Fatalistic Friday: Warmer Winters Shrinking Scottish Sheep

by Emily Gertz

categories: Arctic & Antarctic, Consumer, Drowning Nations, Environmental Justice, Fatalistic Friday, Food & Agriculture, Forests, Greenhouse Gas, Humanitarian Relief, Oceans, Wilderness, Wildlife & Biodiversity

Published July 03, 2009 @ 01:00PM PT

Are We Not Sheep? We Are Devo(lving) Scientists solve mystery of Scotland's shrinking sheep: Shorter, milder winters caused by global warming to blame for steady decrease in size of St Kilda sheep. (The Guardian)

Rainy Days and Thursdays Always Get Me Down: Millions of euro worth of damage was caused yesterday after Dublin was swamped by a record two weeks' worth of rain in one hour. "This is the second time within the space of 12 months that Dublin experienced this type of flooding and it is clear that this is as a direct consequence of climate change," Lord Mayor Councillor Emer Costello said. (The Irish Independent)

Never Can Say Goodbye: ExxonMobil continues to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into climate change sceptic groups National Center for Policy Analysis, the Heritage Foundation, and the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. This is despite promising more than once to stop its efforts to cultivate fear, uncertainty and doubt about global warming; Between 1998 to 2005, ExxonMobil gave almost $16 million to 43 lobby groups that worked to confuse Americans about the reality of global warming. (Wonk Room)

I Want You Back: New research reconstructing the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. Even though the 13th century was a notably warm time, there has never been so little sea ice as in the 20th century. (ScienceCentric)

Sludge, Drain O'er Me: EPA has posted a list of 44 “High Hazard Potential” coal ash waste dumps. They're near 26 communities in 10 different states, and similar to the impoundment that buried over 300 acres in Tennessee in toxic mud late last year. (Associated Press)

And highlights of the rest of the week's bad news about global warming:

Global warming may halve Bangladesh rice yields (SciDev.net)

NZ scientist warns of Antarctic ice melt, sea rise (China Central Television)

Permafrost melting a growing climate threat (Reuters)

Ocean acidification may push many fish to the brink (Christian Science Monitor)

Oyster Die-off in Pacific May Be Due to Ocean Acidification (e360 - Yale)

Global Sunscreen Won’t Save Corals (Carnegie Institution for Science)

India Will Reject Curbs On Its CO2 Emissions (CleanTechies)

Consumer culture keeps carbon emissions high(American Chemical Society)

World failing to halt biodiversity decline (Associated Press)

Amazon squatter law fuels deforestation worries (ScienceCentric)

Mangrove-dependent animals globally threatened (ScienceCentric)

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Image: Soay sheep on St. Kilda, Scotland. Via CommonorGarden/flickr

Green Economy Rising: EV Charging worth $200M by 2015

by Emily Gertz

category: Clean Energy

Published July 03, 2009 @ 05:25AM PT

Don't let anyone kid you that going green will wreck the economy. Take electric cars, where there's money to be made not just on the vehicles themselves, but in providing the infrastructure to power them up.

"Electric Vehicles and the Grid," a recent market research report foresees a rich return, only five years from now, for the EV charging market:

• Utilities in the U.S. will slowly see revenue from vehicle charging increase from $3 million in 2010 to more than $200 million in 2015.
• By 2015, access to vehicle charging will be available at more than one million charge points in the United States alone.
• Early adopters will prefer the convenience of charging at home.
• China, which has mandated the production of electric vehicles, will be the world leader in charging stations by 2015, selling nearly half of the global total of 1.5 million units that year.
• In the US, charging equipment sales will initially be driven by government funding for public stations.

The greater demand isn't likely to diminish the reliability of the electricity grid, says the firm. But utilities will likely track vehicle sales to determine where EV charging demand will increase, in order to avoid diminished performance in early-adopter neighborhoods, and create special billing programs.

How much of that energy will be generated by clean sources? Some analyses of the Waxman-Markey bill, as it was passed by the House, suggest that the compromises made to get the votes severely weakened its national renewable energy standard. But many states have adopted renewable energy goals, such as New York, which is aiming for 25% of total energy demand from clean sources by 2013.

Useful resource: Department of Energy's national map of green power purchasing options

Senate Climate and Energy Hearings Begin Next Week

by Emily Gertz

category: Policy & Legislation

Published July 02, 2009 @ 02:05PM PT

The first of four Senate hearings on energy and climate legislation will take place right after the nation [[less the New York State Senate, notes this disgusted New Yorker]] gets back from its Independence Day break.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works committee, has scheduled four hearings for July. The first, on July 7, will feature three top officials from the Obama administration on a morning panel: Energy Secretary Steven Chu, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, an Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The GOP has invited Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to be part of an afternoon panel that will also feature representatives from Dow Chemical and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as Braddock, Pennsylvania MayorJohn Fetterman.

Gov. Barbour is considered one of the party's bright hopes for a 2012 presidential bid (especially in wake of recent sex scandals and other embarrassments that may have swept other party figures out of contention). It's not hard to predict what his testimony will be; On the Sunday, June 28 broadcast of "Face the Nation," Gov. Barbour slighted the House bill as an "energy tax," and described a fossil-fuel-dependent Republican energy strategy:

We want to use all of the American sources of energy we have. We have tremendous amounts of American energy, more off-shore drilling, more drilling in Alaska, more opening up of shales and tar sands in other places for oil and gas.

But also, nuclear energy is an enormous part of this country's future in electricity generation. Clean coal technology, to recognize we're the Saudi Arabia of coal and we want to be using that coal.

According to Darren Goode at CongressDaily ($ubs. required), the committee will have two hearings on July 14: one how agriculture and forestry can contribute to fighting global warming, and another on the transportation sector factors in to energy and climate policies.

On July 16, Boxer's fourth scheduled hearing will examine how business will need to transform to remain profitable in a low-carbon economy. It's very likely that legislators opposing greenhouse gas pollution caps will play the China and India cards at this hearing, arguing that if the US caps GHGs before India and China do, it will hurt the US economy. China, the US, and India are the world's first, second, and fourth-largest greenhouse gas polluters, respectively.

Goode writes,

Boxer is optimistic that at least one Republican senator will co-sponsor a cap-and-trade measure she wants to introduce this summer, an aide said...Democratic leaders in the climate debate are going to need the support of at least a couple of Republicans to reach that mark.

...Boxer this spring dispatched all panel Democrats to lead or co-lead various working groups tackling five key areas of a cap-and-trade bill to facilitate negotiations with moderates in both parties.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who had his seat on Boxer's committee taken away by Democratic leaders as punishment for campaigning for former GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, has been the leading liaison in trying to get McCain on board.

(Thanks, Josh!)

Indonesia Trades Debt for Rainforest Protection

by Emily Gertz

categories: Activism, Drowning Nations, Environmental Justice, Forests, Greenhouse Gas, Imagining the Future, International Action, Jobs & Economy, Wilderness, Wildlife & Biodiversity

Published July 02, 2009 @ 08:52AM PT

The Obama administration has forgiven Indonesia $30 million in debt payments. In return, the government of the Southeast Asian archipelago nation has agreed to spend the money on protecting the rainforests of Sumatra, the sixth largest island in the world.

The deal was done with the financial and negotiating assistance of the non-governmental organization Conservation International, which announced it yesterday. CI said in a statement that, "The swap means that the Government of Indonesia will pay the nearly $30 million to a trust over eight years which will issue grants for critical forest conservation and restoration work in Sumatra."

Preservation of the world's remaining forests is crucial to blunting the worst impacts of human-propelled climate change. Forests sequester massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, and help preserve soils and other plants that also store carbon. Keeping this climate-disrupting carbon out of the atmosphere may help to keep temperature increases lower over the coming decades.

Deforestation usually results in burning of biomass that releases all that carbon back into the atmosphere, and needless to say destroys any future potential for sequestration.

Much as with the vicious cycle of human-propelled heating in the Arctic (as temperatures warm, more ice cover vanishes, leaving open expanses of water to soak up more solar heat, which in turn warms both ocean and surface temperatures and melts more sea ice...), climate change poses a circular risk to forests. "New findings, announced at last month’s Copenhagen “Congress” to discuss climate issues, estimate that a 3C temperature rise will result in a 75% loss of forests," wrote Sustainablog recently. "The report’s sponsoring organization, the UK Meteorological Office’s climate change research division, has said that a 4C temperature rise - consistent with current human activities - will cause 85% of trees to disappear."

The debt-for-nature swap between the US and Indonesia, the first in Indonesia as well as largest ever under the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act, will hit eco-justice and biodiversity preservation notes:

The debt reduction will help to provide livelihoods for the people of the island and ensure the survival of some of the world’s most endangered species – including the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinos sumatrensis), Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), orangutan (Pongo abelii) and four endemic primates from the Mentawai Islands.

...It will lead to increased protection of 13 important areas of Sumatran rainforest which are home to hundreds of species of important and threatened plants and animals.

CI lists the areas to be preserved and protected as:

1. The Northern Sumatra Region:
   Seulawah Heritage Forest
   Leuser Ecosystem and Leuser National Park
   Western Toba Watershed
   Batang Toru Forest Range
   Angkola Lowland Wilderness Tropical Forest Area
   Batang Gadis National Park
2. Central Sumatra Region

   Siak Kampar Peninsula
   Tesso Nilo Ecosystem
   Bukit Tigapuluh National Park
   Kerinci Seblat Ecosystem
   Siberut National Park and the rest of Mentawai Archipelago

3. Southern Sumatra Region

Way Kambas National Park
Bukit Barisan Selatan Forest Range

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Image: "The Sumatran Tiger, (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is threatened with extinction through poaching and loss of its forest habitat. These tigers are set to receive a boost after the US Government agreed to write off $30 million in debt from the government of Indonesia in return for increased protection of the forests of Sumatra."
Copyright: © CI/photo by Sterling Zumbrunn

From Stephen Colbert to Steve Doocy: 7 Videos to Watch This Week

by Emily Gertz

categories: Activism, Arctic & Antarctic, Clean Energy, Fossil Energy, Global Warming Denial, Greenhouse Gas, Imagining the Future, Media, Politics, Science, Security

Published July 01, 2009 @ 05:55PM PT

1. The Colbert Report, May 7, 2009: Smokin' Pole - The Fight for Arctic Riches

Arctic nations rush to stake claims in polar territories, even though it clearly belongs to America -- Superman lives there.

2. Al Gore warns on latest climate trends

Al Gore presents updated slides from around the globe to make the case that worrying climate trends are even worse than scientists predicted, and to make clear his stance on "clean coal."

3. Bill McKibben: Fighting Climate Change in the Obama Era

Greenpeace UK has a chat over coffee with veteran US "environmental guru" Bill McKibben. McKibben has been agitating and organising to make governments take strong action on climate change for the past 20 years. Until there is a mass movement that both gives politicians the space to act, he believes, and forces them to do so, change will be halting.

4. Ray Zahab treks to the South Pole

Extreme runner Ray Zahab shares an enthusiastic account of his record-breaking trek on foot to the South Pole in January 2009 -- a 33-day sprint through the snow. Zahab broke the record for fastest unsupported trek across Antarctica, to raise awareness and money for kids' environmental education.

5. The American Denial of Global Warming

Why do some Americans still believe that there is "no solid" evidence of global warming, or that if warming is happening it can be attributed to natural variability? Or that scientists are still debating the point? Scientist and renowned historian Naomi Oreskes describes her investigation into the reasons for such widespread mistrust and misunderstanding of scientific consensus and probes the history of organized campaigns designed to create public doubt and confusion about science. Via University of California
Television

6. The Daily Show, June 1, 2009: Bob Woodruff chats with Jon Stewart about global warming

Experts say over the next hundred years the "perfect storm" of population growth, resource depletion and climate change could converge with catastrophic results. On the eve of the broadcast of ABC's "Earth 2100" special, Bob Woodruff lays out the worst-case scenario for the future of civilization, and how we can act now to set a different course.

7. Fox News reports global temperature decline falsehood as if it's true

Several Fox News figures have used a purportedly "suppressed" EPA document to advance the falsehood that, in Steve Doocy's words, "for the last 11 years, temperatures had been dropping." More at Media Matters for America.

Obama Admin. Approves California's Tailpipe Emissions Rule

by Emily Gertz

categories: Fossil Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Policy & Legislation, Transportation

Published June 30, 2009 @ 08:29PM PT

After five years of uncertainty, California has gotten the green light to set tougher standards for greenhouse gas pollution from automobiles than those set by the federal government.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced this afternoon that it would grant the "California waiver" to federal fuel economy standards. This clears the road for the Golden State to implement immediately a 2002 state law requiring new cars and trucks to raise fuel economy 40 percent, to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, by 2016.

President Obama wants the same standard nationwide by 2016, four years sooner than Congress mandated as part of a 2007 energy law.

"This decision puts the law and science first," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. "After review of the scientific findings, and another comprehensive round of public engagement, I have decided this is the appropriate course under the law."

Jackson was very likely zinging her Bush-appointed predecessor, Stephen Johnson, for breaking with traditional interpretations of the use of the Clean Air Act, as well as the agency's history of granting the waiver, when he denied California the right to implement its law in 2008.

Jackson's approval of the waiver isn't surprising, but the impact is significant: it overturns one of the Bush administration major roadblocks for states in combatting global warming. Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Colombia, all intend to apply California's standard.

Writing in The New York Times "Wheels" blog, Jim Motavalli reports that automakers appear to have collectively shrugged their shoulders at the announcement:

“This issue was largely decided when the Obama administration announced a single national program,” said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Last month’s agreement settled the question of who would set future fuel economy and greenhouse-gas standards.”

It's good news that the California waiver has been granted. Now the question is why a mere 35.5 mpg seven years from now is the goal. Technologies already exist on the global automobile market -- like Toyota's third-gen Prius hybrid -- that get 50 miles per gallon or more.

Heavy Weather: Rare Cloud Sign Over New York City

by Emily Gertz

Published June 30, 2009 @ 02:57PM PT

This pendulously creepy cloudscape greeted New Yorkers as we came out of our offices, schools and homes last Friday evening, soon after some sudden thunder and lightening storms swept across the city.

People in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and other parts of the Midwest will probably wonder why these perfectly normal mammatus clouds were such an event for people in the NYC metro area that they spawned dozens if not hundreds of blog posts, online videos and photos, and even a report on CNN. [[With, disgustingly, the obligatory-this-week Michael Jackson connection.]]

It's because these kinds of clouds are incredibly unusual for around here. I grew up here, and lived in the area until I was about 24, and honestly don't remember seeing anything like them before.

With another heavy squall coming down as I type, this June may yet become the wettest, as well as the coldest, ever for New York City; right now, at 9.40 inches as of June 27, it's second-wettest. As far as the official record goes, it's still running behind behind June 2003's 10.27 inches, and June 1903's 9.78 inches in 1903.

I'm pretty cautious about attributing particular weather events to global warming. I've let my reporting be guided by the usual prim scientific disclaimers that it's almost impossible to make such a link directly. Although, researchers were pretty outspoken last year in linking the massive Midwest floods to climate-changed weather patterns.

But this season's weather is converting me to a less conservative stance (personally if not professionally). For one thing, climate change is in fact happening faster than even top scientists expected a few years ago.

And this spring's weather is right in line with the weather upheavals that have been forecast for our region as climate change progresses: odd seasonal temperatures, more frequent and intense bursts of rain; conditions which increase the odds that these displays of mammatus clouds are to become more frequent phenomena in New York City's sky.