Old Men
• 2007/07/19: ClimateP: Best Lifecycle Climate Footprint Calculator
• 2007/07/19: ERabett: Wanna see some pictures lil' girl?
• 2007/07/19: C411: Climate Models: How Good Are They?
• 2007/07/19: TreeHugger: New Poll Identifies Global Warming as Top Environmental Problem
• 2007/07/19: OilChange: Celebs Target India in Climate Change Drive
• 2007/07/17: GristMill: First grants from $100 million Duke Foundation Climate Initiative announced
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: So much for green consumerism
• 2007/07/16: GristMill: Climate change big picture
• 2007/07/15: MTobis: Should science drive policy?

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

• Climate Cartoons
• GGO: Go Green Ontario
• UCSUSA: Global Warming Skeptic Organizations
• VLS: Environmental Law Center
• The Network for New Energy Choices
• Canadian Environmental Network
• Ecotality Blog
• I-R-Squared
• GRL: Published This Year in Geophysical Research Letters
• PCCRC: Purdue Climate Change Research Center
• NOAA News mag
• James Annan's Work Page (with list of publications)
• 2005/06/: AIP: The Discovery of Global Warming - A hypertext history
• 2005/06/: AIP: Basic Radiation Calculations

---

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published May, 2007. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>
-het

PS. You can access the previous postings of this series here

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Bumper sticker: "Good planets are hard to find."

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