Another Week of GW News, November 2, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

(skip to bottom)

November 2, 2008

• Top Stories:Methane, Credit Crunch, Living Planet Report
• Melting Arctic, Arctic Geopolitics, Antarctica, Magnetic Portals, Late Comments
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Glaciers, Sea Levels
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Desertification, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts
• Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
• Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Courts
• Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, EEStor, Business, Greenwashing
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellanea, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2008/10/31: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) A Retrospective Emergency Engineering Procedure?
• 2008/10/30: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Misquoting Sagan

  And here's some news you didn't want to hear:

• 2008/10/31: TreeHugger: Potent Greenhouse Gas on the Rise: Atmospheric Methane Levels Increasing Again
• 2008/10/30: Yahoo: Climate-warming methane levels rose fast in 2007
• 2008/10/30: NewScientist: Global-warming methane spiked in 2007
• 2008/10/30: HillHeat: Methane Levels Surging
• 2008/10/30: CSIRO: Global methane levels on the rise again -- After eight years of near-zero growth in atmospheric methane concentrations, levels have again started to rise.
• 2008/10/29: CBC: Methane in atmosphere shot up last year, study says
• 2008/10/29: PhysOrg: Methane gas levels begin to increase again
• 2008/10/29: Eureka: Methane gas levels begin to increase again -- New surge ends a decade of stability

  The credit crunch, the bailout and the green implications have a lot of people exercised:

• 2008/10/30: CCurrents: Three Immediate Crises - Market Failure And Green New Deal
• 2008/10/31: PlanetArk: Financial Crisis Has Lessons For Climate Fight - Expert
  The world still has the funds and ability to fight climate change and nations should not use the financial crisis to delay policies on tackling global warming, a top carbon expert said on Thursday.
• 2008/10/29: Nation: Wanted: A Climate Bailout
• 2008/10/30: MongaBay: Climate change is a bigger economic risk than banking crisis
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: Can't hardly wait -- The financial crisis is distracting us from ... everything!
• 2008/10/29: SMH: Financial crisis must not derail environmental efforts
  Both the environmental and the economic crises are caused by the same disease - running up debt that we and future generations can't afford. Throw in short-termism - the focus on getting more and bigger things faster - and we have the perfect ethical storm. The environmental crisis of global warming and the retreat of the natural world are taking place more slowly than the financial storm, and are less pressing in the minds of decision makers. But it did not take governments around the world long to find (as a necessity) trillions of dollars to bail out debt and the banks.
• 2008/10/28: ClimateP: Note to media: Credit crunch kills dirty stuff, too
• 2008/10/27: Yahoo: Top economist [Nicholas Stern] talks up risks of climate inaction
• 2008/10/28: AgoraVox: Beyond the triple crisis: a green new deal
  An imaginative and radical set of policies is needed to address the triple crunch of debt, peak oil and climate change...
• 2008/10/27: BBerg: Farm-Credit Squeeze May Cut Crops, Spur Food Crisis
• 2008/10/27: PhysOrg: Future of green is not so black, say some
  The deepening economic crisis may appear to be the perfect storm for environmentalism, but many in and around the green movement contend the opposite, seeing in it a time of opportunity.
• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: The Lesson of the Financial Crisis for Climate Change, 'Tackle Risk Early': Nicolas Stern
• 2008/10/27: TMoS: Nick Stern - Global Warming Worse than US Meltdown
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Now is the perfect time to save the planet -- A green new deal will help us out of recession and stave off a climate crisis

  WWF released their 2008 Living Planet report:

• 2008/10/27: WWF: [link to 4,5 meg pdf] Living Planet Report
• 2008/10/30: SMH: Eco bigfoot no myth - just look in the mirror
  Australia's ecological footprint has just gone up a few shoe sizes. It is now the fifth-largest in the world, and expanding fast, an international report has found. It takes an average of about 7.8 hectares of land to sustain the lifestyle of each Australian - significantly more than citizens of Britain, Canada or France - up from about 6.7 hectares in 2006. The Living Planet report, produced by WWF, ranks nations by the level of their impact on the environment, and found that more than three-quarters of the world's population take more from the planet than they put back. The average citizen of the globe requires just under three hectares to keep consuming at the current rate. Along with agriculture, Australia's soaring greenhouse gas emissions, largely fuelled by burning coal to generate electricity, contribute most to the nation's comparatively poor performance.
• 2008/10/29: NatureTGB: Eco 'credit crunch' warning
• 2008/10/29: NewScientist: Disastrous 'eco crunch' threatens planet
• 2008/10/29: TreeHugger: Planet Facing an 'Ecological Credit Crunch', WWF Says
• 2008/10/29: WorldChanging: Deeper in Debt: Two-Planet Lifestyle by Mid-2030s
• 2008/10/29: People's Daily: WWF warns of looming ecological credit crunch
• 2008/10/29: CBC: World headed for ecological 'credit crunch,' report warns -- Equivalent of 2 planets may be needed by mid-2030s to maintain lifestyles, WWF director says
• 2008/10/29: BBC: Earth on course for eco 'crunch' -- The Living Planet Report
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch
  Living Planet report -- Two planets need by 2030 at this rate, warns report -- Humans using 30% more resources than sustainable
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): FAQ: Planet's capacity

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/10/28: DeSmogBlog: Arctic Ice at Historic Minimum
• 2008/10/28: NatureTGB: Arctic ice is back, but only in the news
• 2008/10/28: PhysOrg: Arctic sea ice thinning at record rate
• 2008/10/28: ESA: Arctic sea ice thinning at record rate
  The thickness of sea ice in large parts of the Arctic declined by as much as 19% last winter compared to the previous five winters, according to data from ESA's Envisat satellite.
• 2008/10/28: TreeHugger: Record 10-19% Declines Seen in Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Last Winter, Satellite Data Reveals
• 2008/10/28: SciDaily: North Pole Exploration: Large Sliding Masses Close Beneath The Seafloor Of East-Siberian Continental Shelf Discovered
• 2008/10/28: OilChange: As Arctic Ice "Plummets," JFK Speaks on Climate...
• 2008/10/28: BBC: Arctic ice thickness 'plummets'
  The thickness of Arctic sea ice "plummeted" last winter, thinning by as much as 49 centimetres (1.6ft) in some regions, satellite data has revealed. A study by UK researchers showed that the ice thickness had been fairly constant for the previous five winters. The team from University College London added that the results provided the first definitive proof that the overall volume of Arctic ice was decreasing.
• 2008/10/28: Guardian(UK): Big decline in depth of Arctic winter sea ice
• 2008/10/27: BCLSB: Shipping In An Ice-Free Arctic
• 2008/10/24: TerraDaily: Polar bears dying out in Russian region: expert

  As for the geopolitics of the Arctic resources:

• 2008/10/28: FPB: Tuesday Map: The Arctic Monthly

  While in Antarctica:

• 2008/10/31: KSJT: Sci. American, AFP, etc: Antarctica makes it unanimous. All continents are feeling the heat. And we done it.
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Scientists claim proof humans to blame for polar warming
• 2008/10/31: PhysOrg: Antarctica feeling the heat too, says study
• 2008/10/31: ENN: Antarctica hit by climate change
• 2008/10/30: Reuters: Man-made climate change seen in Antarctica, Arctic
• 2008/10/30: BBC: The rise in temperatures at Earth's poles has for the first time been attributed directly to human activities, according to a study
• 2008/10/30: Guardian(UK): Manmade global warming evident on every continent, polar report finds
• 2008/10/30: CNN: Data pins polar warming blame on humans
• 2008/10/30: NatureN: Antarctica hit by climate change -- New study shows human fingerprints on the polar thermostats
• 2008/10/30: NatureCF: Human prints on the poles
• 2008/10/30: NewScientist: Humans to blame for polar warming
• 2008/10/30: Eureka: Conclusive proof that polar warming is being caused by humans
• 2008/10/28: Eureka: Scientists probe Antarctic glaciers for clues to past and future sea level
• 2008/10/27: BBC: Ice sheet secrets set to be seen
  The secrets of the largest ice sheet on earth are to be revealed under plans to map the Antarctic landscape in detail for the first time. A team including Edinburgh scientists is to travel across East Antarctica in a four-year project to explore the land hidden beneath the ice-covered region. Radar instruments will be used to penetrate the ice, which is several kilometres thick. They hope to examine the composition and density of the underlying rock. The area covers an area that is half the size of the United States. The findings from the £3m study will be used to help scientists understand how climates have changed over thousands of years and forecast future sea level changes.

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I expect to hear a lot about it from the solar contingent of the denyosphere:

• 2008/10/30: NASA: Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth

  Late coverage of the DHS spying on activists:

• 2008/10/27: DeSmogBlog: Big Brother Spies on Climate Activists

  Late comment on Nitrogen Trifluoride - NF3:

• 2008/10/27: QuarkSoup: More NF3 Nonsense
• 2008/10/27: NatureCF: Yet another greenhouse gas
• 2008/10/26: KSJT: AP: Now it's two trace greenhouse gases on the rise, which adds up to a puzzle [NF3 & CH4]

  The food crisis remains a top story:

• 2008/10/: FAO: Crop Prospects and Food Situation
• 2008/10/28: PhysOrg: Three billion Asians face food crisis threat: research
  The escalating cost of rice and other foodstuffs across Asia could cause the reversal of policy reforms, social unrest and deepening poverty for over 3 billion Asians -- according to new research. A team of experts from The University of Manchester, University of Delhi and the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development say the rising costs of basic Asian staples of rice and wheat are a root cause of lower economic growth and higher income inequality. The researchers reaffirm a recent OECD-FAO report which argues that the surge in food and fuel prices is likely to persist into the next decade.
• 2008/10/27: UN: Nearly 1 billion people hungry worldwide, UN human rights expert [Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food] says
• 2008/10/27: BostonGlobe: At Asian food market, a sign of lost confidence
• 2008/10/27: AllAfrica: ZimStandard: Another Agricultural Disaster

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: Ethanol Industry Still Dodging Blame For Role In Global Food Crisis

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

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
• 2008/11/01: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3/ogg) Vertical Farming - Dr. Dickson Despommier interview
• 2008/10/30: PhysOrg: Engineers identify conditions that initiate erosion
• 2008/10/29: Reuters: One-third of world fish catch used for animal feed
• 2008/10/26: GristMill: Terra Madre notes: Vandana Shiva rocks the house -- A food/climate manifesto presents new visions for responding to climate change
• 2008/10/24: Guardian(UK): Soil research has dried up
  Unless we address the problem of declining soil quality, we, and most other life forms on the planet, are in big trouble

Tropical storm Rashmi kicked up a fuss in the Bay of Bengal, but the Pacific & Atlantic have been relatively quiet:

• 2008/10/28: CBC: 15 die, 200 injured in Bangladesh storm [Rashmi]
• 2008/10/28: WpgSun: Tropical storm [Rashmi] kills 15 -- At least 200 injured in Bangladesh

  Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2008/10/31: PhysOrg: It's relative: Contrasting hurricane theories heat up
• 2008/10/31: Wunderground: November Atlantic hurricane season outlook
• 2008/10/31: SciDaily: Recent Hurricane History Provides Diverging Interpretations On Future Of Hurricane Activity
• 2008/10/31: Eureka: It's relative: Contrasting hurricane theories heat up
  Recent hurricane history provides diverging interpretations on future of hurricane activity [...] The two interpretations arise from assumptions of whether it is the local SST in the Atlantic in isolation, or whether it is the SST in the Atlantic 'relative' to the rest of the tropics, that drives variations in Atlantic hurricane activity. If one assumes the former (the local SST hypothesis), then by 2100, the lower bound on Atlantic hurricane activity is comparable to that of 2005, when four major hurricanes struck the continental United States, causing more than $100 billion in damage. The upper bound exceeds 2005 levels by more than a factor of two. However, if one assumes the latter (the relative SST hypothesis), then the future is similar to the recent past, with periods of higher and lower hurricane activity relative to present-day conditions due to natural climate variability, but with little long-term trend.
• 2008/10/30: PhysOrg: Survey reveals extent of Hurricane Ike's underwater damage to Galveston
• 2008/10/29: Wunderground: Honduras, Yemen struggle to recover from tropical cyclones; tropics remain quiet
• 2008/10/28: UN: Nearly 2 million hurricane-affected Cubans to receive UN food aid

  As for GHGs:

• 2008/10/29: Reuters: China says greenhouse gases catch up with U.S.
• 2008/10/26: GristMill: States with head start favor racing -- CAP releases interactive U.S. map of per-capita emissions
• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: 53% of Global Carbon Emissions Come From the Developing World: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  And the temperature record:

• 2008/10/30: Tamino: Annual cycle in UAH TLT
• 2008/10/26: ClimateP: Study: Water-vapor feedback is "strong and positive," so we face "warming of several degrees Celsius"

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/10/30: PhysOrg: 'Living fossil' tree contains genetic imprints of rain forests under climate change

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2008/11/02: ABC(Au): Chilean glacier will vanish in 50yrs: study
• 2008/11/02: PhysOrg: Chilean glacier will vanish in 50 years: study
  Chile's official water authority warned Saturday that the Echaurren glacier near Santiago, which supplies the capital with 70 percent of its water needs, could disappear in the next half century. In a new report on Chile's glaciers the main water company -- Direccion General de Aguas de Chile (DGA) -- said the ice fields of Echaurren are receding up to 12 meters (39.37 feet) per year.
• 2008/10/31: SciDaily: New Model Predicts A Glacier's Life
• 2008/10/29: Eureka: A glacier's life -- a numerical model of Switzerland's Rhône Glacier from 1874 to 2100
• 2008/10/27: PhysOrg: Yosemite glacier on thin ice -- one of the first California landmarks to succumb to climate change

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/10/31: CCurrents: The Truth About Rising Seas
• 2008/10/29: SMH: Sea-level rise threat to coast
  Sydney's iconic beaches, coastal houses, commercial property and roads will be threatened by rising sea levels by 2050, while the city's temperature is expected to rise by at least 2 degrees, a new scientific study, launched by the Premier, Nathan Rees, reveals.
• 2008/10/29: SMH: Beaches will wash away
• 2008/10/27: EarthTimes: Sea levels to rise a metre this century, German experts warn

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/10/31: DotEarth: Dutch Skating Marathon Fading?
• 2008/10/31: NewScientist: Climate change helps short-lived creatures
• 2008/10/30: CBC: Canada barely bitten by West Nile in 2008
• 2008/10/30: BBC: Warning as seabird breeding fails
  Kittiwakes, Arctic terns and Arctic skuas have had a terrible breeding season which could see them wiped out in the UK, according to RSPB Scotland. The environmental group claims changes in food supply, which may be linked to climate change, could threaten the future of these species. There have been virtually no chicks reared to fledging in the far north of Scotland, where breeding grounds are. Scotland hosts 45% of the EU's breeding populations of seabirds. Some cliffs - which used to support huge colonies - are now in steep decline.
• 2008/10/29: SciDaily: Climate Change Seeps Into The Sea -- Good news has turned out to be bad
• 2008/10/28: KSJT: NYTimes, Boston Globe, NPR, etc: At Walden Pond a changed climate means fewer of Thoreau's flowers still bloom
• 2008/10/28: PhysOrg: Global warming is killing frogs and salamanders in Yellowstone Park
• 2008/10/27: BBC: Climate link to amphibian decline
  Amphibian populations at Yellowstone - the world's oldest national park - are in steep decline, a major study shows. The authors link this to the drying out of wetlands where the animals live and breed, which is in turn being driven by long-term climate change.
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Climate change 'making seas more salty' -- Scientists report that increased salinity in oceans can be attributed to manmade climate change
• 2008/10/27: MongaBay: Yellowstone amphibians in decline due to climate change
• 2008/10/27: Eureka: Wildflower declines in Thoreau's Concord woods are due to climate changes
• 2008/10/27: Eureka: Effects of climate change vary greatly across plant families -- Records dating back to Thoreau show some sharp shifts in plant flowering near Walden Pond

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/11/01: TreeHugger: Trees Are Nature's Climate Air Conditioners, Study Finds
• 2008/10/31: Guardian(UK): Chemical released by trees [terpenes] can help cool planet, scientists find
  Scientists discover cloud-thickening chemicals in trees that could offer a new weapon in the fight against global warming
• 2008/10/31: DeSmogBlog: Promise to Protect Canada's Great Bear Rainforest - A Major Carbon Storehouse - Hangs in Balance
• 2008/10/29: SciDaily: Mapping The Boreal Forest
• 2008/10/28: GristMill: Old growth gold -- Prowling Europe's last lowland old growth [Bialowieza] forest [on Poland's eastern border with Belarus]
• 2008/10/27: PhysOrg: Earthworm activity can alter forests' carbon-carrying capabilities

  Corals are dying:

• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Research reveals coral under greater threat
• 2008/10/28: CoralCOE: Rising CO2 'Will Hit Coral Reefs Harder'
• 2008/10/27: PhysOrg: Rising CO2 'will hit reefs harder'
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): CO2 curbs may be too late for reefs, study warns

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2008/10/28: TreeHugger: China Being Submerged in Sand: Desertification Spreads 1,300 Square Miles Per Year

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except winter:

• 2008/10/30: EarthTimes: Winter arrives early in Germany
• 2008/10/29: CTV: Storm leaves thousands in dark in Ontario, Quebec

  As for disruptions of the hydrological cycle[floods & droughts]:

• 2008/11/02: Guardian(UK): Drought land 'will be abandoned'
• 2008/10/31: EarthTimes: Vietnam flood dead toll rise; Hanoi inundated
• 2008/10/31: Yahoo: Calif. to cut water deliveries to cities, farms
• 2008/10/30: UN: Floods hit Palestinian refugees stuck in Iraq-Syria border camps - UN
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): Living - rather than dealing - with dryness/drought
  For some time, there has been a general recognition that existing drought policy, prepared in the late 1980s and tweaked occasionally since then, is no longer able to respond either to the changing weather patterns or the changing social conditions of rural Australia. As the Bureau of Meteorology recently reminded us: this is an event "without historical precedent".
• 2008/10/30: EarthTimes: Floods leave seven dead, one missing in Vietnam
• 2008/10/28: BBC: Honduras flood disaster
• 2008/10/28: UN: UN rushing aid to Yemen after severe flooding displaces 10,000
• 2008/10/28: UN: Honduras: UN agencies rush to help as floods ravage countryside
• 2008/10/28: ChinaDaily: 90 dead, 20,000 displaced in Yemeni floods
• 2008/10/27: SciDaily: How Does Climate Change Affect The Water Cycle?

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/10/30: TF: Transit Agencies in Bind Due to SILO Deals and AIG Collapse -- Federal Officials Encouraged Leasebacks, Then Made Them Worthless for Creditors
• 2008/10/28: GristMill: Cruise control -- There are simple ways to reduce cargo ship CO2 emissions right now
• 2008/10/27: GristMill: Save transit, save the world -- Public spending on transit is an easy call

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/10/31: Rabble: Can charcoal paint the world green? A look at the promising future of biochar
• 2008/10/30: TreeHugger: Can It Really Be Called Carbon Sequestration? Aquaflow Bionomic to Use Power Plant Emissions to Grow Algae

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/10/31: TreeHugger: Royal Society Launches Large-Scale Review of Geoengineering Proposals
• 2008/10/30: TerraDaily: Climate: Britain's Royal Society to examine geo-engineering ideas
• 2008/10/30: BBC: Climate ideas put under spotlight
  From the twilight zone of science fiction, the idea of "geo-engineering" is emerging into the harsher daylight of science fact - and I'm going to risk the prediction that we'll hear a lot more about it in the coming years
• 2008/10/30: NatureCF: Royal Society launches geoengineering review
• 2008/10/30: BBC: Climate damage science studied
  The UK's Royal Society is to investigate whether ambitious engineering schemes could reduce the impact of global warming. Several "geo-engineering" schemes have been proposed including putting mirrors into space and iron filings in oceans. The society says these must be properly assessed - however fantastical.
• 2008/10/30: Guardian(UK): Royal Society to research potential of geo-engineering to limit global warming
• 2008/10/30: RoyalSociety: Royal Society launches climate geoengineering study
• 2008/10/29: Ramcigar: Colloquium explores URI global warming engineering projects
• 2008/10/26: NatureGeoscience: (commentary) Ranking geo-engineering schemes
• 2008/10/27: NatureTGB: Geo-engineering round up
• 2008/10/26: MongaBay: Geoengineering schemes need ranking system to avoid wasting money, destroying the planet
• 2008/10/27: NewScientist: Ranking methods to save the world
• 2008/10/27: Reuters: Can smoke and mirrors ease global warming? [geo eng]

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/11/01: OREP: On the regulation of geoengineering by David G. Victor
• 2008/10/31: ACPD: Development of a global model of mineral dust aerosol microphysics by Y. H. Lee et al.
• 2008/10/31: CPD: The 8.2 ka cooling event related to extensive melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet by H. Ebbesen et al.
• 2008/10/27: CBO: [link to 577k pdf] Preparing for Our Common Future: Policy Choices and the Economics of Climate Change
• 2008/10/28: TCD: Model resolution influence on simulated sea ice decline by J. O. Sewall
• 2008/10/29: ACP: Sources of organic carbon in fine particulate matter in northern European urban air by S. Saarikoski et al.
• 2008/10/29: ACP: A single parameter representation of hygroscopic growth and cloud condensation nucleus activity -- Part 2: Including solubility by M. D. Petters & S. M. Kreidenweis
• 2008/10/28: ACPD: What can we learn from European continuous atmospheric CO2 measurements to quantify regional fluxes -- Part 2: Sensitivity of flux accuracy to inverse setup by C. Carouge et al.
• 2008/10/28: ACPD: What can we learn from European continuous atmospheric CO2 measurements to quantify regional fluxes -- Part 1: Potential of the network by C. Carouge et al.
• 2008/10/28: ACPD: Evidence for Asian dust effects from aerosol plume measurements during INTEX-B 2006 near Whistler, BC by W. R. Leaitch et al.
• 2008/10/23: GRL: (ab$) Water-vapor climate feedback inferred from climate fluctuations, 2003-2008 by A. E. Dessler et al.

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

• 2008/10/30: NatureN: Shell study informs climate models -- Marine critters alter their chemistry in the presence of certain molecules
• 2008/10/29: Eureka: FSU Historian's Arctic research has him sitting on top of the world
• 2008/10/28: UGA: Study helps clarify role of soil microbes in global warming

  More Hansen:

• 2008/10/31: ClimateP: Hansen et al: We must phase-out coal emissions by 2030 and stabilize at or below 350 ppm
• 2008/10/27: GristMill: Obstruction of justice by Dr. James Hansen -- Virginian coal protesters receive B-minus plea bargain for Kingsworth-like activism
• 2008/10/26: CSW: Jim Hansen on "Obstruction of Justice"

  And the Pielke fan club:

• 2008/10/30: MGS: Pielke's poor summary of sea ice

  On the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2008/11/01: Guardian(UK): 97 months left -- But October marked an unprecedented opportunity for the US and UK to tackle climate change
• 2008/10/31: EurActiv: Experts: EU should temper hopes for US climate push
• 2008/10/29: Hindu: Developed world should cut emission: India
• 2008/10/30: ChinaDaily: China issues post-Kyoto plans on climate change
• 2008/10/29: CarbonFinance: International climate talks are 'on track' - [US chief climate change negotiator] Harlan Watson
• 2008/10/29: FTimes: China toughens stance on role of rich nations in climate effort
• 2008/10/29: EarthTimes: China: Rich nations should help poor fight climate change
• 2008/10/28: ABC(Au): Rich nations need to increase climate fight: China
• 2008/10/28: Reuters: China sets price for cooperation on climate change
  China wants rich countries to commit 1 percent of their economic worth to help poor nations fight global warming, and will press for a new international mechanism to spread "green" technology worldwide. Unveiling the demands on Tuesday, a senior Chinese official for climate change policy, Gao Guangsheng, said the financial turmoil rattling the global economy should not deter a big increase in funds and technology to poor nations.
• 2008/10/27: Euractiv: Asia, EU back 2009 [Copenhagen] climate deal
• 2008/10/27: JakartaPost: Troika chiefs [Leaders of Indonesia, Poland & Denmark] to push Bali road map in next climate talks
  Country representatives attending upcoming United Nations climate change conferences in Poland and Denmark have agreed to build their discussions on the results of last December's Bali conference, the Indonesian environment minister said Saturday. [...] Poland will play host to the next conference in Poznan from Dec. 1 to 12 this year. Some 8,000 participants will attend the event. Denmark will host a similar climate change in December 2009.

While at the UN:

• 2008/10/31: UN: Delegates at UN telecom forum agree to reduce emissions from ICT use
• 2008/10/29: Google:AFP: Global business backs UN efforts to clinch climate change deal
• 2008/10/30: ENN: Global Business Backs UN Climate Change Deal
• 2008/10/29: UN: Combating desertification could help tackle other global crises -- UN official

  On the carbon trading front:

• 2008/11/01: TreeHugger: Carbonfund.org Offsetting 3 Billion Pounds of CO2
• 2008/10/29: NEN: How's the carbon offset business? Goldman Sachs buys in

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2008/10/31: JFleck: Canadian Economists for a Carbon Tax

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

• 2008/10/31: GristMill: That old paradigm just won't go away -- Think tank says price on carbon more effective research driver than targeted subsidies
• 2008/10/27: GristMill: Wall Street Journal trips over emissions trading -- A useful rule of thumb: Lower emissions are better for the environment
• 2008/10/27: GristMill: Carbon pricing works! Doesn't! Does! Sometimes the issue with a particular technology is the technology itself

  While on the international political front:

• 2008/10/29: Xinhuanet: World Conference on Climate Change opens in Chile

  And on the American political front:

• 2008/11/01: GristMill: America at the turning point? The Senate and the union hall: Where American climate policy will succeed or fail
• 2008/11/01: GristMill: Jump-starting climate action -- The next president should use the Clean Air Act to control greenhouse gas emissions
• 2008/10/31: IBTimes: Now, $17 billion in US-backed energy bargains
• 2008/10/27: CBO: [link to 577k pdf] Preparing for Our Common Future: Policy Choices and the Economics of Climate Change
• 2008/10/30: GristMill: Greenbacks trump green -- Surveys show Americans more concerned about energy prices than environment
• 2008/10/30: NEN: Somethin' happenin' here 1 -- Calif regulators reject wave energy
• 2008/10/30: NEN: Somethin' happenin' here 2 -- Calif regulators block solar power plants
• 2008/10/29: SFBG: Shades of green -- Environmentalists reject the two state measures on renewable energy but support San Francisco's Prop. H
• 2008/10/29: C411: The Answer to the Billion Dollar Question [Q: Where to get the money for a green economic stimulus? A: Carbon auctions.]
• 2008/10/28: TP:WonkRoom: Coal Industry Gloats: We Will Run This Country
• 2008/10/28: GristMill: Chip'n'Dave -- Voices in favor of green stimulus spending
• 2008/10/27: DeSmogBlog: Survey Set New Direction for U.S. Climate Policy [Eco-America report]
• 2008/10/28: TreeHugger: Why the Next President Should Use the Clean Air Act to Administer a National Carbon Cap-and-Trade Program
• 2008/10/27: BizJournals: Governor reveals climate change agenda
• 2008/10/27: ClimateP: Q: Does a cap & trade bill have to be bipartisan?
• 2008/10/27: ClimateP: Sen. Sununu's energy and climate policy: "Drill here, drill now"
• 2008/10/27: CSW: US Climate Change Science Program posts final draft report warning of rising seas, damaged coasts

  The Bush administration is rushing through a raft of last minute rule changes:

• 2008/10/31: GristMill: Dirty air in the parks -- White House begins review of controversial EPA rule
• 2008/10/31: HillHeat: Bush Administration Rushing Through Lame-Duck Energy And Environment Actions
• 2008/10/31: ClimateP: Bush makes final push to worsen warming, make our children dumber, and sicken all Americans
• 2008/10/31: WarmingLaw: First the EPA, Now the FDA: Bush Establishes a Pattern of Overruling Its Own Agency Experts

  One hears a lot about the campaigns, not so much about their climate & energy policies:

• 2008/11/01: BSD: McCain record not better than "most Democrats" on climate change
• 2008/10/31: TP:WonkRoom: McCain Calls Offshore Drilling 'Alternative Energy'
• 2008/10/31: CJR: Xunlight Shines on Palin -- Blogs drill into governor's speech at solar energy plant
• 2008/10/31: ClimateP: Nature: "The values of scientific enquiry ... suggest a preference for one US presidential candidate."
• 2008/10/30: GristMill: Grid me Barry one more time -- Obama talks up electrical grid improvements on cable tv -- seriously, I have video evidence
• 2008/10/30: GristMill: OK now kiss, make up, and solve climate change -- Obama notes global warming as an issue that he and McCain should work on together post-election
• 2008/10/31: ERabett: Nature bites man
• 2008/10/30: ClimateP: Yes, Barack Obama gets energy efficiency
• 2008/10/29: ClimateP: Boxer says she'll let President Obama lead on greenhouse gas bill
• 2008/10/29: DeSmogBlog: A 100 Day Climate Change Crash Course for the Next President
• 2008/10/29: Yahoo: Palin calls for break from Bush energy policy
• 2008/10/29: Portfolio: Over 70 Nobel Science Laureates Endorse Obama
• 2008/10/30: PeakEnergy: Obama's Number One Priority - Revamping the Energy System
• 2008/10/29: TP:WonkRoom: Is Palin Using Cheney's Climate Change Playbook?
• 2008/10/29: ClimateP: Palin shocker, Part 1: McCain won't regulate greenhouse gas emissions
• 2008/10/28: ClimateP: Palin to deliver greenwashing energy speech Wednesday
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: Going down flailing -- What mix of ignorance, ego, and incompetence explains Palin's bizarre energy policy speech?
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: Toledo, or to follow -- Palin gives first big speech on 'strategic energy independence'
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: Air apparent -- McCain adviser [Holtz-Eakin] challenges idea of regulating CO2 under the Clean Air Act
• 2008/10/29: TP:WonkRoom: The Prepared Text For Sarah Palin's Love Letter To Big Oil
• 2008/10/28: GristMill: Virginia is for coal lovers -- Biden spreads love with coal flacks in Va.
• 2008/10/28: GristMill: Just one week left ... A roundup of greenish news from the presidential campaign trail
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Ethanol stance taints Barack Obama's green credentials -- Democratic presidential candidate gets black mark from environmental lobby for backing of corn-based ethanol
• 2008/10/27: ClimateP: McCain calls concern about nuclear safety and waste "blah, blah, blah."
• 2008/10/27: TP:WonkRoom: McCain On Science: 'Blah, Blah, Blah,' 'Foolishness,' 'Waste Of Money'

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/10/29: GristMill: Gore power to ya -- Al Gore calls on young people to get out the vote on climate

  While in the UK:

• 2008/10/30: EnvFin: Companies to report emissions under UK climate bill
• 2008/10/30: EnergyBulletin: The oil crunch: Securing the UK's energy future
• 2008/10/30: NatureTGB: Powerstation 'invasion' comes to an end
  Environmental activists launched a seaborne invasion of a controversial coal power station site in the UK yesterday. The Greenpeace activists eventually left the Kingsnorth site this morning after a legal injunction from the plant's owner E.ON.
• 2008/10/29: Telegraph(UK): UK industries to be forced to cut CO2 emissions
• 2008/10/30: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate change and future fuels
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): Taming the forces of globalisation -- Two tasks now loom before us - re-regulating the markets and safeguarding the environment
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): Greenpeace protesters 'invade' Kingsnorth power station
• 2008/10/29: BBC: UK unveils CO2 footprint standard
  A new standard that allows UK firms to measure the size of their goods' carbon footprints has been launched. It is hoped the new audit will show customers how much CO2 has been emitted during the production, consumption and disposal of a range of products. Some schemes that measure carbon emissions have been criticised in the past for being inconsistent, confusing or lacking transparency. The system, known as PAS 2050, will be managed by BSI British Standards.
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): Flawed plans
  New legislation that will strip people of their right to question big developments could be in direct conflict with green policies
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Britain includes aviation, shipping in climate law
• 2008/10/28: PhysOrg: Long term strategy needed for reducing greenhouse gases
  Carbon dioxide will continue to rise even if current national and international targets for reducing emissions are met, scientists warn. But, they say, strong action taken now -- such as the 80% target recently announced by the UK government -- will continue to have benefits a long time into the future.
• 2008/10/28: BBC: Climate bill 'to include planes'
  Aviation and shipping look set to be included in a government bill targeting cuts in greenhouse gases, to head off a rebellion by backbench MPs. MPs will vote later on a bill to enforce an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. More than 50 Labour MPs have backed an amendment calling for the law to cover emissions from planes and tankers. Ministers said the bill would "take into account" the two sectors, a move welcomed by environmental campaigners.
• 2008/10/28: BBC: People power can beat climate change
  If it becomes law, the UK's climate change legislation will be the toughest of its kind in the world, says Lord Puttnam. However, in this week's Green Room, he says the government is still failing to make the most of an untapped resource - local communities.
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Government encourages car companies to make motoring greener
• 2008/10/27: Telegraph(UK): Emissions from planes included for first time in climate change plans
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Minister [Ed Miliband] bows to calls on climate change bill -- Shipping and aviation to count in emission targets

  And in Europe:

• 2008/10/31: EurActiv: EU scientists team up on clean energy research
• 2008/10/30: EurActiv: Brussels backs 40 billion euro loan package for car industry
• 2008/10/30: EUO: Industry commissioner backs 40 billion euro car sector loans
• 2008/10/30: PhysOrg: Car-crazy Germany plans tax relief for 'green' automobiles
• 2008/10/30: Guardian(UK): Brussels backs scrapping older cars to promote fuel-efficient models
• 2008/10/29: EUO: European biofuels win last-minute reprieve
  The European Commission has amended its values for the amount of greenhouse gas emissions biofuels release so that certain fuels produced in Europe that previously would not have met new "green" thresholds approved by MEPs now meet them. The change, based on new data from the commission's researchers, car manufacturers and oil companies, is a convenient move for the European biofuels industry.
• 2008/10/29: BBC: EU carmakers closer to CO2 loans
  The European Union (EU) has backed the possibility of granting carmakers on the continent loans at attractive rates in the wake of the economic downturn. Carmakers have requested 40bn euros ($50.98bn; £31bn) to help develop cars which meet EU CO2 emissions targets.
• 2008/10/28: EurActiv: Major EU cities pledge to fight climate change
  Some 130 major European cities yesterday committed to bringing climate change into citizens' hearts and minds by adopting ambitious sustainable public procurement policies.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/11/02: ABC(Au): Bluescope boss wary of carbon scheme details
  The head of Australia's biggest steelmaker says he remains worried about the detail underpinning the Government's proposed carbon reduction scheme.
• 2008/11/02: ABC(Au): SA welcomes construction of $220m wind farm
  The first stage in the construction of a $220 million wind farm will officially open near the South Australian town of Snowtown today.
• 2008/11/01: ABC(Au): Carbon pollution fight could bolster NT jobs
• 2008/11/01: ABC(Au): Climate change 'threatening Aussie natural wonders'
• 2008/11/01: ABC(Au): Protesters chain themselves to power station conveyors [at Muswellbrook, in the New South Wales Hunter Valley]
• 2008/11/01: ABC(Au): The Bureau of Meteorology says high temperatures recorded across the Northern Territory this month may be indicative of global warming
• 2008/11/01: ABC(Au): The Northern Territory's Resources Council says diesel-powered industries could be made unviable by an emissions trading scheme
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Forestry Tasmania says it will be a big winner under the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Power industry questions emissions scheme paper
  The Latrobe Valley power industry is warning that a Treasury paper on the impact of an emissions trading scheme is based on flawed assumptions.
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Businesses to face emissions scheme 'pressure'
  A Central Queensland University academic has told central Queensland businesses the region's power consuming industries will be the most affected by an emissions trading scheme.
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Irrigation industry urged to adapt to climate change
  A climate change expert says irrigation industries will have to learn to adapt to the impact of climate change to survive. Dr Penny Whetton will today tell a national almond industry conference in the Barossa what to expect from climate change in the almond growing districts.
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Australian Industry Group head Heather Ridout has criticised the Government's modelling of an emissions trading scheme as a "Tardis" approach which lacks key details
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Record numbers applying for solar rebate
  Households across New South Wales are taking to solar energy in record numbers. The Clean Energy Council figures show 800 solar panels were installed last year compared with about 300 in 2006. The Federal Government received an average of 120 applications for its solar rebate last year but it is now getting about 1,000 each week.
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Turnbull 'rolled by climate change deniers'
  Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has criticised Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull for wanting to delay the start of a carbon reduction scheme by at least a year.
• 2008/10/31: Australian: Kevin Rudd's emissions trading scheme: $1 a day to save planet
  The Rudd Government has moved to ease fears about the impact of its emissions trading scheme, releasing Treasury modelling showing the scheme is affordable, with households paying up to $7 a week more for electricity and gas, and no industries forced offshore.
• 2008/10/31: JQuiggin: Treasury on the cost of saving the planet
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): Welfare groups are concerned low income earners will be the hardest hit by an emissions trading scheme unless they are given adequate compensation
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the Government will look at a range of reduction targets and carbon prices before deciding on a final emissions trading policy later this year
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): The Federal Opposition's spokesman on emissions trading, Andrew Robb, has accused the Government of hiding the truth of the real cost of a carbon trading scheme to business and households
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): Treasury modelling released by the Federal Government today shows there would be a minimal reduction of growth under an emissions trading scheme
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): [Federal] Treasurer Wayne Swan says Treasury modelling proves that acting now to reduce carbon emissions will be cheaper than taking no action
• 2008/10/31: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the threat of climate change remains as significant as it was before the global financial crisis
• 2008/10/30: ABC(Au): The ACTU says almost 1 million jobs could be created in the next 20 years if the Federal Government promotes green industries
• 2008/10/30: SMH: Treasury model backs climate plan
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Opposition emissions trading spokesman Andrew Robb is demanding the Government factor in the effects of the global financial crisis before it finalises its carbon pollution reduction scheme
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Carbon trading conference hears economic crisis concerns
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Govt to release emissions trade modelling
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): The Australian National University (ANU) has announced it is setting up a Climate Change Institute in response to public expectations to combat climate change
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): 'Protected' forests under threat
  Environmental protesters are accusing the Government of logging old growth forest areas in East Gippsland that it promised to protect.
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Carbon trading sector 'could lead economic recovery'
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Australia will profit under emissions trading: Wong
  Change Minister Penny Wong says Australian industry will remain competitive under an emissions trading scheme, despite concerns from business that emissions-intensive industries may be forced overseas by higher costs.
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Estate agents told me not to talk: climate expert
  A climate change scientist says real estate agents have threatened to make his life difficult if he continues to publish research about how vulnerable particular properties are to rising sea levels and coastal erosion. Professor Andrew Pitman works at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.
• 2008/10/29: BBerg: Australia to Rely on Overseas Emissions Credits, [Australian Financial] Review Says
• 2008/10/28: ABC(Au): Turnbull in fresh attack on Govt's climate policy
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): Green intentions not matched by action: survey
  A survey of attitudes to the environment has found that Australians are deeply concerned about global warming but are only prepared to change their behaviour in small ways.
• 2008/10/27: Guardian(UK): Australia's Stern [Ross Garnaut] review warns of runaway global warming
• 2008/10/28: ABC(Au): Greens Senator Christine Milne has challenged Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull to support the Greens in pushing for a stronger emissions trading scheme
• 2008/10/27: ABC(Au): Call for climate change planning code
  [...] The CSIRO and local councils say the Federal Government must urgently draw up a national plan to stop sea changers building in places which could soon be under water.
• 2008/10/27: ABC(Au): Harvest storm water, committee told [by anti-desalination group, Watershed Victoria]

  And in India:

• 2008/10/31: FinExp: 'India can lead fight against climate change'
• 2008/10/29: Hindu: Developed world should cut emission: India

  And China:

• 2008/10/30: GristMill: Coal is the enemy of the human race China -- Two new reports detail the enormous toll coal dependence is taking on China
• 2008/10/29: BBC: China has admitted that controlling greenhouse emissions is a "difficult task" and warned that there is little prospect of an early improvement
• 2008/10/29: ABC(Au): The Chinese Government has made dire predictions of increased disasters due to global warming
• 2008/10/29: FTimes: China toughens stance on role of rich nations in climate effort
• 2008/10/29: EarthTimes: China: Rich nations should help poor fight climate change
• 2008/10/29: EarthTimes: China on par with US as top greenhouse gas emitter
• 2008/10/29: Yahoo: China says coal addiction makes climate change fight hard
• 2008/10/28: ClimateP: China to invest $280 billion on 30% expansion in rail network "as a stimulus measure"
• 2008/10/27: Yahoo: China's hidden coal cost equal to 7.0 pct of GDP [1.7 trillion yuan (US$249 billion)]: green groups [Greenpeace, Energy Foundation & WWF]
• 2008/10/27: BBC: China coal 'true cost' at $250bn
  China's coal industry has hidden annual costs of $250bn (£159bn) in terms of damage to health and the environment, a report by Chinese experts says. The report said pollution affected water, land and air around mines. It also said the burning of coal led to emissions of mercury and acid rain, and mining accidents killed nearly 3,800 people and injured many more in 2007. The report said coal prices would have to rise by around 25% to reflect the true cost to Chinese society. The report was prepared over three years by Chinese economists and environmentalists. The country is the world's biggest coal producer and consumer.

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

• 2008/10/31: Yahoo: Canada to seek continent-wide approach to climate change
• 2008/10/27: CanWest: Warning issued on carbon capture
• 2008/10/27: ABCiTO: Carbon tax? Sounds good, some political party should really propose one

  Wrangling over the BC climate plan continues:

• 2008/10/31: G&M: Adjust carbon tax to lift burden on poor, think-tank [CCPA] says
• 2008/10/31: CanWest: An alternate economic plan to revive B.C.'s economy
• 2008/10/30: Tyee: Carbon Tax Whacks the Poor, Later -- Three years out, wealthy take smaller hit than low income BCers: study.
• 2008/10/30: CanWest: Campbell's ill-conceived carbon tax costs gov't -- Premier will have to pull his crew together for May
  Vancouver voters sent Premier Gordon Campbell a message last night. Now Campbell better send a message to his Liberal party: Shape up. Or you guys could all be shipping out next May -- something that seemed unthinkable less than a year ago. The NDP sweep in yesterday's byelections was just the latest setback in a Liberal losing streak that started with last February's ill-conceived carbon tax.
• 2008/10/27: Tyee: Carbon Tax Gets Another Voter Test Wednesday -- Primer: Parties' global warming stands going into byelection.

  The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

• 2008/11/02: PeakEnergy: Tar Sands And Peak Oil
• 2008/11/01: TreeHugger: Tar Sands, Banking Crisis, & Peak Oil - Mired At The Crossroads
• 2008/10/31: AutoBG: Oil sands projects bogging down
• 2008/11/01: ChronicleHerald: Alberta oilsands like [Mordor] a wasteland, Barlow says
• 2008/10/31: OilChange: Despite Record Profits, Shell Halts Oil Sands Project
• 2008/10/30: BBerg: Shell Profit Rises 22%, Delays Oil Sands Decision

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

• 2008/10/29: Arxiv: Economics need a scientific revolution by Jean-Philippe Bouchaud
• 2008/11/01: EnvEcon: If anything, we are underestimating technological progress
• 2008/10/31: OpenDem: The limits to growth: The real case for a green new deal
• 2008/10/30: Nature: [Editor Summary] Economics in crisis: a scientific solution
• 2008/10/29: OilDrum: Creating a Post-Peak Future Worth Living Into
• 2008/10/29: Ph&Ph: Economics Needs a Scientific Revolution
• 2008/10/24: UPI Asia: Time to build a new civilization
• 2008/10/27: JVail: Why does fungibility matter (and where did it go)?

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

• 2008/10/28: Guardian(UK): The temples of doom
  Population explosion, ecological disaster and weak leadership ... that's what probably killed off the Maya at the height of their powers. Are the modern-day parallels too close for us to ignore?

Apocalypso anyone?

• 2008/10/29: NBF: There is no Zero Energy Future

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/10/24: CJR: Five Questions for SEJ's New Prez -- CJR talks with Oregon Public Broadcasting's Christy George
• 2008/10/30: KSJT: Time Magazine: If even the smart ones in the general public don't GET climate change... then what?
• 2008/10/28: NatureCF: The missing climate science message
• 2008/10/27: Yahoo: The Public's Dangerous Misunderstanding of Climate Change

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2008/11/01: PhysOrg: Judge gives red light to green cabs in NYC
  A federal judge blocked the city Friday from requiring all new taxicabs to be fuel-efficient hybrids, hampering Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious goal to make all yellow cabs green by 2012. The preliminary ruling, released a day before a Saturday deadline, decided the regulations were pre-empted by federal law. Bloomberg said he was "very disappointed" and blasted the ruling for relying on "archaic Washington regulations" that keep New York and other cities "from choosing to create cleaner air." He said the city was exploring options to appeal.
• 2008/11/02: TreeHugger: New York City's Hybrid Taxi Mandate Faces Legal Setback
• 2008/11/01: AutoBG: New York judge puts the brakes on hybrid taxi rules
• 2008/10/29: WarmingLaw: EDF Will Sue the EPA for Failing to Regulate Landfill Methane Emissions

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

• 2008/10/31: AutoBG: Exxon's $14.83 billion sets new quarterly profit record
• 2008/10/29: IR^2: IEA Report Leaked
• 2008/10/31: BBC: Oil prices up after record falls -- Oil prices rose almost 3% on Friday - but falling demand pushed crude to its biggest monthly drop in October
• 2008/10/31: PhysOrg: Quiet wind turbine could provide up to 30% of a home's power
• 2008/10/31: GristMill: The death of can't -- Report shows how world can eliminate fossil fuels by 2090 while sustaining economic growth
• 2008/10/31: NEN: Momentum grows for Great Lakes offshore wind
• 2008/10/31: WSJ:EnvCap: Wind Power: Not Dead Yet
• 2008/10/30: WSJ:EnvCap: Crude Reaction: Oil Prices Fall on Dismal U.S. Growth
• 2008/10/30: CBC: Exxon Mobil breaks own record for biggest profit [Q3 2008 US$14.83 billion]
• 2008/10/29: FTimes: Oil breaches $69 despite fall in demand
• 2008/10/29: NEN: Small wind to be big business in Michigan
• 2008/10/28: ETS: Big Oil May Be Close to Taking Control of the Biofuels Industry
• 2008/10/28: PhysOrg: Germany opens first offshore wind farm [5 megawatts]
• 2008/10/28: TreeHugger: MIT Boosts Methanol Fuel Cells Efficiency by 50%
• 2008/10/28: NEN: Arizona wind building
• 2008/10/26: BBC: Seaweed farms 'could fuel future'
  Pilot seaweed and algae farms are needed to assess Scotland's marine biomass potential, experts have urged.
• 2008/10/06: UA: The future glows bright for gas hydrates -- Countries are eyeing this vast resource as a potential energy source
• 2008/10/27: NewScientist: World can halt fossil fuel use by 2090
• 2008/10/27: WSJ:EnvCap: China and Oil: Weakening Chinese Demand is Behind Price Drop
• 2008/10/27: TheBigPicture: Crude Oil = $61
• 2008/10/26: EnergyBulletin: Dawn of the new energy order

  As for the impacts of high energy costs:

• 2008/10/28: BadgerHerald: 600 to face [Wisconsin] winter without heat

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2008/11/02: PeakEnergy: The Solar Gold Rush
• 2008/10/31: GreenGrok: Statistically Speaking: The Evolution of the Silicon Solar Cell
• 2008/10/31: TreeHugger: Solar Power to Provide 80% Of Bolthouse Farms' Palmdale, Calif. Operations
• 2008/10/28: NewScientist: Two-faced approach creates solar cells to dye for
  [Dye-sensitised] Solar cells could become cheaper and more efficient, thanks to a cheap dye-based design that can capture sunlight from both sides simultaneously.
• 2008/10/28: NEN: Remake - the new California solar power plant
• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: Solar-Powered Lamp Sticks to Window for Charging, Anywhere Else for Lighting

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/11/01: GristMill: A few billions more
• 2008/10/31: NEN: Disclosure -- "clean" coal is dirty
• 2008/10/30: DeSmogBlog: Clean Coal? Just say no
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: From the archives -- The hidden costs of coal haven't exactly been a secret
• 2008/10/26: GWWatch: CCS- Use It Or Lose It
• 2008/10/27: WSJ:EnvCap: Economic Fallout: West Virginia Coal-to-Liquids Plant Shelved

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/10/31: GristMill: Natural corn killers -- Ethanol industry craters; investors take a bath; world probably fails to learn lesson
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: The ethics of ethanol -- Big Ethanol descends on Africa for land, water, and sympathetic governments
• 2008/10/28: SciDaily: Models Help Assess Biofuels' Sustainability

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/11/02: PeakEnergy: The flawed economics of nuclear power
• 2008/10/28: EPI: The Flawed Economics of Nuclear Power
• 2008/10/29: GristMill: A waste of energy -- The flawed economics of nuclear power [by Lester Brown]
• 2008/10/29: TreeHugger: Nuclear Power "Economics Are Just Not There": Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/11/01: CasaubonsBook: Doing the Numbers: What You Need to Know About Oil Depletion
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): UK will face peak oil crisis within five years, report warns
• 2008/10/30: PeakEnergy: The Oil Crunch -- Jeremy Leggett's peak oil task force
• 2008/10/39: EnergyBulletin: German group: "Peak oil is now"
• 2008/10/29: Telegraph(UK): Falling oil production 'is greater threat to Britain than terrorism' [says Peak Oil group]
• 2008/10/29: Guardian(UK): Time for an energy bail-out [Jeremy Leggett]
  Peak oil is just five years away, and we must start to plan now to avert a truly ruinous crisis
• 2008/10/29: PeakEnergy: IEA warns on declining oilfield output
• 2008/10/29: OilChange: BP Looks to Oil Sands as Peak Oil Beckons
  A taskforce of eight leading British engineering, utility and transport companies is predicting the world will reach peak oil in three to five years. The taskforce looked at three possible scenarios: a collapse in production, a decline, or a plateauing of production once peak oil is reached.
• 2008/10/28: CCurrents: Peak Oil And The Systemic Collapse Of Modern Civilization
• 2008/10/28: FTimes: World will struggle to meet oil demand
  Output from the world's oilfields is declining faster than previously thought, the first authoritative public study of the biggest fields shows. Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of output decline is 9.1 per cent, the International Energy Agency says in its annual report, the World Energy Outlook, a draft of which has been obtained by the Financial Times.

And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2008/11/01: ClimateP: Daylight saving wastes energy
• 2008/10/31: TreeHugger: AT&T (Finally!) Installing Energy-Saving Software on Its Computers
• 2008/10/28: NEN: Efficiency -- the cheapest energy

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

• 2008/10/31: NewScientist: [Tesla] Electric sports car back from the financial brink
• 2008/10/30: AutoBG: 2009 Zero X electric motorcycle: stronger, faster
• 2008/10/29: CNN: GM global sales plunge [11.4% during Q32008]
• 2008/10/29: Reuters: Electric cars are a big chance for China -McKinsey
• 2008/10/28: BBC: Sharp fall in profits for Honda -- Honda Motor has reported a 41% drop in three-month profits, hit by falling sales and the strengthening yen
• 2008/10/27: EUO: European car makers scale back production as crisis deepens
• 2008/10/26: NYT: General Motors, Driven to the Brink

  Yet another page in the EEStor saga:

• 2008/10/27: GM-Volt: Update From EEStor CEO Richard Weir: No EESU Delivery in 2008
• 2008/10/28: AutoBG: EEStor won't be delivering any production ultra-caps this year

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/10/31: PeakEnergy: Cleantech Investment At Record Level
• 2008/10/30: WSJ:EnvCap: Clean Sweep: VCs Loved Clean Tech in 3Q; What Happens Now?

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2008/10/31: ClimateP: The most absurd greenwashing ad in history
• 2008/10/30: Guardian(UK): Time to bury the 'clean coal' myth -- energy companies and governments are trying to rebrand coal as a clean fuel of the future despite the evidence
• 2008/10/28: PRWatch: Big Oil's Charm Offensive
• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: Blowing Smoke: Joe Camel And King Coal

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/11/02: GristMill: Gross
• 2008/10/31: ERabett: The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - R. Feynman
• 2008/10/31: MTobis: Coherence
• 2008/10/29: ClimateP: The American Enterprise Institute: Still crazy with denial and delay after all these years
• 2008/10/29: AFTIC: Urban Heat Island: Reno, Nevada
• 2008/10/29: Deltoid: Vincent Gray has a theory
• 2008/10/28: ClimateP: The intellectual bankruptcy of the Cato Institute
• 2008/10/27: ERabett: Believing ten impossible things before breakfast
• 2008/10/25: SciNews: Cooling climate 'consensus' of 1970s never was

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2008/11/01: JFleck: Climate Change in Albuquerque
• 2008/11/01: Deltoid: Does air drying clothes mean that you are mentally ill?
• 2008/10/30: GreenGrok: Global Warming and Predictions of an Impending Ice Age -- Part 4
• 2008/10/31: Maribo: Global warming, circa 1990
• 2008/10/30: RealClimate: Greenspan, Einstein, and Reich
• 2008/10/29: DotEarth: The Cassandra Files: A 1979 Climate Warning
• 2008/10/29: MTobis: Public Talk (by me): Ethics of Carbon
• 2008/10/27: TreeHugger: Colleges Missing Their Climate Targets Goals, Says CSM

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

• The Green Grok
• CPC: Climate Protection Campaign
• NASA:SORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
• Steve Sherwood's Global Warming FAQ
• CAN: Climate Action Network - Canada
• CCA: Climate Change Action
• NOAA: Paleotempestology Resource Center
• GristMill: How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic
• 2006/02/19: AFTIC: How to Talk to a Global Warming Sceptic
• MongaBay
• T&E: European Federation for Transport and Environment
• WMO:GAW: Global Atmosphere Watch
• IGHIH: It's Getting Hot In Here
• GCP: Global Carbon Project

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

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

"We have seen the consequences of ignoring risk in the current economic and financial crisis. It has already led to negative growth in rich countries. The risk consequences of ignoring climate change will be very much bigger that the risk consequences of ignoring risk from the financial system." -Sir Nicholas Stern

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