Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Yes we Ken Salazar promises to 'clean up mess' at Interior, looks like a shoo-in for confirmation |
Kate Sheppard |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Ken Salazar. At his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Interior Secretary nominee Ken Salazar said he would promote sound environmental and energy policies through his role in the new administration. His former colleagues on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee seemed to think he'd do a fine job. Salazar pledged to 'clean up the mess' at the Department of Interior, which has seen controversies over non-collection of oil royalties and an embarra ... |
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Topics: climate, coal, Department of Interior, energy, Ken Salazar, Muckraker, news, oil, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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A broken record NASA: 'Likely that a new global temperature record will be set within the next 1-2 years' |
Joseph Romm |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has released its final report on '2008 Global Temperatures.' Last year 'was the coolest year since 2000.' Given 0.05°C 'uncertainty in comparing recent years,' NASA 'can only conclude with confidence that 2008 was somewhere within the range from 7th to 10th warmest year in the record.' The bigger climate news, of course, is that 'in the period of instrumental measurements, which extends back to 1880 ... The ten warmest y ... |
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Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, scientific research (all these topics) |
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'Be prepared for a battle' Waxman calls for climate bill by May, despite grumbling from Energy Committee members |
Kate Sheppard |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
In his first hearing as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Thursday pledged to act 'quickly and decisively' on climate change, and said he wants a bill ready to go by Memorial Day recess in May. 'Our environment and our economy depend on congressional action to confront the threat of climate change and secure our energy independence,' Waxman said. 'U.S. industries want to invest in a clean energy future, but uncerta ... |
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Topics: climate, Congress, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Bustin' a USCAP Business/enviro alliance unveils climate plan, attracts critics |
Kate Sheppard |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
The United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of businesses and environmental groups, today released its Blueprint for Legislative Action [PDF] at a press conference on Capitol Hill, and then presented it to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. With climate legislation appearing imminent, USCAP members want a voice in shaping it -- and they seem to want to make sure it isn't too stringent. 'Today, cap-and-trade legislation is a crucia ... |
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Topics: US CAP, business, energy, climate, politics, news, Muckraker (all these topics) |
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Voodoo economists, part 3 MIT and NBER (and Tol and Nordhaus) -- right wing deniers love your work. Ask yourselves 'why?' |
Joseph Romm |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
'Study Shows Global Warming Will Not Hurt U.S. Economy' -- That's the Heritage Foundation touting a new study by economists from MIT and the National Bureau of Economic Review. This study, 'Climate Shocks and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Last Half Century' [PDF] -- wildly mistitled and deeply flawed, as we will see -- is yet another value-subtracting contribution by the economics profession to climate policy. What makes the paper especially noteworthy, howev ... |
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Topics: China, climate, climate change impacts, climate change skepticism, climate science, economy, India, oceans (all these topics) |
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Transit Footprint Transport ministers plot climate action in Japan |
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15 Jan 2009 |
News |
Posted at 11:11 AM on 15 Jan 2009 TOKYO -- Officials from 20 nations met Thursday in Japan to find ways to tackle global warming related to transport, which causes nearly one-quarter of carbon emissions but has partly evaded strict regulation. Transport ministers or envoys from nations including all members of the Group of Eight industrial powers opened two days of talks in Tokyo as momentum builds to draft a post-Kyoto tre ... |
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Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, IPCC, United Nations (all these topics) |
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Convenient facts about an inconvenient truth, part 2 A detailed look at building, industry, transportation, and land-use greenhouse-gas emissions |
Jon Rynn |
15 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Greenhouse gases come in two basic flavors: carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, and emissions from land use -- agriculture, forests, peat bogs, and waste management. Fossil fuels are primarily used for energy in three sectors: buildings, industry, and transportation. Transportation is almost entirely oil-based -- according to the International Energy Association, about 0.1 percent of transportation energy currently comes from electricity. Just to make things complicat ... |
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Topics: agriculture, business, climate, energy, fossil fuels, greenhouse-gas emissions, oil, placemaking (all these topics) |
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A new Lisa on life Obama's EPA nominee promises to embrace science and act on climate issues |
Kate Sheppard |
14 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Lisa Jackson. Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke / AP Lisa Jackson, Barack Obama's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, got a warm reception from both sides of the aisle at her Wednesday hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, facing little of the tough questioning her critics had hoped for. In her testimony, Jackson promised that 'scientific integrity and the rule of law' would be her guiding principles at the agency. ' ... |
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Topics: climate, energy, Lisa Jackson, Muckraker, news, Obama administration, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Global warming, ice age, whatevs Lou Dobbs works to make CNN viewers less informed |
David Roberts |
14 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Will you look at the monumental, paleolithic, mind-boggling idiocy that's appearing on CNN in prime time? Amazing. But there's more: 'Advocates of global warming.' They're called scientists, you neanderthal. Christ. What year is it?(thanks LL) |
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Topics: climate, climate change skepticism, TV, video (all these topics) |
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Lolcats go green!
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Sarah van Schagen |
14 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
(More animals) |
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Topics: climate, funnies, polar bears (all these topics) |
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How Bush 'changed the debate' Paulson brags on his delayer boss |
David Roberts |
14 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
This 'graph on the WSJ blog just about made me choke: Of course, the obsession over what do to with developing countries -- especially China -- is one of President Bush's biggest environmental legacies, Secretary Paulson said, continuing the administration's week-long farewell tour. By relentlessly focusing on the role of developing-world emissions, President Bush "changed the debate," Sec. Paulson said. Two points. First, the strategy of delaying U.S. ... |
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Topics: climate, George Bush, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics) |
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Is 450 ppm politically possible? Part 8 The U.S. needs a tougher 2020 GHG emissions target |
Joseph Romm |
14 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
A U.S. climate bill should set a target of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. That conclusion is based on the latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and NASA, among others, but it also involves matters of timing and U.S. cap-and-trade design. To achieve its goals, domestic climate legislation should limit the use of both international and domestic offsets. The United States has t ... |
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Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, greenhouse-gas emissions, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Outback Hothouse Study predicts Australia's Aborigines to suffer most from climate change |
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14 Jan 2009 |
News |
Posted at 7:42 AM on 14 Jan 2009 SYDNEY -- Australia's outback Aborigines will be among the worst affected by climate change as soaring temperatures likely cause more disease and spur distress about the changing landscape, a new report shows. The expert report, published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, argues that the country's remote indigenous communities are the most vul ... |
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Topics: Australia, climate, climate change impacts (all these topics) |
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Here's looking at Chu, kid Senators prod DOE pick Chu for his thoughts on various energy sources |
Kate Sheppard |
13 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Barack Obama's pick to head the Energy Department, Steven Chu, got his turn in the confirmation spotlight this morning, with senators asking him to clarify some of his previous statements on contentious energy issues like coal and nuclear power. The hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was, for the most part, amiable, with the lawmakers warmly welcoming the Nobel Laureate physicist. But when the subject turned to Chu's previous assert ... |
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Topics: climate, Congress, Department of Energy, energy, Muckraker, news, politics, Steven Chu (all these topics) |
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Convenient facts about an inconvenient truth, part 1 Slicing and dicing global greenhouse gas data |
Jon Rynn |
13 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Say you said to yourself, 'Gee, I wish we could prevent global warming.' Your next thought might be, 'Gosh, where do greenhouse emissions come from?' Well, I asked myself just that question a while back. So I decided to jump into the IPCC Working Group III Assessment Report, and I've posted a Google workbook, called 'GreenhouseGasEmissions,' which should let you know just about everything you always wanted to know about the global sources of carbon dioxide and other greenho ... |
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Topics: climate, climate science, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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A foreign affair Kerry and Clinton note action on climate change as key diplomatic concern |
Kate Sheppard |
13 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Hillary Clinton. Photo: Gerald Herbert / AP The hot news in foreign relations on Tuesday was, of course, the confirmation hearing for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to be the next secretary of state. But also noteworthy is the new head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's declaration that the panel's attention will soon turn to global warming, which he plans to be the subject of the panel's first hearing this year. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), ... |
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Topics: climate, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Muckraker, national security, news, politics, United Nations (all these topics) |
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Everything Changes After Jan. 20 British PM eyes 'historic opportunities' for change with Obama |
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13 Jan 2009 |
News |
Posted at 9:50 AM on 13 Jan 2009 LONDON -- The arrival of Barack Obama in the White House presents the world with "historic opportunities" on key issues including climate change and terrorism, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday. Brown told The Sun newspaper that he and the US president-elect, who takes office next Tuesday, had a "historic chance to move the clock f ... |
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Topics: climate, Obama administration (all these topics) |
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Chu lookin' at me? Steven Chu's stances on key energy issues: a primer for his confirmation hearing |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
Stephen Chu. Steven Chu, Nobel laureate and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will go before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, where he's certain to be grilled about his positions on key energy and climate issues. Here's a guide to what Chu thinks -- or at least what he's said in the past. 'Coal is my worst nightmare' Chu is no fan of coal. 'Coal is my worst nightmare,' he s ... |
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Topics: biofuels, climate, coal, energy, Muckraker, news, nuclear power, Obama administration, politics, Steven Chu (all these topics) |
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Voodoo economists, part 2 Robert Mendelsohn says global warming is 'a good thing for Canada' |
Joseph Romm |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
I asserted in Part 1 that economists don't understand climate science. Exhibit 1 would be Robert Mendelsohn, an economics professor at Yale University, whose 'research' has prompted headlines in our neighbor up north like 'A warmer climate could hold lots of benefits for Canada' and 'The UP side of global warming': Leading the charge is Robert Mendelsohn, an economics professor at Yale University, who says the benefits of global warming for Canada -- from a longer ... |
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Topics: Canada, climate, climate change impacts, economy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Food plight Half of world's population could face climate-driven food crisis by 2100 |
Joseph Romm |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
'Ignoring climate projections at this stage will only result in the worst form of triage.' The headline is from the University of Washington news release on a study in Science, 'Historical Warnings of Future Food Insecurity with Unprecedented Seasonal Heat' ($ub. req'd). The quote is the study's powerful final sentence. The release explains: Rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously alter crop yields in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century ... |
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Topics: agriculture, climate, climate change impacts, climate science, food, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable Bush on Kyoto, on his way out the door |
Katharine Wroth |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
'I listened, I've told people, 'Yes, you can try to be popular.' In certain quarters in Europe, you can be popular by blaming every Middle Eastern problem on Israel. Or you can be popular by joining the International Criminal Court. I guess I could have been popular by accepting Kyoto, which I felt was a flawed treaty, and proposed something different and more constructive.' -- President George W. Bush at his final press conference |
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Topics: climate, George Bush, Kyoto Protocol, politics, quotables (all these topics) |
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Litigate this! The ultimate directory of climate change cases |
Ted Nace |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
The estimable Arnold & Porter law firm has released a comprehensive online directory of climate change cases. Don't be deceived by the simplicity of the opening page. Just click on "Case Index" at the bottom of the opening page, which opens up a 35-page directory. Fantastic! |
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Topics: climate, litigation, websites (all these topics) |
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Lil Peppi
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David Roberts |
12 Jan 2009 |
Gristmill |
'What's the solution? We're the solution. So stop with the excuses and make a contribution.' Word, Lil Peppi. |
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Topics: climate, green living, music, video (all these topics) |
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All's Well That Ends Oil On biodiesel vs. hybrids |
Umbra Fisk |
12 Jan 2009 |
Ask Umbra |
Dear Umbra, I live in Massachusetts and am trying to decide whether to buy a hybrid or a biodiesel. Since it is cold here, I would need to use 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel in the winter. How does this compare with a hybrid's emissions? Which would be better for the environment? Tom Conway, Mass. Dearest Tom, Either choice is a good one as long as you continue to find alternatives to driving, and your car-n ... |
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Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, biofuels, cars, climate, climate change impacts, ecological footprint, green living, hybrids (all these topics) |
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More Bad News for Forests Experts plead to save tropical forests in peril |
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12 Jan 2009 |
News |
Posted at 10:08 AM on 12 Jan 2009 U.S. experts Monday pleaded for boosted efforts to protect tropical forests, which are key to ensuring biodiversity and fighting climate change but are increasingly threatened by deforestation. "I am gravely concerned about what is happening with tropical forests," William Laurance, a researcher with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama told AFP. &quo ... |
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Topics: climate, rainforests (all these topics) |
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