NewsRack: newstrust/Global-Warming/Emissions

What Sarah Palin’s Facebook Post About Her ‘Gluteous Maximus’ Says About Climate And Cold Weather - Think Progres

Ryan Koronowski — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

What Sarah Palin’s Facebook Post About Her ‘Gluteous Maximus’ Says About Climate And Cold Weather

7 Very Wrong Things About Climate Science And Energy In House Science Chair Lamar Smith’s WashPost Op-Ed - Think Progres

Ryan Koronowski — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

7 Very Wrong Things About Climate Science And Energy In House Science Chair Lamar Smith’s WashPost Op-Ed

‘We Would All Like Climate Sensitivity To Be Lower But It Isn’t’ Says Lead Scientist Of New Study - Think Progres

Joe Romm — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

‘We Would All Like Climate Sensitivity To Be Lower But It Isn’t’ Says Lead Scientist Of New Study

Koch Brothers Storing Oil Sands Waste on Bank of Detroit River - Crooks Liars

Diane Sweet — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Fox 2 News Headlines A Marathon spokesperson told Fox 2 they sold the pet coke. It is now the property of Koch Carbon. Koch Carbon is part of Koch Industries, run by Charles and David Koch. When the huge black mounds that sit on the riverbanks of southwest Detroit just appeared one day, residents were puzzled and concerned. “One of the biggest concerns when we saw the black piles is what is it, and where is it coming from?” said State Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit). She said residents contacted her worried that the black piles could be toxic. Freep.com : U.S. Reps. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Bloomfield Township, and John Conyers, a Democrat from Detroit, sent a joint letter to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality urging the agency to consider the material's potential impact on the river and nearby residents. "We fear the storage of petroleum coke along the river poses a potential threat to water and air quality. The material may contain trace amounts of ...

May 20 News: U.S. Has ‘Deep Obligation’ To Act On Climate Change - Think Progres

Ryan Koronowski — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

May 20 News: U.S. Has ‘Deep Obligation’ To Act On Climate Change

Drumbeat: May 20, 2013 - The Oil Drum

Leanan — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Wells Dry, Fertile Plains Turn to Dust Vast stretches of Texas farmland lying over the aquifer no longer support irrigation. In west-central Kansas, up to a fifth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile swath of the aquifer has already gone dry. In many other places, there no longer is enough water to supply farmers’ peak needs during Kansas’ scorching summers. And when the groundwater runs out, it is gone for good. Refilling the aquifer would require hundreds, if not thousands, of years of rains. This is in many ways a slow-motion crisis — decades in the making, imminent for some, years or decades away for others, hitting one farm but leaving an adjacent one untouched. But across the rolling plains and tarmac-flat farmland near the Kansas-Colorado border, the effects of depletion are evident everywhere. Highway bridges span arid stream beds. Most of the creeks and rivers that once veined the land have dried up as 60 years of pumping have pulled groundwater levels down by scores and even ...

Overheated rhetoric on climate change doesn’t make for good policies - Washington Post

Lamar Smith — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed thoughtfully and objectively. Unfortunately, claims that distort the facts hinder the legitimate evaluation of policy options. The rhetoric has driven some policymakers toward costly regulations and policies that will harm hardworking American families and do little to decrease global carbon emissions. The Obama administration’s decision to delay, and possibly deny, the Keystone XL pipeline is a prime ...

India Ink: India Arrives at the Arctic - NY Times: World

By KABIR TANEJA — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Why does India’s inclusion as a permanent observer in the Arctic Council matter.

Letter: Cutting Carbon Emissions - NY Times: Editorials

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Letter: Cutting Carbon Emissions

A second chance to save the climate - New Scientist: Being Human

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A second chance to save the climate

Tar sands exploitation would be game over climate, warns leading scientist - Guardian: Environment

Damian Carrington — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Prof James Hansen rebukes oil firms and Canadian government over stance on exploiting fossil fuel, which he says would make climate problem unsolvable Major international oil companies are "buying off" governments, according to the world's most prominent climate scientist, Prof James Hansen. In a visit to London, he accused the Canadian government of acting as their tar sands' salesman and "holding a club" over the UK and European nations to accept their "dirty" oil. "Oil from tar sands makes sense only for a small number of people who are making a lot of money from that product," he said in an interview with the Guardian. "It doesn't make sense for the rest of the people on the planet. We are getting close to the dangerous level of carbon in the atmosphere and if we add on to that unconventional fossil fuels, which have a tremendous amount of carbon, then the climate problem becomes unsolvable." Hansen met ministers in the UK government, which the Guardian previously revealed has ...

Climate change isn't AN issue, it's THE issue - Daily Kos

rss@dailykos.com (Laurence Lewis) — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Home In 2005, the British government asked Stern to lead a team of economists in preparing a review of the economic impacts of climate change. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change is the seminal work on the issue, and it is an overwhelming read. But he now says it is dated. He now says it underestimated the dangers and the damages. Last week, he succinctly summarized his new understanding of the depth and intensity of the climate crisis: It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming. "When temperatures rise to that level, we will have disrupted weather patterns and spreading deserts," he said. "Hundreds of millions of people will be forced to leave their homelands because their crops and animals will have died. The trouble will come when they try to migrate into new lands, however. That will bring them into armed conflict with people already living there. Nor will it be ...

Analysis-Airline Emissions Deal May Not Come Before EU Deadline - International Herald Tribune: Americas

By REUTERS — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Analysis-Airline Emissions Deal May Not Come Before EU Deadline

Abreviated Pundit Round-up - Daily Kos

rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The New York Times adds its voice to the chorus crying out for action on climate change. The news that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, the most important global warming gas, have hit 400 parts per million for the first time in millions of years increases the pressure on President Obama to deliver on his pledges to limit this country’s greenhouse gas emissions. America cannot solve a global problem by itself. But as Mr. Obama rightly observed in his inaugural address, the United States, as both major polluter and world leader, has a deep obligation to help shield the international community from rising sea levels, floods, droughts and other devastating consequences of a warming planet. In his State of the Union speech, he promised to take executive action if Congress failed to pass climate legislation. ... Mr. Obama has a firm grasp of the climate issue, and no one doubts that he cares about it. But as is often the case with this president, the question is whether he will ...

Editorial: Climate Warnings, Growing Louder - NY Times: Editorials

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Editorial: Climate Warnings, Growing Louder

Green diary rescue: Pedal power, electric cars, OFA on climate change - Daily Kos

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Every week Daily Kos diarists write dozens of environmentally related posts. Many don't get the readership they deserve. Helping improve the odds is the motivation behind the Green Diary Rescue. In the past seven years, there have been 226 of these spotlighting more than 12,645 eco-diaries. Below are categorized links and excerpts to 64 more that appeared in the past seven days. That makes for lots of good reading during the spare moments of your weekend. [ Disclaimer: Inclusion of a diary in the rescue does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.] Mr. President, Arctic Ice Loss Portends a Climate Tsunami: The National Arctic Strategy is Suicidal —by FishOutofWater : "President Obama, your advisers just don't get it. We should be running as fast as we can from fossil fuels, not going out to sea to get more of them. The loss of summer sea ice portends a climate tsunami. The ice is keeping the Arctic cold, even in summer. Retreat of the ice is accelerating the ...

Hot and getting hotter - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Mark Reynolds Published May 18, 2013 01:01AM MDT In the rarefied air of Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, 11,141 feet above sea level, scientists have charted the passing of a milestone that, if ignored, heralds a future for civilization both tragic and chaotic. I’m referring to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which Charles David Keeling began monitoring in 1958. At that time, CO2 concentration was 313 parts per million. We are now at 400 ppm and that is not good news. Why is this number so important? For hundreds of thou... ...

Drumbeat: May 17, 2013 - The Oil Drum

Leanan — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Avoiding the 'Energy Abyss' John Hofmeister doesn’t call it ‘peak oil,’ instead he calls it the ‘energy abyss,’ the point at which the global economy ceases to grow because the oil industry can no longer meet demand. Hofmeister is the former president of Shell Oil, the same Shell Oil that is preparing to drill the deepest hole yet drilled to reach oil and gas 200 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico in 9,500 feet (2,900m) of water, surpassing the working depth of Shell’s Perdido rig, also located out in the Gulf and producing around 100,000 barrels a day. The cost of that rig: $3 billion. In his 2010 book, Why We Hate The Oil Companies, Straight talk from an energy insider , he wrote the following: “It’s inevitable. The industry that produces oil can’t produce enough, unless the world doesn’t grow. It’s possible that we will have such expensive oil that we will stymie growth. How many people will suffer? How many poor will become poorer, while rich become richer because we have failed rational ...

Population growth and climate change explained by Hans Rosling – video - Guardian: Environment

Claire Provost, Claudine Spera — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Han Rosling demonstrates the dynamics of population growth, child mortality and carbon dioxide emissions

Claire Provost

Claudine Spera

Australia's 'unpopular' carbon price isn't to blame for Labor's poor polling | Alexander White - Guardian: Environment

Alexander White — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Claims that Julia Gillard's unpopularity were linked to her introduction of carbon pricing in 2012 don't stack up Since the disappointment of Copenhagen in 2009 , Australia has witnessed a concerted scare campaign against action on global warming. The scare campaign has been led by senior commentators in (Murdoch owned) News Limited papers, by conservative radio shock-jocks on the airwaves, and in parliament by extremist opposition party leader Tony Abbott. From the moment Australia's carbon pricing legislation package, the Clean Energy Future Act, was announced Tony Abbott has barnstormed from one end of Australia to another, declaring a "blood oath" that repealing the carbon price would be his first priority if elected: "I am giving you the most definite commitment any politician can give that this tax will go. This is a pledge in blood." Behind this incendiary phrase is Abbott's own climate change policy, a mishmash of ineffective handouts to industry to "clean up" polluting power ...

U.S. Geological Survey: Warmer Springs Causing Loss Of Snow Cover Throughout The Rocky Mountains - Think Progres

Joe Romm — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

U.S. Geological Survey: Warmer Springs Causing Loss Of Snow Cover Throughout The Rocky Mountains

'Green News Report' - May 16, 2013 - BradBlog

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Hysterical Fox 'News' flip-floppery on Tesla; Consensus strikes again: 97% of climate scientists say global warming is man-made, but the public thinks it's evenly split; CO2 levels pass 400ppm; You're already paying a 'disaster tax'; PLUS: Thanks to renewable energy, one town now has too much ...

Industry Groups Urge Supreme Court To Ban EPA From Regulating CO2 - Think Progres

Ryan Koronowski — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Industry Groups Urge Supreme Court To Ban EPA From Regulating CO2

Over 100 ‘Clean Air Ambassadors’ Call On Congress To Clean Up Its Act - Think Progres

Jeff Spross — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Over 100 ‘Clean Air Ambassadors’ Call On Congress To Clean Up Its Act

Obama must Make Fighting Climate Change National Project, or Die the death of a thousand Scandals - Informed Comment

Juan Cole — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

President Obama, like George H. W. Bush, has a problem with the ‘vision thing.’ And that is the reason for which he is being dogged by critics and ‘scandals.’ He presides over a huge bureaucracy and things will go wrong in it, for which he will be blamed if he allows others to control the [...]