Friday, December 30, 2011
Our Weather On Steroids: The Mind-Boggling Climate Disasters Of 2011
Our Weather On Steroids: The Mind-Boggling Climate Disasters Of 2011: pThe year 2011 brought the most billion-dollar climate disasters to the United States ever, piling history-making events on top of each other to catastrophic results. The litany of disaster included a scorching drought that rivaled the Dust Bowl summer of 1936, a tornado season twice as bad as the great 1974 tornado outbreak, and flooding [...]/p
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Turbocharging Energy Efficiency 1: Utility Efficiency Program Budgets Double to $5.4 Billion
Turbocharging Energy Efficiency 1: Utility Efficiency Program Budgets Double to $5.4 Billion: pby Matthias Bell, RMI, and Dylan Sullivan of NRDC, cross-posted from the Rocky Mountain Institute This is part one in a three part series published at RMI on turbocharging energy efficiency programs. The utilities in Ohio will tell you that they’re nothing like the energy efficiency leaders in California, Oregon, Vermont, or Massachusetts. Their systems [...]/p
Portraits of the Southwest in the Shadow of Drought
Portraits of the Southwest in the Shadow of Drought: pNOTE: NY Times readers who want to see an extended excerpt of my Nature article can go here: “Nature Publishes My Piece on Dust-Bowlification and the Grave Threat It Poses to Food Security.” The NY Times reviews two new books on Dust-Bowlification — A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest, [...]/p
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Climate Sensitivity Higher Than We Thought, Researchers Find
Climate Sensitivity Higher Than We Thought, Researchers Find: pJR: There’s been a lot of confusion this year on how sensitive the climate is to greenhouse gases (see Media Misleads On Flawed Climate Sensitivity Study: Avoiding “Drastic Changes Over Land” Requires Emissions Cuts ASAP). Given all the media attention given to one (flawed) study, a little attention to other studies seems worthwhile. by [...]/p
Season’s Greetings From the Fox News Climate Deniers
Season’s Greetings From the Fox News Climate Deniers: pby Jill Fitzsimmons, cross-posted from Media Matters As winter descends, Fox is keeping with its annual tradition of using snowstorms and cold temperatures to mock global warming. The suggestion that local winter weather somehow disproves global, long-term warming trends is a recurring theme at Fox, despite its faulty logic. During the hot summer months, Fox [...]/p
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
On Fox News, Ed Whitfield Denies ‘Any Benefit’ To Babies And Pregnant Women From Reducing Mercury Levels
On Fox News, Ed Whitfield Denies ‘Any Benefit’ To Babies And Pregnant Women From Reducing Mercury Levels: pAs U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administration Lisa Jackson announces the first-ever Clean Air Act rules to limit mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, Republicans are already attacking this historic advance for public health. The health risks of this potent neurotoxin are enormously well-documented. Methylmercury from coal pollution accumulates in fish, poisoning pregnant women and small [...]/p
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The 5 States With the emMost/em Installed Wind and Solar Power Saw the emLeast/em Increase in Electricity Prices from 2005-2010
The 5 States With the emMost/em Installed Wind and Solar Power Saw the emLeast/em Increase in Electricity Prices from 2005-2010: pThe findings presented here show quite clearly that states with high volumes of wind and solar PV have seen well below average cost increases. When this fact is considered in conjunction with the various health, environmental, energy security, and job creation benefits of renewable forms of generation, it helps to form a compelling argument in [...]/p
Saturday, December 17, 2011
L.A. Times: Earth’s Top 10 Biggest Enemies in Congress
L.A. Times: Earth’s Top 10 Biggest Enemies in Congress: pRepublicans launched an unprecedented frontal assault against environmental protections and regulations this year, prompting Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to call his chamber “the most anti-environment House in history.” Here are the 10 most powerful and outspoken opponents of clean air, clean water, conservation and climate action. That’s the Los Angeles Times editorial board opening its “Year [...]/p
Friday, December 16, 2011
After 20 Years Of Poisoned Babies, EPA Will Finally Cut Coal Industry’s Toxic Mercury Pollution
After 20 Years Of Poisoned Babies, EPA Will Finally Cut Coal Industry’s Toxic Mercury Pollution: pLong-delayed rules to limit toxins like mercury and arsenic from coal-burning power plants will be approved today, after twenty years of delay that protected coal utility profits at the expense of American health. The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will finalize its mercury rule today, marking the end of an [...]/p
House GOP Voted 191 Times Against The Planet, Earning ‘Worst Environmental Record Of Any Congress’
House GOP Voted 191 Times Against The Planet, Earning ‘Worst Environmental Record Of Any Congress’: pHouse Republicans waged systematic war against the environment this year, attacking environmental protection through climate denial, oil drilling, weakening public lands and water protection, and obstructing responsible regulation — just to name a few. In summation, a House Committee on Energy and Commerce minority report reveals that the House voted 191 times to undermine the [...]/p
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The Case of the Dying Aspens: “A Widespread Climate-Induced Forest Die-Off” from a “Global Change-Type Drought”
The Case of the Dying Aspens: “A Widespread Climate-Induced Forest Die-Off” from a “Global Change-Type Drought”: pOver the past 10 years, the death of forest trees due to drought and increased temperatures has been documented on all continents except Antarctica. This can in turn drive global warming by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by trees and by releasing carbon locked up in their wood. That’s from [...]/p
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Will Fossil Fuel Companies Face Liability for Climate Change and Their Disinformation Campaign?
Will Fossil Fuel Companies Face Liability for Climate Change and Their Disinformation Campaign?: pby Christine Shearer, in a Conducive Chronicle cross-post In a recent article in National Journal, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) President Tim Phillips said there is no question that AFP and others like it have been instrumental in the rise of Republican candidates who question or deny climate science: “We’ve made great headway. What it means for [...]/p
Monday, December 12, 2011
Solar Power Much Cheaper to Produce Than Most Analysts Realize, Study Finds
Solar Power Much Cheaper to Produce Than Most Analysts Realize, Study Finds: pThe public is being kept in the dark about the viability of solar photovoltaic energy, according to a study conducted at Queen’s University. “Many analysts project a higher cost for solar photovoltaic energy because they don’t consider recent technological advancements and price reductions,” says [co-author] Joshua Pearce, Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. [...]/p
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
NOAA Chief: U.S. Record of a Dozen Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in One Year Is “a Harbinger of Things to Come”
NOAA Chief: U.S. Record of a Dozen Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in One Year Is “a Harbinger of Things to Come”: pThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released an analysis, “U.S. sets record with a dozen billion-dollar weather disasters in one year.” They report: To date, the United States set a record with 12 separate billion dollar weather/climate disasters in 2011, with an aggregate damage total of approximately $52 billion. This record year breaks the [...]/p
Durban Climate Hero Abigail Borah: ‘I Am Speaking On Behalf Of The United States Of America Because My Negotiators Cannot’
Durban Climate Hero Abigail Borah: ‘I Am Speaking On Behalf Of The United States Of America Because My Negotiators Cannot’: pRead all the ThinkProgress coverage from the Durban climate talks. The delegates assembled in Durban, South Africa to tackle the civilizational challenge of manmade climate destruction burst into sustained applause on Thursday when a young American interrupted the proceedings to speak on behalf of the United States people. Abigail Borah, a 21-year-old student from Middlebury [...]/p
Poll: Majority of Americans Understand Global Warming Worsens Extreme Weather and Want Nation to Act
Poll: Majority of Americans Understand Global Warming Worsens Extreme Weather and Want Nation to Act: pYale released the above chart in November. Now they have released “the second and third reports from our latest national survey on Americans’ climate change and energy beliefs, attitudes, policy support, and behavior.” Key findings: Public understanding that global warming is happening stayed at 63 percent, while belief that it is caused mostly by human activities [...]/p
Blue Carbon: The Role of Oceans in Climate Change
Blue Carbon: The Role of Oceans in Climate Change: pOceans make up 70% of the earth’s surface and hold 90% of natural carbon. So why do they only make up a small portion of the research on the global impact of carbon emissions? The role of “blue carbon” in climate change is getting more interest from the international community. With a growing body of [...]/p
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Australian Green Party Leader: U.S. Climate Denial Machine “Being Directed Straight into Australia” Via Murdoch’s News Corp
Australian Green Party Leader: U.S. Climate Denial Machine “Being Directed Straight into Australia” Via Murdoch’s News Corp: pThe Winning Aussie Strategy: Fighting Back Against Deniers and Talking About Climate Change If President Obama needs a role model for his stance (or lack thereof) on climate change, he should look no further than the Deputy Leader of Australia’s Green Party, Christine Milne. In a wide-ranging interview with Climate Progress at the COP 17 [...]/p
Gas Company That Contaminated 18 Wells Through Fracking Refuses To Continue Providing Clean Water To Residents
Gas Company That Contaminated 18 Wells Through Fracking Refuses To Continue Providing Clean Water To Residents: pAs Republican lawmakers rush headlong to open up land to fracking, their constituents should heed the cautionary tale told by the town of Dimock, Pennsylvania. The small town of 1,400 people agreed to let Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Company employ hydraulic fracturing on local land to obtain natural gas in 2008. The result: 18 [...]/p
Koch Political Group Brags About Bullying GOP Lawmakers Into Denying Climate Science
Koch Political Group Brags About Bullying GOP Lawmakers Into Denying Climate Science: pIn its cover story this week, the National Journal explores a curious phenomenon: while the science supporting climate change has only gotten stronger, the onetime Republican consensus on the issue has fallen apart. The reason, quite simply, is the right-wing polluter Koch Industries and its political front group Americans for Prosperity. As Political Correction notes, [...]/p
Polar Bears Are Turning To Cannibalism As Arctic Ice Disappears
Polar Bears Are Turning To Cannibalism As Arctic Ice Disappears: pPolar bears are now being observed by scientists resorting to cannibalism, and expect to see more as Arctic sea ice declines. In “Observations of cannibalism by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) on summer and autumn sea ice at Svalbard, Norway,” published in the journal Arctic, polar bear biologist Ian Stirling and photojournalist Jenny Ross describe seeing [...]/p
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Washington Post Edits Out Climate Change from Its Sea-Level Rise Story
Washington Post Edits Out Climate Change from Its Sea-Level Rise Story: pProjected sea level rise IF we don’t get off our current emissions path (which is between A2 and A1FI). The WashPost omitted any mention of climate change in its sea level rise story, even though a key source talked about it with the reporter. by Elliott Negin, Union of Concerned Scientists, in a HuffPost repost. [...]/p
What Would Ben Franklin Do? Influences of America’s First Environmentalist
What Would Ben Franklin Do? Influences of America’s First Environmentalist: pby Lauren Simenauer, cross posted from Science Progress In the late 18th century, Benjamin Franklin was something of an icon in Europe. The French hung portraits of Franklin on their walls much in the same way college students pay tribute to John Belushi or Jim Morrison in their dorms. Everywhere Franklin went, his feisty personality [...]/p
Friday, December 2, 2011
Inhofe: Calling Climate Change ‘The Greatest Hoax Ever’ Is ‘Doing The Lord’s Work’
Inhofe: Calling Climate Change ‘The Greatest Hoax Ever’ Is ‘Doing The Lord’s Work’: pIn a new interview with Newsbusters’ Noel Sheppard, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) reiterated his delusional claim that manmade global warming is “the greatest hoax ever.” Inhofe believes that the last eight years of record warmth and catastrophic weather have vindicated his claim, and that he is “doing the Lord’s work” by demonizing attempts to limit [...]/p
Thursday, December 1, 2011
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