Another Week of GW News, July 1, 2007

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

• Top Stories, Worldwide Wacky Weather, Live Earth, Antarctica, AR4 WG1 Comments, IPAT
• Hurricanes, Temperatures, Glaciers, Satellites
• Impacts, Tropical Rainforests, Desertification, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Aviation, Sequestration, Planktos
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Optimal Strategy
• Politics, International, Security America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Asia, Canada
• Apocalypso, Yoffe, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Biofuel, Coal, Nukes, Business, Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

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It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

• 2007/06/29: ClimateP: Cartoon of the Week [Carlson]
• 2007/06/27: WFC: (cartoon - TomTom) Conservative Jones

  The big news this week has to be the wacky weather in Pakistan, Texas, England...:

• 2007/07/01: SwissInfo: Flash flood kills more in storm-hit Pakistan
• 2007/06/30: BBC: Rescuers in Pakistan are struggling to bring aid to more than a million people hit by storms that have also struck many other areas in south Asia
• 2007/06/29: BBC: Aid pleas after Pakistan cyclone
  Some 800,000 people have now been hit by flooding in Pakistan's Balochistan province, with hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed, officials say. Many of them are without electricity or drinking water four days after a cyclone hit coastal districts
• 2007/06/30: BBC: Flood-hit communities in England and Wales are warned to prepare for the threat of further heavy rain
• 2007/06/29: AP: Weather Extremes Wither LA, Drown Texas
• 2007/06/30: Guardian(UK): One million homeless in Pakistan - Cyclone claims 90 lives, but figure expected to rise
• 2007/06/29: Yahoo: More rain falling in flooded Southern Plains [of Texas and Oklahoma]
• 2007/06/29: Independent(UK): Extreme weather wakes US up to climate change
• 2007/06/29: MTobis: Unusual Texas meteorology (Austin Statesman)
• 2007/06/27: BBC: Disruption continues after floods
• 2007/06/28: Guardian(UK): Two more feared dead as flood defences boosted - Former judge found dead in submerged car
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Cyclone [Yemyin] Kills 10, Strands Hundreds in Pakistan
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Rainstorms Kill 48 in South, Central China
• 2007/06/27: ChinaDaily: More than 600,000 affected by flooding in C.China
• 2007/06/27: BBC: Pakistanis homeless after cyclone
  Thousands of people have lost their homes and there are fears a dam may burst after a cyclone struck Pakistan's Arabian sea coast. Most of the villagers left homeless were living in the coastal areas of southern Balochistan province.
• 2007/06/27: Yahoo: More than foot of rain floods Texas
• 2007/06/26: Guardian(UK): More evacuations as floods threaten to burst dam
• 2007/06/26: Guardian(UK): Records tumble as Britain is hit by months of extremes
• 2007/06/26: PhysOrg: Europe hit by killer heatwave and floods [at least 47 dead]
• 2007/06/26: OilChange: It's a Wash Out [UK monsoon]
• 2007/06/26: BBC: Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes amid severe flooding across England and Wales that has claimed at least three lives
• 2007/06/26: BBC: Cyclone [Yemyin] adds to Pakistan misery
  Thousands of people have been evacuated from along Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast to escape a cyclone which is bringing more chaos to the south of the country
• 2007/06/26: CBC: Cyclone [Yemyin] hits Pakistan coast, killing 10
  A tropical cyclone lashed Pakistan's coastline with heavy rains and strong winds, killing at least 10 people and forcing thousands to flee to higher ground, their possessions loaded onto camels and cars
• 2007/06/26: AFP: Europe hit by killer heatwave and floods
• 2007/06/26: AFP: Cyclone [Yemyin] kills 18 on Pakistan coast
• 2007/06/26: Times(UK): Monsoon mayhem - Torrential rain swept across Britain yesterday bringing flooding, tornados and death on the wettest June day on record
• 2007/06/26: BBC: Three dead following flood chaos - Three people have died as heavy rains continue to fall across England and Wales, causing severe flooding
• 2007/06/24: TerraDaily: Chaos in Karachi as storms kill 228 And Hundreds More Across Asia
• 2007/06/25: BBC: Heavy rains and winds are causing more problems in many areas of South Asia after a weekend of chaotic weather saw several hundred people killed
• 2007/06/24: BBC: Storms in Karachi kill 200 people
• 2007/06/25: Guardian(UK): Hundreds [at least 228] die as rains lash Karachi

  I imagine we will hear more about this aspect of Yemyin:

• 2007/06/28: TVftS: Unacknowledged Tropical Cyclone Leaves 250,000 Homeless in Pakistan
• 2007/06/28: Wunderground: India's shocking failure to provide hurricane warnings for Pakistan
• 2007/06/28: CCM: Cyclone Warfare Between India and Pakistan?

  Note the evocative quote buried in this biofuel story:

• 2007/06/30: SF Gate: got money?
  A gallon of low-fat milk will cost $3.10, up $1 from the price in January -- and expect the spike to make other products more expensive, too
  "Biofuels are going to rip the ears off the food industry" as corn goes not for food but for fuel, said Jim Boyce, the president of Marin French Cheese Co. in Petaluma. He said Friday that his dairy bill increased 58.5 percent from May 2006 to May of this year -- from $1.15 per gallon of milk to $1.83 per gallon.

Live Earth is getting more play:

• 2007/07/01: ClimateP: Gore Launches Live Earth Pledge
• 2007/07/01: Guardian(UK): Gore show is set to be biggest on earth
  China will broadcast Live Earth, giving the climate change concerts an audience of 2 billion. Will that silence the sceptics?
• 2007/06/29: ABC(Au): Live Earth concerts to deliver climate SOS: Gore
• 2007/06/29: ENN: Live Earth Concerts To Deliver Climate SOS, Gore Says
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Live Earth Global Warming Gig Ditched in Istanbul
• 2007/06/26: TreeHugger: Live Earth: Scientists set to Rock Antarctica to Deliver on Gore's Promise for Music on Every Continent

  Real Climate & the mob posters have put up some good articles on CO2, err GHGs:

• 2007/06/29: Tamino: Gases -- some of the nitty-gritty science behind global warming
• 2007/06/29: ERabett: NOx [use of trace gas concentrations from various satellites]
• 2007/06/28: AFTIC: What is CO2's Relationship to Temperature?
• 2007/06/26: RealClimate: A Saturated Gassy Argument
• 2007/06/26: RealClimate: A Saturated Gassy Argument - Part II: What Angstrom didn't know
• 2007/06/25: Maribo: Where does all that carbon go? Part II

  So what is going on at Antarctica?

• 2007/06/29: PhysOrg: New Undersea Images Challenge Prevailing Ideas About the Antarctic Ice Sheet
• 2007/06/29: UCSB: New Undersea Images Challenge Prevailing Ideas About the Antarctic Ice Sheet
• 2007/06/27: ENN: Researchers Say [East] Antarctic Ice Sheet Stable
  While studies of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets show they are both at risk from global warming, the East Antarctic ice sheet will "need quite a bit of warming" to be affected, Andrew Mackintosh, a senior lecturer at Victoria University, said Wednesday
• 2007/06/27: PhysOrg: Researchers: East Antarctica Ice Sheet Stable

  The IPCC AR4 WG1 comments are now online:

• 2007/06/: UCAR:IPCC:WG1: AR4 Review Comments and Responses
• 2007/06/26: Stoat: AR4 comments now available

  Every once in a while, someone points out IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology]:

• 2007/06/27: Independent(UK): This planet ain't big enough for the 6,500,000,000
  Behind the climate crisis lies a global issue that no one wants to tackle: do we need radical plans to reduce the world's population?

And in the hurricane wars:

• 2007/06/29: CCurrents: How To Destroy An African-American City In Thirty Three Steps - Lessons From Katrina
• 2007/06/30: MTobis: Good News Bad News
• 2007/06/28: CSW: NOAA bureaucrats attempt to muzzle National Hurricane Center director [Bill Proenza]
• 2007/06/26: Wunderground: An American Tragedy: 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Audrey

  The temperatures are still going up:

• 2007/06/29: Yahoo: 2007 seen as second warmest year as climate shifts
• 2007/06/26: Stoat: How unusual was autumn 2006 in Europe?
• 2007/06/25: Wunderground: Fourth warmest May on record

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2007/07/01: FergusB: Sea ice and glaciers update
• 2007/06/26: EUO: Barroso sees 'dramatic' climate change in Greenland
• 2007/06/26: TruthOut: Major Sea Level Threat From Greenland Sooner?
• 2007/06/25: PlanetArk: Greenland Ice May Melt Much Faster - UN Scientist
  New research shows that man-made climate change could cause the Greenland ice sheet to break up in hundreds, rather than thousands, of years, [Bert Metz] the chair of a United Nations panel of scientists said on Monday

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/06/29: NewScientist: Satellite snaps first images of mysterious glowing clouds
• 2007/06/27: TerraDaily: Main Component For World Latest Satellite [GOSAT: Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite] To Measure Greenhouse Gases Delivered

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/06/30: PhysOrg: EU Paper Shows Options on Warming Europe
• 2007/06/30: Yahoo: EU paper shows options on warming Europe
  Water shortages in the Mediterranean, flash floods along the Rhine and summers so hot that nuclear power stations can't cool down. This is what Europe can expect as its climate warms over the next decades, a European Union paper warned Friday, as it laid out options for what governments can do now to prepare for the effects of climate change.
• 2007/06/29: TCE: The Evolving Threat to Our Forests [mountain pine beetle adapting to spruce as well]
• 2007/06/28: RawStory: All-night battle as blaze nears Athens
• 2007/06/28: ENN: Wildlife, Crops Hit by Southeast Europe Heatwave
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: There are lives at stake
• 2007/06/27: TerraDaily: Floods And Heatwaves Offer Warning Of Impact Of Climate Change
• 2007/06/28: DeSmogBlog: Global warming is costly, devastating to infrastructure in Alaska
• 2007/06/28: SciDaily: Global Climate Change And Toxic Chemicals: A Potentially Lethal Combination
• 2007/06/28: NewScientist: Global warming will increase world death rate
• 2007/06/28: BBC: Heatwave fuels Greek forest fires
• 2007/06/27: BBC: Heatwaves will 'boost death rate'
  The increasing number of deaths caused by heatwaves as the climate changes will not be offset by fewer deaths in milder winters, US research claims. The study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine said the death rate in 50 US cities rose more sharply in very hot spells than very cold ones. People had already adapted to the cold with central heating, the study said, but remained unused to intense heat.
• 2007/06/27: KSJT: NYTimes: On Singapore's mosquito police, global warming, and dengue fever
• 2007/06/27: PhysOrg: Strong Winds Fan Flames in Lake Tahoe Fire
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: [Dessler] Another great benefit of global warming [poison ivy]
• 2007/06/27: DeSmogBlog: World Heritage sites threatened by climate change; UN urged to seek carbon cuts
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Five More Die as Southeast Europe Sizzles
• 2007/06/27: Yahoo: Floods, heatwaves send signal about global warming's impact: UN
• 2007/06/26: ENN: Lake Tahoe Fire Destroys 200-Plus Buildings, Clouds Lake with Ash
• 2007/06/21: Australian: Warmer seas bring whales, dolphins to Scottish waters
• 2007/06/24: ERabett: Forest fires [mob post]
• 2007/06/25: BBC: Firefighters are battling a raging wildfire near Lake Tahoe in California that has destroyed more than 200 homes and forced about 1,000 people to leave
• 2007/06/25: CBC: Hundreds of homes destroyed as fire rages near Lake Tahoe
• 2007/06/25: Reuters: Heatwave causes deaths in Greece, Romania
• 2007/06/25: SF Gate: California Wildfire Burns 220 Homes
• 2007/06/23: Scotsman: 30 deaths as heatwave hits [South-east Europe]

  And then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2007/06/29: TruthOut: Death of the Amazon
  In Brazil, environmental technocrats talk of saving the rainforest with satellite technology - but loggers, miners and farmers keep finding scams to evade the law
• 2007/06/26: KSJT: Miami Herald: Rampant deforestation turning up the knob on global warming

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2007/06/29: ENN: Desertification a Threat, According to UN Report
• 2007/06/28: PhysOrg: U.N. Report: Desertification a Threat
• 2007/06/28: JFleck: Desertification
• 2007/06/28: SciDaily: Desertification: UN Experts Prescribe Global Policy Overhaul To Avoid Looming Mass Migrations
• 2007/06/28: Yahoo: Desertification threat to global stability: U.N. study
• 2007/06/28: BBC: UN issues desertification warning
  Tens of millions of people could be driven from their homes by encroaching deserts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, a report says. The study by the United Nations University suggests climate change is making desertification "the greatest environmental challenge of our times". If action is not taken, the report warns that some 50 million people could be displaced within the next 10 years.
• 2007/06/23: AngryBear: Desertification, thermometers, and tennis courts

  We had wacky weather elsewhere too:

• 2007/06/30: CBC: Storm injures 10 in B.C. Interior
• 2007/06/28: MTobis: Weird weather
• 2007/06/25: PhysOrg: [8] Tornadoes rip through parts of western Canada

  Speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/06/30: ClimateP: Los Angeles: Worst Drought Ever Recorded
• 2007/06/30: PhysOrg: Weather Extremes Wither LA, Drown Texas
• 2007/06/30: PhysOrg: Floods follow drought in eastern Australia
• 2007/06/29: CBC: Authorities warn high tides could worsen Australia floods
• 2007/06/29: ClimateP: Pray For Action On Global Warming [Alabama drought]
• 2007/06/28: PlanetArk: Fourth Storm Batters Australia, Major Flooding
• 2007/06/27: ABC(Au): Recent deluges 'not enough' for parched systems
• 2007/06/26: TerraDaily: Farmers Buckle Under As Drought Ravages Lesotho
• 2007/06/27: TreeHugger: Southern California Facing "Perfect Drought"
• 2007/06/25: Guardian(UK): Scarce water and population boom leads California to 'perfect drought'

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/06/28: CDreams: The Coming Biofuels Disaster
• 2007/06/25: AlterNet: The Great Biofuel Hoax

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

• 2007/06/30: CCurrents: Around The Globe, Farmers Losing Ground
• 2007/06/28: TruthOut: Around the Globe, Farmers Losing Ground
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Rains Hit W.Europe Wheat, Drought Devastates East
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: Climate Change Threatens North Africa Food Supply

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/07/01: ClimateP: World Resources Institute for Global Mitigation
• 2007/06/29: BBC: Society 'needs the right chemistry' - attention should be focused on developments that can really deliver a low carbon future
• 2007/06/28: EnvFin: IEA urges manufacturing industry to slash emissions
  Manufacturing industries could improve their energy efficiency by a quarter and cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a third by modernising their plants, according to a report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday. The IEA's Tracking Industrial Energy Efficiency and CO2 Emissions report said manufacturing industry could become 18-26% more efficient and cut emissions by 19-32%.
• 2007/06/28: Oikos: Cheap ways to reduce greenhouse emissions
• 2007/06/28: NPR: Climate Game Gives Real Options to Save World

  As for aviation & GHGs:

• 2007/06/30: NEN: Curbing Airline Emissions
• 2007/06/27: ABC(Au): Qantas announces carbon offset scheme
• 2007/06/27: PlanetArk: EU Lawmakers Eye 2010 for Airline Emissions Trade
• 2007/06/27: ABC(Au): Airlines slow to act on climate change: report

  While on the carbon sequestration front:

• 2007/06/29: RigZone: [Norwegian] Statoil Scraps CO2 Plan
• 2007/06/30: NEN: The Storage Part of CCS
• 2007/06/27: TerraDaily: CO2 Burial Could Help Extract Methane From Old Coal Mines
• 2007/06/26: PhysOrg: Greenhouse gas burial
• 2007/06/25: WorldChanging: Sequestering Carbon by Land and Sea
• 2007/06/26: SciDaily: Greenhouse Gas Burial: Storing Unwanted Carbon Dioxide In Unmineable Coal Seams
• 2007/06/26: Eureka: Greenhouse gas burial [in deep coal seams not commercially viable for production

  Wrangling over Planktos & the iron hypothesis continues:

• 2007/06/28: GristMill: Planktos president responds to environmentalist critics
• 2007/06/27: SciBlog: WWF opposes plankton-global warming plan
• 2007/06/26: Stoat: Planktos
• 2007/06/27: SciDaily: World Wildlife Fund Warns Against Plan To Dump Iron Dust In Open Ocean
• 2007/06/27: Eureka: World Wildlife Fund warns against plan by Planktos, Inc.
• 2007/06/25: TreeHugger: It's Never Too Late To Call Off The Circular Firing Squad

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/06/25: CRS: (link to 237k pdf) The Carbon Cycle: Implications for Climate Change and Congress
• 2007/06/27: CPD: LGM and Late Glacial glacier advances in the Cordillera Real and Cochabamba (Bolivia) deduced from 10Be surface exposure dating by R. Zech et al.
• 2007/06/22: Science: Weak Northern and Strong Tropical Land Carbon Uptake from Vertical Profiles of Atmospheric CO2 by Britton B. Stephens et al.

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

• 2007/06/29: SciDaily: 'Biological Pump' Overestimated: Study Challenges How Life In The Oceans Removes Carbon From The Atmosphere
• 2007/06/27: KSJT: Wires, western US dailies: Dust in mountains means faster snow melts
• 2007/06/27: PhysOrg: NOAA scientists to search tropical skies
• 2007/06/27: PhysOrg: NASA airborne expedition chases climate, ozone questions
• 2007/06/27: NatureCF: Atmospheric aerosols: correlation is not causation [Trenberth]
• 2007/06/26: NOAAMag: NOAA Scientists to Search Tropical Skies for Answers on Climate Change, Ozone Loss
• 2007/06/26: SciDaily: Desert Droughts Lead To Earlier Annual Mountain Snow Loss, Study Shows
• 2007/06/25: PhysOrg: Study shows desert droughts lead to earlier annual mountain snow loss
• 2007/06/25: Eureka: U. of Colorado study shows desert droughts lead to earlier annual mountain snow loss [blown dust & albedo]

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2007/06/24: EnvEcon: Jeffrey Frankel: Next Steps after Kyoto
• 2007/06/25: EconView: Jeffrey Frankel: Next Steps after Kyoto

  And on the emissions trading front:

• 2007/06/27: C411: What's Really Going On in the European Carbon Market?
• 2007/06/27: NEN: Cap-and-Trade: Questions Arising
• 2007/06/24: EnvEcon: Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals

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

• 2007/06/29: ClimateP: The First Rule of Carbon Offsets: No Trees
• 2007/06/29: GristMill: Romm's rules of carbon offsets
• 2007/06/28: ClimateP: Romm's Rules of Carbon Offsets
• 2007/06/28: NEN: Carbon tax: where it works, where it doesn't
• 2007/06/25: EnvEcon: Carbon taxes over cap-and-trade

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/07/01: ABC(Au): US Ambassador [to Australia, Robert McCallum] urges APEC declaration on climate change
• 2007/06/26: FindLaw: Why the G8 Summit Was a Failure: The U.S.'s Undercutting of International Environmental Plans
• 2007/06/29: People's Daily: EU, China launch project to tackle climate change
• 2007/06/26: FinEx: Schwarzenegger says US must cut emissions before China does
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: China to West: You must be kidding
• 2007/06/26: ENN: U.S. Firms Wary of UN Responsible Business Compact [because of perceptions it has no teeth]
• 2007/06/25: DeSmogBlog: Rich nations blamed for global warming, but not for all the right reasons
• 2007/06/25: ENN: Rich Nations Accused of Green Imperialism on Climate Change [at World Economic Forum on East Asia]
• 2007/06/25: CDreams: AP: Rich Nations Blamed for Global Warming

  The GW security meme got some exercise:

• 2007/06/28: VDM: Viridian Note 00493: British Military Describes Khaki Green
• 2007/06/29: TreeHugger: Get Ready for Global Warming Says British Armed Forces Head
• 2007/06/25: PlanetArk: Armies Must Ready for Global Warming Role - Britain

  And in the "Paranoia is its own reward" department:

• 2007/06/27: PhysOrg: Green Junta
  A radical suggestion for creating a global infrastructure that is both sustainable and green might rely on nations working together to find a solution to a range of potentially devastating problems, according to Cardiff University's Peter Wells. Writing in the International Journal of the Environment and Sustainable Development, published today by Inderscience, Wells warns that of a Green Junta that could bring about a right-wing agenda by stealth, in the name of environmentalism

And on the American political front:

• 2007/06/29: CBS: Did Feds Try To Stop Calif. Emissions Law? Congressman Says Transportation Department Documents Show Inappropriate Intervention With EPA
• 2007/06/30: ClimateP: Senate Hearing on Utility GHG Emissions
• 2007/06/29: CSW: Rolling Stone article on White House global warming denial links Cooney to V-P's office and Rove
• 2007/06/29: CSW: Senate appropriators share our distrust of NOAA and the White House on essential climate satellites
• 2007/06/28: GreenBiz: Ford, Chrysler Join U.S. Climate Action Partnership [USCAP]
• 2007/06/28: ClimateP: Dingell Backs 60% to 80% Cut in GHGs
• 2007/06/28: TruthOut: US House Passes Bill Affirming Global Warming Exists
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: More significant energy developments in D.C. today
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: More Dingell
• 2007/06/28: PlanetArk: Key US Senators Reach Deal on CO2 Emissions
• 2007/06/28: ENN: U.S. House Passes Bill Affirming Global Warming Exists
• 2007/06/28: GristMill: The stupid! It burns!
• 2007/06/27: ERabett: The son also rises - The NY Times published a survey of Americans...
• 2007/06/28: C411: Climate Legislation at Last?
• 2007/06/27: Yahoo: Congress wants U.S. coal industry destroyed: exec [Murray Energy Corp head]
• 2007/06/27: KSJT: Local dailies: Feds fund big new biofuels projects
• 2007/06/26: TruthOut: US Mayors Take the Lead in Fighting Climate Change [As of June 21, 540 mayors had signed The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement]
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: Is this the right time to attack Dingell?
• 2007/06/26: C411: New Jersey Leads the Way!
• 2007/06/26: Slate: The Great Corn Con - The Senate's preposterous new ethanol bill
• 2007/06/26: DailyIndia: MIT analyzes greenhouse gas proposals
• 2007/06/24: ClimateP: Who is the Real Decider on Global Warming?
• 2007/06/25: ClimateP: Time for Senate Action on Global Warming
• 2007/06/24: WaPo: Automakers eye House after fuel fight
• 2007/06/25: TruthOut: Automakers Eye House After Fuel Fight
• 2007/06/25: GristMill: The auction vs. free allocation debate reaches Capitol Hill
• 2007/06/25: Deltoid: Bush's secret plan to deny global warming
• 2007/06/25: DeSmogBlog: Cheney's war on climate science
• 2007/06/25: ENN: U.S. Climate Law May Linger Until Next President
• 2007/06/30: BSD: Edwards on coal and nukes

  The Energy Bill is working its way through the legislative intestines:

• 2007/06/29: ClimateP: What is the House doing on CAFE?
• 2007/06/29: TruthOut: This Baby Is Just Plain Ugly, Folks [Thomas Friedman on energy bill]
• 2007/06/29: ENN: House Committee Defeats Increase to Gas Mileage Standards
  A House committee on Thursday rejected an auto industry-backed plan to raise gas mileage standards for new vehicles. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee wanted to increase the requirements for any vehicle that uses renewable fuels. The measure was put together after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signaled her support for a Senate plan passed last week to increase standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: RPS, as viewed from the states of the Old Confederacy
• 2007/06/27: ClimateP: Who Killed the Senate RPS? [Renewable Portfolio Standard]
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: Update on House energy bill sausage making
• 2007/06/27: OilChange: Exxon Chief [Tillerson] Criticises US Energy Bill

  James hansen continues to make his presence felt:

• 2007/06/27: ClimateP: Hansen offers his climate solutions
• 2007/06/27: ClimateP: Hansen on Pres. Eisenhower and his scientists
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: Science: Eh, who cares?

  The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment has a site now:

• 2007/06/26: TreeHugger: The American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment: It's Launched!
• APUPCC: American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/06/30: GristMill: Al Gore's call to action
• 2007/06/30: GristMill: Big Al [Gore] succumbs to ethanomania
• 2007/06/29: TruthOut: Gore Calls for 90% Reduction in CO2
• 2007/06/28: CanWest: Ontario to distribute Gore's film [An Inconvenient Truth] to schools
• 2007/06/26: CCM: If Attacking Al Gore Was a Movie, It Would be "Say Anything"
• 2007/06/26: HuffPo: If Attacking Al Gore Was a Movie, It Would be "Say Anything"
• 2007/06/25: OilChange: Gore: Too Little, Too Late
• 2007/06/24: Independent(UK): Too little, too late: Gore blames scientists for climate crisis - US could have acted sooner if experts had reached consensus

  While in the UK:

• 2007/06/29: ClimateP: Factoid of the Week
• 2007/06/24: ClimateP: Brits Out Ahead of the Curve

  And in Europe:

• 2007/06/28: PlanetArk: Treaty Amended to Allow Carbon Burial Off Europe
• 2007/06/28: PlanetArk: EU Ministers Struggle Over Car Emission Rules
• 2007/06/28: Cordis: Climate and energy major threats to European agriculture, conference finds
• 2007/06/25: CDreams: BostonGlobe: European Unity, Leadership on Climate Change

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/06/27: ABC(Au): Vic floods blamed on La Nina
• 2007/06/26: ABC(Au): Adelaide City Council will consider whether it can achieve a target of zero emissions for its operations by 2020

  While in China:

• 2007/06/30: NewScientist: Farmland to revert to forest in China's green plan
• 2007/06/27: Reasic: China's Emissions and the Rhetoric to Come

  And in Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, is letting things drift:

• 2007/07/01: CanWest: North American climate change pact called for - Alberta government officials press Ottawa to bring U.S. on board
• 2007/06/29: CanWest: Kyoto is not a devil's scheme MP David McGuinty (Lib. Ottawa South)
• 2007/06/26: DeSmogBlog: Ontario to Go Coal-Free in Seven Years
• 2007/06/26: EdSun: [Alberta] Carbon tax creates a chill
• 2007/06/25: Tyee: The Economist [Mark Jaccard] Tories Loved, Then Silenced
• 2007/06/24: DeSmogBlog: British Columbia's capital set to fine [motor] idlers over global warming
• 2007/06/25: CanWest: Tories warned against killing energy program [EnerGuide for Houses program]
  The Harper government was warned by its own experts that it could face up to $4.5-million worth of lawsuits for cancelling a popular energy-efficiency retrofit incentive program for homes established by the previous Liberal government
• 2007/06/25: Canoe: Baird not issuing new environment plan [or implementing the Kyoto compliance bill]

  The NRTEE released a report:

• 2007/06/28: TStar: Think-tank calls for walloping carbon fee - Say incentives needed to cut emissions
  The federal government should put a hefty price tag on carbon to give polluters an incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis of the Conservative climate change plan. Such a carbon charge would drive up the price of oil, coal, and other products that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy's study encourages the government to move quickly to make deep cuts to emissions. The arms-length agency, which is made up of industry and academic players as well as environmentalists, looked at the medium- and long-term targets set out in the government's green plan, finding both achievable and would only result in "small reductions in the size of the economy."
• 2007/06/28: TCE: Conservatives Told to Price Carbon Now or Pay Later [NRTEE]
• 2007/06/27: NRTEE: Medium & longterm scenarios for GHG emission and air pollutant reductions
• 2007/06/28: DeSmogBlog: Canada must tax emissions quickly or suffer consequences, [NRTEE] report says
• 2007/06/28: ENN: Canada Must Charge Firms a Lot for Emissions, [NRTEE] Panel Says

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/06/27: Novosti: Danger of climate change equal to nuclear war

  Emily Yoffe wrote an op-ed that was roundly condemned:

• 2007/06/27: Denialism: WaPo publishes anti-GW nonsense
• 2007/06/25: TCR: Yoffe to Gore: You're scary
• 2007/06/25: ClimateP: Slate's Emily Yoffe Joins the Climate Confused
• 2007/06/25: GristMill: Scientific hubris?
• 2007/06/25: TL: Treat Us Like Children
• 2007/06/25: MYglesias: The Inconvenient Truth: Inconvenient!
• 2007/06/25: WaPo: Gloom and Doom in A Sunny Day
• 2007/06/25: HuffPo: The Global Warming Alarm: Too Shrill?

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/06/27: TreeHugger: The TH Interview: Chris Mooney, Author of Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2007/06/30: TreeHugger: Chasing Glaciers: An Interactive Documentary
• 2007/06/28: TStar: It's not too late to change world [Gregory Greene's new movie, _Escape From Suburbia_]
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: (flash) Soil: The secret solution to global warming

  Meanwhile in the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/06/24: DallasNews: Lawyers preparing for explosion of climate-related work

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2007/06/29: GristMill: Big oil, stopped clocks, energy efficiency
• 2007/06/29: GristMill: The promise and perils of public investment in energy
• 2007/06/28: GristMill: Everything's on the table, even nukes
• 2007/06/28: AfterGutenberg: Growth of Renewable Energy in Spain Led by Wind
  27% of Spain's total electricity supply comes from wind power. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate balked at setting a Renewable Portfolio Standards at 15%
• 2007/06/27: MeathChronicle: Energy debate must include all options
  In a nutshell, oil depletion (along with climate change) is probably the most serious crisis ever to face industrialised society and yet governments around the world are still incredibly ill-prepared to meet the extraordinary challenge this will pose
• 2007/06/26: ClimateP: Report: Investment in sustainable energy soaring
• 2007/06/25: GristMill: Reframing the debate on low-carbon generators
• 2007/06/25: TreeHugger: Global Renewable Energy Policies and Measures Database Provides Wealth of Information
• 2007/06/25: NEN: Solar Growing Affordable

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/06/26: TAP: Flirting With Liquid Coal
• 2007/06/28: GristMill: Coal is the enemy of the human race: Robert Murray can kiss my ass edition
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: Liquid coal op-ed
• 2007/06/28: OilDrum: Another thought on coal supply
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: Memo to Google: Coal is not green
• 2007/06/25: ClimateP: 250 Years of Coal? Maybe Not
• 2007/06/24: GristMill: Random observation of the day
• 2007/06/25: OilDrum: The Coal Question and Climate Change

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/06/27: GRAIN: No to the agrofuels craze!
• 2007/06/29: BBC: Charity attacks rush for biofuels
  A furious attack on the drive to grow more biofuels has been launched by a charity supporting poor farmers in developing countries. The charity - called GRAIN - says their research shows the rush for biofuels is causing much more environmental and social damage than previously realised. Biofuels from crops are being heavily promoted by the US and Europe as a welcome solution to climate change
• 2007/06/28: SciDaily: Prairie Cordgrass For Cellulosic Ethanol Production
• 2007/06/28: SciDaily: Biofuel Crops Double As Greenhouse-Gas Reducers
• 2007/06/26: TEB: Important Lower Cost Technology Demonstrated for Ethanol Production [membranes to separate water from an alcohol-water mixture]
• 2007/06/26: CPunch: Ethanolics Anonymous

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/06/30: CanWest: Nuclear demand will outstrip supply: [Cameco Corp] CEO

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical: Meanwhile in the "every problem is an opportunity in disguise" crowd:

• 2007/06/30: TreeHugger: Macy's To Install 8 MegaWatts Of Solar Power [in 26 stores throughout California]

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/07/01: NewScientist: Climate change sceptics criticise polar bear science
• 2007/06/28: CCDenial: Diesel Slick [ads]
• 2007/06/30: ERabett: Lubos Runs a Three Card Monte Game
• 2007/06/30: ERabett: Down the Rabett Hole...NOAA has disappeared the Historical Climate Network site locations...
• 2007/07/01: BCLSB: The Surface Stations Project: Science Auditers or Enviro Vigilantes?
• 2007/06/30: DeSmogBlog: Why Exxon makes Koch Giggle
• 2007/06/28: DeSmogBlog: Slamming the Climate Skeptic Scam
• 2007/06/28: Reasic: Addressing Skeptical Concerns
• 2007/06/28: JEB: Bet or bluff? Apparently Limbaugh has been mouthing off...
• 2007/06/27: ClimateP: 26 Climate Myths Debunked
• 2007/06/27: DeSmogBlog: UK Straw Poll offers misleading global warming headline
• 2007/06/27: BCLSB: Team Denier: The Geezer Squad
• 2007/06/26: ClimateP: Planet Gore Howlers: Henry Ford invented the gas engine -- and that engine couldn't run biofuels
• 2007/06/25: MObjectivist: The Climate Change Nut-Case
• 2007/06/27: Rabble: The whole truth [PR, Mote & Kaser on Kilimanjaro]
• 2007/06/26: BCLSB: Kate Says Trust Him, He's A Water Witch [Moerner]
• 2007/06/26: OilChange: Awarding Deception on Climate
• 2007/06/24: ERabett: Coming soon to your comments section
• 2007/06/25: AfterGutenberg: Cheney Directs U.S. Policy to Deny Climate Change?

  The Yes Men picked up some flak:

• 2007/06/30: SlashDot: Exxon's Brute Squad Hacks the Yes Men
• 2007/06/29: BCLSB: Exxon Strikes Back! Yes Men Websites Shut Down After Calgary Prank

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/06/25: FuturePundit: Limited Hydrocarbons Mean Little Global Warming?
• 2007/06/29: WorldChanging: Letter from T??llberg: We are about to leave the Holocene
• 2007/06/30: TreeHugger: The New Climate Poll Numbers Are In From Pew
• 2007/06/29: DeSmogBlog: One Pathway To Climate Peace
• 2007/06/28: ERabett: Under the Hood [peer review]
• 2007/06/29: C411: How We Know Humans Cause Global Warming - Part 3 of 5: Causes of Past Climate Change
• 2007/06/28: Tamino: Climate Science can be Complicated
• 2007/06/28: GristMill: The nation-states of climate change
• 2007/06/27: GristMill: [Dessler] How we know we're not wrong about climate change
• 2007/06/28: JFleck: Watching for the [Arizona] Monsoon
• 2007/06/28: MTobis: How Do We Know We're Not Wrong?
• 2007/06/28: USAToday: [Global] Poll: Climate problems the biggest threat
• 2007/06/26: SciBlog: The secret is out: Who is concerned about global warming and why?
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: Global warming and direct action
• 2007/06/26: TerraDaily: Swiss Climate Warms Twice As Fast As Northern Hemisphere
• 2007/06/26: AfterGutenberg: Climate Science, Politics and Solutions
• 2007/06/26: CDreams: Totally Boom/Doom Solartopian Green by 2030
• 2007/06/25: Times(UK): Ten predictions about climate change that have come true
• 2007/06/26: PhysOrg: Researchers ID Factors in Arizona Monsoons
• 2007/06/26: GristMill: What average folk want from climate policy
• 2007/06/26: MTobis: Is Economics a Science?
• 2007/06/26: TreeHugger: Meet the Bookkeeper: An Interview with Mathis Wackernagel of Global Footprint Network
• 2007/06/26: DeSmogBlog: Sacbee in the Hot House
• 2007/06/25: ERabett: Retired Reading [Rolling Stone]
• 2007/06/25: PhysOrg: School bus emissions study to be released [motor idling]
• 2007/06/25: MTobis: Newsweek: Sun not relevant to climate

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

• Live Earth Pledge
• EU: Living with climate change in Europe
• TidePool
• 2007/06/27: NOAA: AGGI: Annual Greenhouse Gas Index
• Denialism
• SacBee: The Hot House
• Environmental Graffiti
• APUPCC: American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment
• IEA: Global Renewable Energy Policies and Measures
• UNEP: Global Deserts Outlook
• [Science] Blog Around The Clock
• FramingScience
• CMOS: Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
• ACS: A Concerned Scientist - Concerned About the Assaults on Science
• NASA: CloudSat

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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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"The good news is the world may have a tropical thermostat that helps keep the planet cool. And the bad news is that that may be tropical cyclones running around all the time." -Matt Huber

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