Climate News and Resources

Aided by global warming and globalization, Italy suffered the first outbreak of a tropical disease in modern Europe.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

The United States did not lead at this past weekend's diplomatic gathering in Bali to decide what to do next about climate change, but in the end the Bush administration "got out of the way" to allow for a Bali mandate.

By Kit Batten, courtesy of The Center for American Progress

In its rush to recreate the industrial revolution that made the West rich, China has absorbed most of the major industries that once made the West dirty.

By Joseph Kahn and Mark Landler, courtesy of the New York Times

The E.P.A. said the proposed California rules were made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday.

By John M. Broder and Felicity Barringer, courtesy of the New York Times

Climate Change Conference Success
Strong emotions and some surprises at the U.N. climate change conference in Bali. CNN's Dan Rivers reports

I still don’t know what the Bali climate agreement was about, but I do know that it was incremental, not transformational.

A New York Times Editorial by Thomas L. Friedman

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved final passage of a major energy bill that sets higher vehicle fuel economy standards for the first time in three decades and aims to fundamentally change the way the country uses energy. The bill passed on a vote of 314-100.

Courtesy of the Dow Jones NewsWire

David Sandalow notes that the road from climate change negotiations in Bali will be filled with challenges. Work must proceed immediately on dozens of complex topics. Yet a key player in the final negotiations – the next U.S. President – is not yet at the table and obviously cannot be for more than a year.

Courtesy of the Brookings Institute

For years, cheap food and feed were taken for granted in the United States. Now the price of some foods is rising sharply, and a blame alert is under way.

By Andrew Martin, courtesy of the New York Times

Congress is on the verge of telling American business to create a huge new industry capable of converting agricultural wastes and other plant material into automotive fuel.

By Clifford Crause, courtesy of the New York Times

Post Global: A Debate Blog on Foreign Policy & International Affairs features six creative proposals for how to move forward on climate change after the Bali Conference. The proposals were initailly presented by the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements.
Which is most promising, and why? Read them here, then cast your vote or post a comment.
Courtesy of the Washington Post

If there is one change in global consciousness on climate change that seems to have settled in the past couple of years, it is the notion that later is over.

A New York Times Editorial by Thomas L. Friedman

While a binding global agreement would be the best way to cut back on carbon emissions, a more limited approach is wending its way through Congress.

By Judith Chevaliar, courtesy of the New York Times

An agreement reached Saturday pushes debates on U.S. participation into the administration of a new president.

By Thomas Fuller and Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

The oil industry and utilities succeeded in stripping out provisions that would have cost them billions of dollars.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of the New York Times

Amid growing frustration with the United States over deadlocked negotiations at a United Nations conference on global warming, the European Union threatened Thursday to boycott separate talks proposed by the Bush administration in Hawaii next month.

By Thomas Fuller and Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

With little progress on the primary goal of United Nations climate talks here — preventing further climate change — a secondary quest to help poor countries cope with the effects of a warming world has now become a central theme of the gathering.

By Peter Gelling, courtesy of the New York Times

Nobel laureate Al Gore said Thursday the United States is ''principally responsible'' for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

After 32 years of hunting ducks in the wetlands of Missouri, Chuck Geier knows when temperatures will drop and waters will freeze. That means he also knows when the birds will fly and hunting will be best.

By William Yardley, courtesy of the New York Times

The Senate should ignore an incredibly mischievous last-minute veto threat from the White House and vote resoundingly in favor of an energy bill that could come before it as early as today.

An Editorial, courtesy of the New York Times

Nobel laureate Al Gore said Thursday the United States is "principally responsible" for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.

By Chris Brummit of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

For the series "Primary Questions: Character, Leadership & The Candidates," CBS News anchor Katie Couric asked the 10 leading presidential candidates 10 questions designed to go beyond politics and show what really makes them tick.

Courtesy of CBSNews.com

The United States will come up with its own plan to cut global-warming gases by mid-2008 and won’t commit to mandatory caps at the U.N. climate conference.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Receiving his Nobel Peace Prize today, Al Gore emphasized the responsibility of the U.S. and China, the world’s biggest carbon emitters.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York wants to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant. But doing so raises some vexing questions.

By Peter Applebome, courtesy of the New York Times

Several nations that are large suppliers may start importing oil within a decade, adding strains to the global market.

By Clifford Krausse, courtesy of the New York Times

In the coastal Northwest, the dispute over plans to use waves to generate electricity has become intense before the first megawatt has been transmitted to shore.

By William Yardley, courtesy of the New York Times

China insisted Friday the U.S. and other wealthy nations should bear the burden of curbing global warming, saying the problem was created by their lavish way of life. It rejected mandatory emission cuts for its own developing industries.

By Micheal Casey of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Legislation aimed at fighting climate change by capping greenhouse gas emissions was approved on Wednesday by a Senate committee and is headed for debate in the full Senate.

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent; Reuters
Courtesy of the Washington Post

Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes this morning to close debate on the energy bill passed by the House yesterday, setting the scene for a vote Tuesday on a new version of the bill that would strip it of a requirement for electric utilities to use renewable energy for 15 percent of their generation.

By Steven Mufson and Jonathan Weisman, courtesy of the Washington Post

The impact of climate change plus deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 percent of the Amazon forest by 2030 -- making it impossible to keep global temperatures from reaching catastrophic levels, an environmental group said Thursday.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

he chance that developing countries would accept firm emissions-cutting targets receded on Friday, as U.N.-led talks to launch negotiations on a climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol inched forwards.

From Reuters, courtesy of the New York Times

A bill in Congress to raise fuel economy standards by 40 percent has the official backing of automakers, but the industry remains divided.

By Micheline Maynard, courtesy of the New York Times

The bill would be a major step toward passage of a measure that would for the first time slow and then reverse emissions of the gases that scientists blame for the warming of the planet.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of the New York Times

For Immediate Release

New ACEEE Study Finds RES Cuts Consumer Energy Bills and Carbon Dioxide While Stimulating Job Growth

Washington, D.C. (December 5, 2007): A new comprehensive analysis of the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) in the pending House and Senate energy legislation shows that, if adopted, the RES would cut consumer energy bills and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as well as stimulate job growth.

Courtesy of The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Storms with heavy rainfall are now 24 percent more frequent in the U.S. than they were 60 years ago, according to a new Environment America report released today. The report makes it clear that the United States is already experiencing extreme downpours much more frequently, consistent with scientists’ predictions about global warming.

Courtesy of www.environmentamerica.org

While the Bush team will leave office having done nothing significant to mitigate climate change, I’m heartened that our country is increasingly alive on this challenge.

A New York Times Editorial by Thomas L. Friedman

The business leaders of 150 global companies have today published a communiqué to world leaders calling for a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change.

Fossil fuel combustion and the consequent release of carbon dioxide continues as the dominant cause of increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Each year the United States releases into the atmosphere over 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, roughly a quarter of global emissions. After years of inaction on this problem, Congress now appears poised to seriously debate legislation designed to reduce greenhouse emissions.

By Keith Crane and James Bartis, courtesy of the Washington Post

An outbreak in Europe of an obscure disease from Africa is raising concerns that globalization and climate change are combining to pose a health threat to the West.

By Maria Cheng of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

A new United Nations report warns that progress toward prosperity in the world’s poorest regions will be reversed unless rich countries promptly begin curbing emissions linked to global warming while also helping poorer ones leapfrog to energy sources that pollute less than coal and oil.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

The controversial process of turning sewage into drinking water is getting a close look in several American cities.

By Randal C. Archibold, courtesy of the New York Times

New Business Models, Technology Tap Into Trend

Thomas M. Rainwater spent 25 years in what people today call the traditional, old-fashioned energy business. An engineer by training, he worked at nuclear and coal-fired power stations, was a marketing executive for a natural gas producer and pipeline, and finally a top strategist for a Canadian power-generation company with a market capitalization of $5.5 billion.

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of the Washington Post

The good news on climate change is that the world wants to do something. It's no longer just the Europeans and a few fellow travelers; a recent survey suggested that 96 percent of South Koreans and 66 percent of Ukrainians regard global warming as an important threat. The latest report from the Nobel-anointed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change got the blanket media coverage it warranted. In the United States, business and congressional leaders have decided action is inevitable.

By Sebastian Mallaby, courtesy of the Washington Post

The latest news from the climate front isn't good.

The Arctic ice cap melted this summer to the greatest extent on record. Scientists say oceans are losing some ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, the chief industrial emission blamed for warming. And the world's power plants, factories, automobiles and jetliners are spewing carbon at a faster rate than anticipated.

By Charles J. Hanley of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Australia's Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd took advice Sunday on how to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and fielded phone calls from world leaders -- starting in on work the day after a sweeping election victory.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Britain’s largest companies are pledging to offer greener products and invest in research and technology as part of a wider push to reduce carbon emissions.

By Julia Werdigier, courtesy of the New York Times

For many years, the battle over what to think and do about human-caused climate change and fossil fuels has been waged mostly as a yelling match between the political and environmental left and the right.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

According to a study commissioned by the United Nations Foundation, leading industrial nations--the G8 and Plus 5 countries in particular--could avert the most serious climate effects by reducing carbon levels, simply by cutting wasted energy. The report says that the world's most powerful nations need to double their annual rate of improvements in energy efficiency to 2.5 percent per year. If they do that, the report says, the global amount of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalents in the atmosphere could be kept below 550 parts per million (ppm). The report finds that an investment of 3.2 trillion in energy efficiency programs, technologies and upgrades would be needed, but $ 3 trillion in new power plants could be avoided. The difference--the $200 billion--would be made up by reduced energy bills. Energy efficiency improvements would pay for themselves in 3-5 years, meaning businesses and consumers would quickly see lower energy bills.

On November 20, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by industrialized countries have broken new records. In 2005, the total emissions of greenhouse gases by this group "rose to an all-time high," the UNFCCC said. "The increases in emissions came from both the continued growth in highly industrialized countries and the revived economic growth in former East Bloc nations," it said. Transport accounted for the biggest growth in emissions of any sector. By the end of 2005, the United States emitted 16.3 percent more greenhouse gases than in 1990. Australia was 25.6 percent above the 1990 benchmark.

Alarming UN report on climate change too rosy, many say

Some climate experts, including some of the authors of the latest IPCC report, say it may still be too optimistic. "The IPCC is a five-year process and the IPCC is struggling to keep up with the data-we are all being inundated with new evidence and new science," said Hans Verolme, director of the Global Climate Change Program at the World Wildlife Fund.

Developments that affect the IPCC predictions, scientists said, include faster than expected industrial development in China and India. Economic growth has a huge effect because these countries' industries are largely powered by electricity from burning coal, a cheap but highly polluting source of energy. "The IPCC report never imagined the world would move back to a coal- based energy economy--and that's essentially what we've done," said Gernot Klepper an economist who studies climate change at the Kiel Institute in Germany. "If you extrapolate from that we're running into a disaster."

Chicago’s effort to redo its alleys with sustainable road-building materials is one of the most ambitious public street makeover plans in the country.

By Susan Saulny, courtesy of the New York Times

When the Chinese government announced a campaign to cut energy use two years ago, some local officials got to work: not to comply, but to devise schemes to evade the requirements.

By Howard W. French, courtesy of the New York Times

A California decision on fuel-economy standards for vehicles should help persuade Congress that the time for denial on global warming is long past.

A New York Times Editorial

In releasing a report on climate change, the U.N. secretary general called on the U.S. and China to play "a more constructive role."

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

A meeting of the heads of state of the OPEC countries ended on a political note, with two leaders blaming the weakness of the U.S. dollar for high oil prices.

By Jad Muawad, courtesy of the New York Times

Two proposed zero-carbon energy projects are exposing the hard place that communities like Fort Collins, Colo., are likely to confront in years to come.

By Kirk Johnson, courtesy of the New York Times

In its final and most powerful report, an international panel details mounting risks in specific and forceful language, scientists said.

By Elizabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

Three Western governors will appear in a nationwide television advertising campaign trying to generate public and political support for climate change legislation.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of the New York Times

Five Connecticut environmental groups recently called on the state to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050. They promise a proposal in time for the next legislative session that would, if passed, impose mandatory caps on fossil fuel emissions to combat global warming.

An editorial, courtesy of the New York Times

Just a few steps behind green tech, green chemistry is the latest movement that's both a source of technology innovation and a rallying cry for environmentalists.

By Martin LaMonica, for News.com, courtesy of the New York Times

he U.N.'s top climate official warned policymakers and scientists trying to hammer out a landmark report on climate change that ignoring the urgency of global warming would be "criminally irresponsible."

By Arthur Max of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Mitch Mandich proudly showed off his baby, a 150-foot contraption of tanks, valves, hoppers, augers and fans. It hissed. It gurgled. An incongruous smell wafted through the air, the scent of turpentine.

By Matthew L. Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

For many years, the battle over what to think and do about human-caused climate change and fossil fuels has been waged mostly as a yelling match between the political and environmental left and the right.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

A proposal in Congress to put a price tag on greenhouse-gas emissions could overturn the economics of energy.

By Matthew L. Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

The prospect of triple-digit oil prices has redrawn the economic and political map of the world.

By Mark Lander, courtesy of the New York Times

U.S. states such as California and New York joined forces with New Zealand, Norway and a slew of European countries and Canadian provinces to form the International Carbon Action Partnership to battle climate change.

From GreenBiz.com

The Energy Department has fallen behind on its plans to consolidate storage of nuclear bomb fuel and other high-risk materials, according to a government report.

By Matthew Wald, courtesy of the New York Times

People around the world – including in the United States – are willing to make personal sacrifices – for example, paying more for energy -- to help address global warming, according to two recent polls. In the U.S., three of four respondents now consider climate change an important issue in the presidential election race.

For more information, go to these links:
Yale University/Gallup Poll: http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/07-10-01-03.all.html
Program on International Policy Attitudes: http://www.WorldPublicOpinion.org

A summit convened by the U.S. Conference of Mayors presented two main themes: the federal government must do more to fight global warming; and in the meantime, cities must take up the slack.

By William Yardley, courtesy of the New York Times

On October 25, the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said the international community must respond more quickly to climate change, species extinction, dwindling supplies of fresh water and other threats to the Earth. Prepared by 390 experts over five years, the UN says the study is its most comprehensive ever on the environment. It comes 20 years after a commission headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland published "Our Common Future," a landmark report calling for sustainable development.

From Frank Griffith of the AP

On October 22, the InterAcademy Council, whose 15 members include the national science academies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Brazil, China and India, published a report finding that energy poses one of the greatest threats facing humanity this century and highlighting the peril of oil wars and climate change driven by dependence on fossil fuels.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

On October 31, top faith leaders from the US Catholic Conference of Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, and the Union of Reform Judaism emphasized the need for US funding of adaptation efforts in the world's poorest countries, which emit relatively little carbon dioxide but may be hardest hit by global warming because of their locale and lack of infrastructure and money.

By Josef Hebert of the AP, courtesy SeattlePI.com

One hundred of the nation's mayors convened November 1-2 in Seattle to participate in the 2007 Mayors Climate Protection Summit.

From the AP, courtesy of The Environmental and Energy Study Institute

California wildfires released nearly 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere in a week, the equivalent of about 25 percent of the average monthly emissions from all fossil fuel burning throughout California.

From Reuters, Courtesy of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Xcel Energy is shelving for at least two years a decision on building a widely hailed clean-coal power plant that would have been the first in the nation to capture its carbon emissions and inject them underground.

By Steve Raabe, courtesy of The Denver Post

A coalition of religious leaders urged Congress on Wednesday to ensure that the poor and most vulnerable are protected from the effects of climate change.

By H. Josef Hebert, courtesy of the Washington Post

FOR many customers in the Whole Foods Market on the Lower East Side last Friday night, just spotting the word "organic" on recycled packaging would have been reason enough to grab a bottle of moisturizer. But not Erin Schrode, 16, a founder of Teens for Safe Cosmetics, a nonprofit in Marin County, Calif. She was there to play host to a rally-cum-marketing-event she had organized with her mother, Judi Shils, the group’s executive director.

By Virginia Sole-Smith, courtesy of the New York Times

Global warming’s foes rarely cite ski resorts and golf courses among its victims.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of the New York Times

There are many reasons to ratify the Law of the Sea, not least the fact that it would allow the U.S. to play a role on a range of global ocean issues.

An Editorial, courtesy of the New York Times

Senior officials from the European Union, three U.S. states, Canada, Norway and New Zealand launched an international effort Monday to fight climate change by building a global carbon trading market.

By Barry Hatton of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

On the 49th day of his hunger strike, Ted Glick planted himself in front of a white Pontiac SUV at Independence and New Jersey avenues. In view of the U.S. Capitol, he sat down in the crosswalk and locked arms with a half-dozen other protesters a third of his age.

By Dan Zak, courtesy of the Washington Post

Quick, what’s more dangerous: automobiles or cigarettes?

The European Parliament proposed last Wednesday that car advertisements in the European Union carry tobacco-style labels, warning of the environmental impact they cause.

By Eric Pfanner, courtesy of the New York Times

Why do I feel like I began my reporting career 30 years ago listening to the BBC World Service and I’m going to end it glued to the Weather Channel?

A New York Times Editorial by Thomas L. Friedman

White House Cut Climate Warnings

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of the Washington Post

he international community must respond more quickly to climate change, species extinction, dwindling supplies of fresh water and other threats to the planet, the U.N. Environment Program warned Thursday.

By Frank Griffiths, courtesy of the Washington Post

The Washington region began getting yesterday what experts hope will be the first sustained rain in weeks, but it is unlikely to reverse the extensive impact of the five-month drought that has parched much of the Southeast.

By Michael E. Ruane, courtesy of the Washington Post

Every weekday at 2:30 p.m., a line of luxury sedans and sport utility vehicles idles outside Scarsdale Middle School in Westchester County. Exhaust fumes pollute the atmosphere, even though posted signs decree this a “No Idling Zone” and students berate their parents for violating it.

By Winnie Hu, courtesy of the New York Times

Whenever the world's tropical seas warm several degrees, Earth has experienced mass extinctions over millions of years, according to a first-of-its-kind statistical study of fossil records.

By Seth Borenstein of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

From BMW to Honda, from Chrysler to Volkswagen, the industry is rushing to make vehicles that use less gasoline or don’t rely on it at all.

By Micheline Maynard, courtesy of the New York Times

New York is one of more than a dozen states, led by California, preparing to sue the Bush administration for holding up efforts to regulate emissions from cars and trucks.

By DAnny hakim, courtesy of the New York Times

Imperial Oil Ltd and Exxon Mobil Corp turned heads in the oil industry in July with a nearly $600 million bid that won them a big exploration block in Canada's Beaufort Sea.

From Reuters, courtesy of the New York Times

The extreme makeover of the Frankfurt International Motor Show was the clearest signal yet that European carmakers have gotten religion on green technology.

By Mark Landler, courtesy of the New York Times

With U.S. consumers facing higher heating costs this winter, a new government Web site gives homeowners specific, customized recommendations on how to cut their energy use and save on utility bills.

From Reuters, courtesy of the New York Times

By H. Josef Hebert of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Latest Rally Tied to IMF, World Bank Meetings Focuses on Climate Change

By Michael E. Ruane, courtesy of the Washington Post

The proliferation of coal-burning power plants around the world may pose "the single greatest challenge" to averting dangerous climate change, an international panel of scientists reported Monday.

By Charles G. Hanley from the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Energy experts urged nations to move swiftly away from the use of coal and provide new options for the two billion people who still mostly cook in the dark on wood or dung fires.

By Aandrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

Whatever the interpretation — a great chance to keep wearing those Bermuda shorts or a harbinger of coming global doom — hot weather is likely to make this October one for the record books.

By John Sullivan, courtesy of the New York Times

Musicians Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne, aging, activist rock stars, have reunited to battle the nuclear power industry on Capitol Hill.

By David M. Herszenhorn, courtesy of the New York Times

The Caribbean tourism industry, the lifeblood for many island economies, needs to brace itself for stronger hurricanes, more frequent droughts and rising sea levels resulting from global warming, scientists said Monday.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Washington Post staff writer Doug Struck was online Monday, Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss his article, At the Poles, Melting Occurring at Alarming Rate, which looks at the impact of climate change in the arctic regions, and how the melting of the ice caps impacts our climate.

It's a tough world, all right.

Too bad it's not tougher. Right now Earth is looking pretty fragile as it suffers from increasing human punishment.

By Frazier Moore of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

For scientists, global warming is a disaster movie, its opening scenes set at the poles of Earth. The epic already has started. And it's not fiction.

By Doug Struck, courtesy of The Washington Post

For CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, the story of Earth's fluctuating environment is best told through its effect on humans.

Courtesy of The Washington Post

Target offers shoppers an unusual message about its gift cards at some stores, advising that they are biodegradable. "Just make sure you spend them first," the displays conclude.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

As water levels in the Great Lakes fall, ships that ferry bulk materials across them must lighten their loads, adding millions to shipping companies’ operating costs.

By Fernanda Santos, courtesy of The New York Times

By Catherine Brahic, courtesy of The New Scientist

An increasingly vocal and potent anti-coal movement in the West includes ranchers, farmers and religious groups.

By Susan Moran, courtesy of The New York Times

The West is the fastest-growing part of the country. It’s also the driest. And climate change could be making matters much, much worse.

By Jon Gertner, courtesy of The New York Times

Science Adviser's Stance at Odds With Panel on Warming

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment yesterday became the first government agency in the United States to cite carbon dioxide emissions as the reason for rejecting an air permit for a proposed coal-fired electricity generating plant, saying that the greenhouse gas threatens public health and the environment.

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

At least 16 coal-fired power plant proposals nationwide have been scrapped in recent months and more than three dozen have been delayed as utilities face increasing pressure due to concerns over global warming and rising construction costs.

By Matthew Brown, courtesy of The Washington Post

How many Ann Arbor city workers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Soon, none.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The Coast Guard is planning its first operating base in the Arctic as a way of dealing with ships that are already beginning to ply the Arctic’s increasingly ice-free waters.

By Matthew L. Wald and Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

The Arctic is under increasing stress from warming temperatures as shrubs colonize the tundra, changing wildlife habitat and local climate conditions, researchers said Wednesday.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

A British explorer said Tuesday he plans to carry out the most accurate survey of the thickness of the Arctic ice during a 1,240-mile trek to the North Pole.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The costs of climate change to the United States will outweigh its benefits, according to a new University of Maryland study.

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Van Jones has been on a crusade to help disadvantaged communities understand why they would be the biggest beneficiaries of a greener America.

An editorial by Thomas L. Friedman, courtesy of The New York Times

As $100-a-barrel oil is no longer such a distant prospect, some analysts predicted that motorists would see sharply higher gasoline prices by Thanksgiving.

By Jad Mouawad, courtesy of The New York Times

The Republican presidential candidates are divided over the policy solutions to global warming.

By Marc Santora, courtesy of The New York Times

100 Properties to get upgrades.

By David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of The Washington Post

The IT industry is both a big consumer of energy and a candidate to help reduce consumption, according to an executive panel.

By Stephen Lawson of PC World, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Veronika Oleksyn of The AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Karl Ritter, courtesy of The Washington Post

President George W. Bush said on Monday his administration's approach of emphasizing voluntary approaches to address climate change was working and he denounced Kyoto-style mandatory caps as "bad policy."

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

Alfred Nobel created the peace prize more than a century ago, but it is the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides who gets it.

By Patrica Cohen, courtesy of The New York Times

Millions of homeowners in Northern states are losing their policies as companies try to limit their exposure to losses from hurricanes.

By Paul Vitello, courtesy of the New York Times

A drought in the Southeastern United States has become so severe that some cities are just months away from running out of water.

By Brenda Goodman, courtesy of The New York Times

Their positions range from enacting a corporate carbon tax to dismissing the threat.

By Brad Knickerbocker, courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor

Al Gore and the United Nations panel of scientists have shown how much citizens with courage can do to raise awareness about the danger of global warming.

A New York Times Editorial

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Judith Curry, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Reed Stevenson of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Sixty-two years after the victorious Allied leaders convened in this stately Prussian town to create the post-World War II world, 15 Nobel Prize laureates assembled here this week for another momentous task: saving the world from global warming.

By Mark Landler, courtesy of The New York Times

There's a way to help the environment and save on taxes every day that you work. The mechanism -- known variously as a commuter benefits program or a transit incentive program (TRIP) -- was created by Congress in the 1990s to encourage the use of mass transit and van pooling.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Out here next to Steamboat Slough and the lumber mill, piles of garbage from Seattle are lined up in neat rows and blanketed with a fabric similar to that used in high-end Gore-Tex clothing.

By J. Michael Kennedy, courtesy of The New York Times

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report to be released next month will show that the limit on greenhouse-gases scientists hoped to avert has already been surpassed.

By Gregory M. Lamb, courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor.

Generation Q may be too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good.

By Thomas L. Friedman, courtesy of The New York Times

By Michael Perry of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Meraiah Foley of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

Demand, Subsidies Spur U.S. Utilities

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

Terry Collins sounds like the world's most dour pessimist.

The Carnegie Mellon University chemistry professor paints a bleak picture of the Earth's future, a planet damaged by global warming and ravaged by toxins, with a population sickened by poisonous chemicals.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

Looking high and low, Robbin Thorp can no longer find a species of bumblebee that just five years ago was plentiful in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Senator Barack Obama presented a plan on Monday to decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and fight global warming.

By Jeff Zeleny, courtesy of The New York Times

As global demand soars and prices rise, energy companies are going to the ends of the earth to find new supplies.

By Jad Mouawad, courtesy of The New York Times

In a stinging critique of Bush administration science policy, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said yesterday that if she were elected president she would require agency directors to show they were protecting science research from "political pressure" and that she would lift federal limits on stem cell research.

By Patrick Healy and Cornelia Dean, courtesy of The New York Times

The next tool in fighting global warming--and traffic accidents--is the car navigation system, according to Nissan.

By Michael Kanellos, for News.com, courtesy of The New York Times

The United States is moving toward the regulation of carbon emissions, a U.S. energy official said Thursday, despite the Bush administration's adherence to a voluntary approach to controlling the primary gas blamed for climate change.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

he Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

By Thomas L. Friedman, courtesy of The New York Times

By John Acher of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Zakki Hakim, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Chris Mellor of PC World, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Chris Mellor of PC World, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Terence Chea of The Associated Press, courtesy of The Washington Post

A team of leading US Democrats is planning to send a delegation to a key UN climate conference to rival President Bush's official team.

By Roger Harrabin, Environment Analyst, BBC News

In response to the new dangers of climate change, we need a mobilization of everyone with a stake in the future.

An New York Times Editorial by Thomas Homer-Dixon

An oversupply of ethanol is suddenly plaguing farmers, in part because distribution of the fuel has not kept pace with new distilleries.

By Clifford Krauss, courtesy of The New York Times

Scientists are concerned by this summer’s massive polar ice melt and its implications for the future.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of the New York Times

The Center for American Progress has published two interactive maps that allow you to click on any country to learn its emissions.

A majority of the world's 500 largest publicly traded companies have implemented greenhouse-gas emission reduction plans, according to a study released Monday.

By Cassandra Sweet, courtesy of The Dow Jones Newswire.

Executive Summary
Global warming poses a profound threat to America’s future. Science suggests that, to avoid the most dangerous impacts of global warming, America and the world must take immediate action to reduce emissions of global warming pollutants. In the United States, that means halting the growth in global warming emissions now, reducing emissions by at least 15 to 20 percent by 2020, and achieving reductions of at least 80 percent by mid-century.

Download the Full Report [PDF/393KB]

People want their leaders to move boldly to help the environment but give them dismal grades for their actions so far, according to a poll released Wednesday that highlighted rampant pessimism on the issue.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Arnie" and "Al," Republican and Democrat, shared the world spotlight to press for climate action, adding a touch of star quality to the staid proceedings of a U.N. summit.

By Charles J. Hanley of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Moving inexorably to the inevitable.

An Editorial courtesy of The Washington Post

By Ylan Q. Mui, courtesy of The Washington Post

Corporations have become better about disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions and somewhat better about curbing them. But few investors are using that information to decide where to put their money.

By Claudia H. Deutsch, courtesy of the New York Times

By Jeff Mason of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Colum Lynch, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Seth Borenstein of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

Dozens of world leaders are to gather at the United Nations on Monday for a full agenda of talks on how to fight global warming, and President Bush is skipping all the day’s events but the dinner.

By Steven Lee Meyers, courtesy of The New York Times

Australia's prime minister, facing a tough re-election fight and under pressure over his climate credentials, has pledged new "clean energy" targets in a move environment groups said would not sway green-leaning voters.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

U.N. Secretary - General Ban Ki-moon and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had the same message on Monday at a special session on climate change, urging quick action to stem emissions that heat the planet.

Fron Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

By Gerard Wynn of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner met Friday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice amid U.S. expressions of satisfaction that his government is taking a harder line on Iran's nuclear program.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The cap of floating sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, which retreats under summer’s warmth, this year shrank more than one million square miles — or six Californias — below the average minimum area reached in recent decades, scientists reported Thursday.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

An ancient British bog that pumped out high amounts of greenhouse gases during a period of global warming 55 million years ago may offer clues about future climate change, researchers said on Wednesday.

From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

By Kirstin Downey, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Terence Chea, courtesy of The Washington Post

From Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

From the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

A letter to The New York Times Editor by Jon Hinck
Portland, Me., Sept. 13, 2007

Backed by the White House, corn-state governors and solid blocks on both sides of Congress’s partisan divide, the politics of biofuels could hardly look sunnier. The economics of the American drive to increase ethanol in the energy supply are more discouraging.

A New York Times Editorial

A federal judge in Vermont gave the first legal endorsement yesterday to rules in California, being copied in 13 other states, that intend to reduce greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles and light trucks.

By Felicity Barringer, courtesy of The New York Times

The prospect of a comprehensive energy package’s emerging from Congress this fall is rapidly receding, held up by technical hurdles and policy disputes between the House and the Senate and within the parties.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of The New York Times.

Released Date: September 2007

A report released this week by the DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) projecting the economic impacts of a 25-percent renewable energy future shows that increased reliance on renewable energy will provide important benefits to the nation at low cost to consumers. The 86-page EIA report, which was requested earlier this year by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), says moving to the 25 percent renewable energy level would cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 by 14 percent over 2005 levels, including a 22-percent drop in emissions from the electricity sector and a 14-percent decrease in the transportation sector. In return for those benefits, the report says, only minor increases in electricity and gas prices can be expected under a 25-percent renewable energy scenario. The report projects a drop of only one-eighth of one percent in GDP, while consumer expenditures would rise only by one-tenth of one percent.

Commenting on the report 25x'25 Project Coordinator Ernie Shea said the EIA study produced "better than expected results, including major reductions in U.S. oil dependence and carbon dioxide emissions." Shea also noted that the EIA analysis assumes only modest advances will incur in renewable energy technology going forward. "We believe this is a flawed assumption, as massive investments in research and development are rapidly improving the economic viability and availability of renewable energy resources across the country. When these technological improvements are realized, the economic benefits of renewable energy will be multiplied many times over."

Also, he says, the report does not quantify major economic benefits gained by reductions in dependence on foreign oil and increases in economic activity. A study by the University of Tennessee shows that a 25x'25 renewable energy scenario would boost annual economic activity in the United States by $700 billion, with much of that occurring in rural areas. Net farm income would grow by $180 billion, including $37 billion in 2025 alone. And more than 5 million new jobs would be created.

The EIA Executive Summary and full report can be accessed at the following link: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/eeim/index.html

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Dmitry Solovyov of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

In 1985, scientists studying the air over Antarctica stumbled on a gaping breach in the billion-year-old atmospheric radiation shield that makes Earth’s surface habitable.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

Harvard has agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the university’s proposed four-building science center in the Allston section of Boston, the state’s environmental officials announced yesterday.

By Felicity Barringer, courtesy of The New York Times

The science is clear and the time short, but the political will is lacking to confront global warming, the U.N. secretary-general said Tuesday.

From The AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The annual gathering of the global reinsurance industry in Monaco is an arcane, 50-year-old ritual of lavish parties and secret tete-a-tetes where the industry negotiates renewal contracts for the coming year.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has opened an investigation of five large energy companies, questioning whether their plans to build coal-fired power plants pose undisclosed financial risks that their investors should know about.

By Felicity Barringer and Danny Hakim, courtesy of The New York Times

Sergei Zimov bends down, picks up a handful of treacly mud and holds it up to his nose. It smells like a cow pat, but he knows better.

"It smells like mammoth dung," he says.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

This summer the cardinals at the Vatican accepted an unusual donation from a Hungarian start-up called Klimafa: The company said it would plant trees to restore an ancient forest on a denuded stretch of land by the Tisza River to offset the Vatican’s carbon emissions.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal, courtesy of The New York Times

The CO2 from fossil fuels lingers in the atmosphere, so global warming can't be undone. But catastrophe can still be averted.

By Bill McKibben, courtesy of National Geographic

By Bradley S. Klapper of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Alejandro Lazo, courtesy of The Washington Post

By David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of The Washington Post

David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of The Washington Post

Courtesy of MSNBC.com

Courtesy of the New York Times

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of the New York Times

Courtesy of the New York Times

Courtesy of the New York Times

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of MSNBC.com

Courtesy of the New York Times

Courtesy of the Washington Post

Courtesy of the Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Courtesy of The Washington Post

By Sybille de La Hamaide of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Expert ties sharp decline in breeding pairs to warming temperatures.

By Daniel Grossman, courtesy of MSNBC

Deep below the dry scrub, sagebrush and industrial areas near the town of Wallula in the state's southeast corner, a giant basalt flow stands ready to test a new approach to curbing greenhouse gases.

By Deirdre Gregg of BusinessJournal, courtesy of MSNBC.

Belgian effort pitched as zero emissions, will be placed on ice shelf.

From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

By Jane Black, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent at Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

EVERY president comes into office complaining about the 11th-hour judicial appointments and midnight regulations left on the White House doorstep by his predecessor. And every president turns around and does the same to his successor.

By John M. Broder, courtesy of The New York Times

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting here limped to a close on Sunday, with a heavily compromised agreement on tackling climate change and few answers on how to advance the global trade agenda.

By Tim Johnston, courtesy of The New York Times

U.S. Geological Survey says two-thirds could vanish because of ebbing ice.

From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

The Arctic ice cap is melting faster than scientists had expected and will shrink 40 percent by 2050 in most regions, with grim consequences for polar bears, walruses and other marine animals, according to government researchers.

By Doug Struck, courtesy of The Washington Post

More than two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 _ including the entire population in Alaska _ because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday.

By John Heilprin of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

A typhoon pounded Tokyo and surrounding areas on Friday, killing at least one man and prompting a flood warning, while snarled transport and power cuts affected thousands.

By Hiroaki Watanabe of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Pacific Rim nations reached preliminary agreement Friday on a declaration for tackling climate change, overcoming squabbling between rich and poor nations about emissions targets, two Southeast Asian officials said.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The biggest power generator in Texas could soon belong to private owners, after shareholders of TXU Corp. voted Friday to sell the company for $32 billion in one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The federal government needs to do a better job addressing how climate change is transforming the hundreds of millions of acres under its watch, according to a Government Accountability Office report to be released today.

Courtesy of The Washington Post

Europeans are skeptical that trans-Atlantic relations will improve after Americans select a new president next year, according to a survey released Thursday.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

By Bill Tarrant of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Two Kyoto Foes Push Technology Approach

By Michael A. Fletcher, courtesy of The Washington Post

Los Angeles and Pittsburgh provide examples of what to do -- and not to do -- about China's severe air pollution in the face of surging energy use from rapid economic growth, U.S. and Chinese scientists say.

From the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

United Nations environment agencies have launched a virtual marketplace to bring together buyers and sellers of carbon offsets in rich and poor countries.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

Global warming may be melting glaciers and forcing polar bears onto land, but doctors warn it could also affect your heart.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

By Gerard Wynn of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Christopher Bodeen, courtesy of The Washington Post

Cornflake makers and socialists alike are pointing to green fuel for high food prices. Are they right?

By Barrett Sheridan of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

Pontiff speaks to up to half-a-million at Church's 'eco-friendly' youth rally.

From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

As Bush calls on developing nations to curb CO2, two federally controlled agencies are enabling them to emit more.

By Judy Pasternak, courtesy of The Los Angeles Times

Plans for New Plants Stalled by Growing Opposition
The mayor of Missoula, Montana, is the latest person to discover just how unpopular coal plants have become.

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

Thousands of miles of fiber-optic cables are strung across the world’s oceans, connecting continents like so many tin cans in this age of critical global communication.

By William Yardley, courtesy of The New York Times

More than a decade after the drive began to convert electricity from a regulated industry into a competitive one, many states are rolling back their initiatives.

By David Cay Johnston, courtesy of The New York Times.

Oregon Iron Works has the feel of a World War II-era shipyard, with sparks flying from welders' torches and massive hydraulic presses flattening large sheets of metal. But this factory floor represents the cutting edge of American renewable-energy technology.

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Cooperation on global warming is pledged after the governor meets with the European nation's foreign minister.

By Marc Lifsher, courtesy of The Los Angeles Times

From Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Pete Harrison of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Twisters, hail, lightning 'likely to happen more often,' NASA expert says

From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides are some of the additional catastrophes that climate change and its rising sea levels and melting glaciers could bring, a geologist says.

By Andrea Thompson of LiveSceience, courtesy of MSNBC

China says its one-child policy has helped the fight against global warming by avoiding 300 million births, the equivalent of the population of the United States.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

By Shawn Pogatchnik of The AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Sophie Hardach of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Amanda Lee Myers of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

Don't expect to hear much talk about farming from the presidential candidates who regularly tour Iowa, one of the nation's premier agriculture states.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The chief of power producer Dynegy Inc. says eliminating coal as a source for generating electricity is unrealistic because of growing demand, but he acknowledged the U.S. needs an energy policy that balances costs, environmental concerns and other factors.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

The United States and Europe are working together to tackle global warming, the chief U.S. climate negotiator said Wednesday, deflecting growing criticism within the EU and the developing world over Washington's perceived go-it-alone stance.

By The AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Here's the latest buzz: A new mosquito has just hit town, one that could transmit the West Nile virus and a strain of encephalititis rarely seen in Minnesota.

By Mary Lynn Smith of the StarTribune, courtesy of MSNBC

By Rob Taylor of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Biswajyoti Das of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

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"We have met the enemy, and he is us," the comic-strip character Pogo said decades ago. A new analysis of last year's near-record temperatures in the United States suggests he was right.

By The AP, courtesy of The New York Times

5 percent increase globally fits in with warming models.

Courtesy of MSNBC

Energy's Future: A onetime oilman admits we need alternatives, but says there's plenty of petroleum left.

by Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

Delegates talk up energy investments that are clean as well as efficient.

From The AP, courtesy of MSNBC

By Willaim J. Kole of The AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

A Letter to the Editor of The New York Times

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The gas is the major contributor to global warning. Now major energy companies are looking for ways to capture and sell it.

By Vaughan Scully of BusinessWeek, courtesy of MSNBC

Avoid post-vacation burnout and take time to enjoy your journeys.

By Sarah Schlichter of IndependentTravelor.com, courtesy of MSNBC

Big, familiar firms in our corporate landscape are taking surprising steps to help the environment, among other nifty projects.

By Selena Maranjian of the MotleyFool.com, courtesy of MSNBC

Chesapeake Bay's Briny Consequence of the Summer Drought Pushes Crabs From Usual Harvesting Spots

By Philip Rucker and David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Claudia Kade of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By William J. Kole of The AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

Clean-Energy Investors Need One Eye On Returns and the Other on Congress

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

Reviving 1970s-era technology, an ambitious company says it can turn dirty coal into cleaner natural gas.

By Martin LaMonica, for News.com, courtesy of The New York Times

The blogosphere erupted with arguments questioning global warming after an error was found in the annual estimate of the average temperature in the United States.

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

Because of increasing development in hazard-prone areas and the effects of climate change, we are in a new era of catastrophic losses from natural disasters.

By Howard Kunreuther, courtesy of The New York Times

It's the business end of climate change: ensuring that the $20 trillion the world will spend on energy over the next two decades is as environmentally friendly as possible.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

With the cost of natural disasters far beyond the insurance industry’s ability to pay, a new market has sprung up to spread the risk. But how do you calculate the odds of catastrophe?

By Michael Lewis, courtesy of The New York Times

China’s pollution problem, like the speed and scale of its rise as an economic power, has shattered all precedents.

By Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley, courtesy of The New York Times

By Jeremy Lovell of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Arthur Max of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

From Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

New combustion technology could boost gas mileage by 15 percent

From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

Energy's Future: Until we solve climate change, says James E. Rogers, we need even the dirtiest fuel.

By Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

By Terence Chea of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

A letter to the Editor, courtesy of The Washington Post

Congressional Democrats are using subpoenas and other investigatory powers to expose Bush administration missteps and push for policy changes even as they struggle at times to enact legislation.

From the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

From Reuters By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
Courtesy of The Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

Previously unknown islands are appearing as Arctic summer sea ice shrinks to record lows, raising questions about whether global warming is outpacing U.N. projections, experts said.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

Straw Finds Niche as Eco-Friendly Building Material

By David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Doug Struck, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Doug Struck, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Simon Rabinovitch of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Hurricane Dean buffeted Jamaica's southern coast, flooding the capital and littering it with broken trees and roofs after killing nine people earlier on its run through the Caribbean.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times.

Rescuers searched Friday for people swept away in flash floods caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, as wary residents across the Gulf Coast watched as Hurricane Dean charged through the Caribbean.

Courtesy of The New York Times

By John M. Broder, courtesy of The New York Times

Tucked away among the $3.2 billion in Congressional earmarks in the recently passed energy and water spending bill is a $4 million grant to a small company in suburban Chicago that is trying to solve the problem of capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions.

By Nicholas D. Kristof, courtesy of The New York Times

Dick Cheney once scoffed that energy conservation can be a “personal virtue” but is no basis for an energy policy. Growing evidence suggests he had it exactly wrong.

Australia and India have agreed to negotiate a uranium trade pact to help meet the growing demand for power in India, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia announced on Thursday.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times.

A conservation organization has requested that Alaska and six other states add bodies of water to their list of impaired waterways: the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times.

By John Zodzi of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post.

But increased demand for water may curb that influence in the future.

By Andrea Thompson, courtesy of MSNBC

Global warming impacting system? 'Too soon to tell,' study author says.

From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

The state of smog in Los Angeles is one cause for a sunny outlook on the environment.

By Michael Gerson, courtesy of The Washington Post

By David A. Fahrenthold and Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Marc Kaufman, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Michael Gerson, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Alistair Thomson of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

Australian scientists have discovered a giant underwater current that is one of the last missing links of a system that connects the world's oceans and helps govern global climate.

By Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

With its decidedly ’50s-era menu — chili, cheese fries, shakes and half-smoke sausages, a distinctive regional specialty — Ben’s Chili Bowl, a restaurant near the Howard University campus, might not seem a likely business to be at the vanguard of Washington’s “green power” movement.

By Shawn G. Kennedy, courtesy of The New York Times

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How is newly exposed ground repopulated by plant and animal life?

By Henry Fountain, courtesy of The New York Times

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By Reuters, courtesy of The New Tork Times

Actor says '11th Hour' aims to inspire people to take action.

From Reuters, courtesy fo MSNBC

Industry-funded group performs economic analysis.

Courtesy fo MSNBC News Service

Hundreds of climate demonstrators set up a tent camp next to London's Heathrow airport on Monday and threatened "direct action" at the world's busiest air hub to protest against global warming.

By Simon Rabinovitch of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

A report questioning climate change and calling global warming a "natural phenomenon" on Monday led to accusations Australia's Prime Minister John Howard was a climate skeptic, possibly denting his re-election hopes.

By Rob Taylor of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

To do something real about climate change, a price on emissions is a must.

An editorial, courtesy of The Washington Post

Four Australian governing party lawmakers on Monday rejected the idea that humans are causing global warming, the conclusion reached by their colleagues on a parliamentary committee.

GLOBAL warming is by nature a big-enough problem to create the kind of necessity that could be mother, father and midwife to invention. And plenty of big ideas are out there to address it, some that may even lead to substantial enterprises much as our military needs have.

By Michael Fitzgerald, courtesy of The New York Times

The ring tone on Sister Patricia Daly's cellphone is the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's "Messiah," which makes every call sound as if it's coming from God.

By Dashka Slater, courtesy of the New York Times

To the extent that ownership of potentially huge deposits of natural resources can be determined, it will not be decided by planting flags in the seabed.

A New York Times Editorial

By Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Deborah Zabarenko, courtesy of The Washington Post

Flooded subways? A tornado in Brooklyn? It was tempting to blame it all on global warming.

From the AP. courtesy of The New York Times

By Matt Zapotosky, courtesy of The Washington Post

Hybrid Taxicabs Move County Toward Cleaner Rides

By Jerry Markon, courtesy of The Washington Post

Major automakers are openly acknowledging what the rest of the country already knew: a soft housing market and high gasoline prices are damping sales of cars and light trucks.

By Micheline Maynard and Nick Bunkley, courtesy of the New York Times

By Andrew C. Revkin, courtesy of The New York Times

The Rockefeller Foundation says it will invest $70 million over the next five years to help Asian cities and African farmers withstand floods, droughts and other global warming hazards.

Climate change among reasons for decline, study says.

By The AP, courtesy of MSNBC

In the energy crisis today, as in the nuclear standoff of the 1970s, the world needs to rally against a mortal threat.

By Klaus Schwab of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

By Marc Kaufman, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of The Washington Post

From the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

From Newsweek/MSNBC

Sen. Barbara Boxer had been chair of the Senate's Environment Committee for less than a month when the verdict landed last February. "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal," concluded a report by 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries.

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By Somini Sengupta, courtesy of The New York Times

Climate change could ultimately affect food production and add to the woes of already desperate peasants in India, the official said.

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Of the mountain of individual plastic water bottles created by Americans each year, less than one-fourth are sent to the recycling industry for a second round.

Courtesy of The New York Times

By Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

A Senate bill to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions would raise energy prices and also reduce American economic output by more than half a trillion dollars over two decades, according to a government report released on Monday.

By Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters Environment Correspondent, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Laura MacInnis of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Doug Struck of The Washington Post Foreign Service

Former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday that some of the world's largest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., are funding research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming as part of a campaign to mislead the public.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

A. Sport utility vehicles; B. Rice fields; C. Increased solar output.

By Sharon Begley and Andrew Murr of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

Courtesy of The Washington Post

By H. Josef Hebert of The AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Off The Shelf

Consumer interest in green construction has continued to grow, but few people can afford to build an environmentally friendly house from the ground up. They don't have to, says architect Kelly Lerner, co-author of "Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House." To find out more about this design philosophy, The Post's Mary Ellen Slayter recently spoke with Lerner. This is an edited transcript of the conversation.

By Michael A. Fletcher, courtesy of The Washington Post

By John M. Broder, courtesy of the New York Times

The House passed a wide-ranging energy bill on Saturday that will require most utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar power. President Bush has vowed to veto the bill because it does nothing to encourage increased domestic production of oil and gas.

From MSNBC

From the New York Times

From the New York Times

From the Washington Post

From the Washington Post

From the Washington Post

From MSNBC

From MSNBC

From the New York Times

From the Washington Post

From the Washington Post

From the Washington Post

From the Washington Post

From MSNBC

From MSNBC

From the Washington Post

From the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Larry Rohter, courtesy of the New York Times

Alarmed at recent indications of climate change here in the Amazon and in other regions of Brazil, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has begun showing signs of new flexibility in the tangled, politically volatile international negotiations to limit human-caused global warming.

By Ingfei Chen, courtesy of the New York Times

In Monterey Bay, a creature with 10 arms, a sharp beak and a ravenous appetite is behaving like an uninvited house guest who will not go away. And it is raiding the refrigerator.

By Edmund L. Andrews and Matthew L. Wald of the New York Times
A provision buried in a recent Senate bill could make new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars in government loan guarantees.

By Reuters, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Aaron Clark of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Yuri Kageyama of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

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By Reuters, courtesy of the New York Times
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian deep-sea submersibles made a test dive in polar waters on Sunday ahead of a mission to be the first to reach the seabed under the North Pole, Itar-Tass news agency said.

Four writers report on how the environment is faring in their parts of the globe. Here are their dispatches.
Courtesy of The New York Times

By Del Quentin Wilber, courtesy of the Washington Post
Airlines and airplane makers have largely slipped under the radar in the debate over global warming.

By Terence Chea of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

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Large chunks of ice, one of them reportedly about 50 pounds, fell from the sky in this northeast Iowa city, smashing through a woman's roof and tearing through nearby trees.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

By the AP, courtesy of the New York Times

California air quality regulators on Thursday adopted the nation's toughest emission standards for off-highway diesel vehicles like bulldozers, airport baggage trucks and ski resort snowcats.

By Felicity Barringer, courtesy of the New York Times

For the Navajo nation, energy is the most valuable currency. The tribal lands are rich with uranium, natural gas, wind, sun and, most of all, coal.

From Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

The Bush administration's environment chief drew fire on Thursday from Democratic senators for delaying a decision on whether to let California regulate global warming emissions from cars and light trucks.

By Matthew Daly of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

From the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

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Crafting a regional response to climate change will top the agenda at a summit of Asia-Pacifc leaders in September, but they are unlikely to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution, an official said Wednesday.

By the AP, courtesy of The New York Times

Graduates of the class of 2007 are finding that being environmentally friendly is a growth industry.
By Anna Kuchment of Newsweek, courtesy of MSNBC

It blocks them from absorbing carbon dioxide, researchers say.
By Andrea Thompson of teh AP, courtesy of MSNBC

An Editorial courtesy of the Washington Post

Higher fuel economy standards may be doomed without Nancy Pelosi's support.

THERE IS a pitched battle underway in the House of Representatives over whether to introduce an amendment to increase the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard in the energy package due to hit the floor before Congress takes off for its August recess.

By Maya MacGuineas and Adam Carasso, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Chang-Ran Kim, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Claudia H. Deutsch, courtesy of the New York Times

By Reuters, courtesy of The New York Times

GDP could fall by 1.6 percent by 2030, it says in report to senators
From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

From The Associated Press, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Kirsty Wigglesworth of the The AP, courtesy of the Washington Post.

Idea is part of program to have 2 million new homes by 2016.

From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

First time 'human fingerprint' on precipitation detected, authors report.

From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

By Douwe Miedema of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

By John Flesher of the AP, courtesy of The Washington Post

By Erik Kirschbaum of Reuters, courtesy of The Washington Post

From the AP, courtesy of the NY Times
Muddy slopes, slushy peaks, unused lifts — one town in the French Alps is living out the nightmare of many a ski resort in a century scientists say is doomed to keep becoming warmer.

By Mac Margolis of Newsweek International, courtesy of MSNBC
The world's treasures are under siege as never before. So get out and see as many as possible—before they disappear.

By Ken Thomas, courtesy of the Washington Post
If motorists used rechargeable "plug-in" hybrid-electric vehicles in large numbers, the U.S. could see a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, says a study released Thursday.

We've also included an Environmental Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles obtained from the Electric Power Research Institute.

By David Ivanovich, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle.
WASHINGTON — Warning that the world faces "hard truths about the global
energy future," a government advisory group this week is expected to
urge policymakers to adopt a multipronged strategy to boost energy
supplies and reduce demand.

By Edmund L. Andrews, courtesy of the NY times
Democrats planning a hefty increase in auto fuel economy face opposition from one of their own in John D. Dingell.

By David A. Fahrenthold courtesy of the Washington Post

Evidence strong even if 100 percent certainty isn't possible, they say.
By Andrea Thompson, courtesy of MSNBC

Warming experts expect more of the same at lower elevation resorts.
From the AP, courtesy of MSNBC

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of the NY Times

Firm's Emission Plans Have Critics Aplenty

A small California company is planning to mix up to 80 tons of iron particles into the Pacific Ocean 350 miles west of the Galapagos islands to see whether it can make a splash in the markets where people seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

By Martin Fackler, courtesy of the NY Times

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan, July 18 — The Japanese operator of a nuclear power plant stricken by an earthquake earlier this week said Wednesday that damage was worse than previously reported and that a leak of water was 50 percent more radioactive than initially announced.

From Reuters, courtesy of the NY Times

The world's richest corporations and finest minds spend billions trying to solve the problem of carbon emissions, but three fishing buddies in North Wales believe they have cracked it.

By Jad Mouawad, courtesy of the NY Times

WASHINGTON, July 18 — It started with a simple question by Samuel W. Bodman, the energy secretary: What does the future hold for supplies of oil and natural gas?

By Paul Burkhardt of the AP, courtesy of the Washington Post

Study ties scenario to global warming; recent unusual storms cited.
From Reuters, courtesy of MSNBC

Scientists report that wetlands provide less water due to evaporation
Courtesy of MSNBC

From the AP, courtesy of the NY Times

From the AP, courtesy of the NY Times
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chief executives of many of the country's largest corporations joined the growing chorus Tuesday calling for action to reduce the risks of global warming.

With the Senate already having voted on an energy bill and the House expected to take up energy legislation this month, the next course of action expected after the August recess will be a debate on emissions reduction legislation. Will Congress favor a cap-and-trade approach or a carbon tax? Are there enough votes in the House and Senate to pass a climate bill? During today's OnPoint, Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, discusses Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Arlen Specter's (R-Pa.) recently introduced climate bill. She explains why she believes the safety valve option is not the best approach and compares cap-and-trade to a carbon tax. (Video Link)

From the AP, courtesy of the NY Times.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- After negotiations continued beyond what supporters said was a federal deadline of midnight, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday had a new tentative proposal for a Manhattan traffic congestion plan to pitch to the state Legislature, a spokeswoman for Spitzer said.

By Felicity Barringer, courtesy of the NY Times
Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida has drafted a series of executive orders to slow climate change and cut the state’s emission of heat-trapping gases by more than 25 percent, to 1990 levels, over the next 18 years.

By Edith M. Lederer of the Associated Press, courtesy of the Washington Post

By David A. Fahrenthold, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Steven Mufson courtesy of the Washington Post

By James Kanter, courtesy of the NY Times

By Juliet Eilperin, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Claudia Parsons of Reuters, courtesy of the Washington Post

By Steven Mufson, courtesy of the Washington Post.

An article from the Washington Post containing excellent and clear graphics on the size of the carbon problem, how much has to be reduced, how the reduction should be distributed among nations, and the costs to consumers.

By Darren Samuelsohn, E&E Daily senior reporter
Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) are expected to officially join the fight over global warming today with a bill that would cap heat-trapping emissions across the U.S. economy.

While details of the "Low Carbon Economy Act of 2007" remained under wraps at press time yesterday, sources off Capitol Hill said they expect the legislation to propose launching the new standards in 2012 as the Kyoto Protocol winds down for the European Union, Japan, Russia and several other major sources of greenhouse gases.

By 2020, sources said the Bingaman-Specter bill would call for U.S. emissions to fall to 2006 levels. By 2030, emissions would need to reach 1990 levels, with a long-term "aspirational" goal to cut emissions by about 60 percent from 1990 levels by midcentury.

That goal, while voluntary, comes close to what many scientists suggest is necessary to avert some of the most catastrophic effects from climate change.

Bill Wicker, a Bingaman spokesman, declined comment on the legislation until today's noon press conference with Specter, other cosponsors, a dozen industry CEOs, labor leaders and conservationists. Bingaman, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also intends to speak about the bill on the floor this morning.

The Bingaman-Specter bill is expected to win support from leading industry and labor voices, including Michael Morris, the CEO of American Electric Power Corp., one of the nation's largest coal-fired electric utilities, and Jeff Sterba, CEO of PNM Resources and the current chairman of the Edison Electric Institute.

Officials from the 9-million member AFL-CIO, as well as the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers and the United Mine Workers of America, are also expected to sign off on the bill because it includes a provision that would impose trade penalties against China and India if either country does not take similar steps.

Major environmental groups said yesterday they would welcome Bingaman's decision to set tougher pollution limits compared with earlier drafts, but they also will hold back any endorsements because they see the requirements as insufficient.

"I've not heard anything to suggest this bill is achieving what the NWF has asked for," said Jeremy Symons, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation's climate program.

Symons said he did not support the bill's expected "safety valve" provision, which would set a limit of $12 per ton of carbon dioxide in the first year for how much industry must pay for reducing their pollution. The price ceiling, Symons said, would crimp the overall integrity of the emerging U.S. carbon market and halt innovation in new energy technologies.

Environmentalists said they welcomed Bingaman's effort to craft the legislation in a way that sends it to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Off the Hill, conservation groups have suggested in recent weeks that Bingaman would try to write his bill in such a way that the Senate parliamentarian would refer it to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Wicker insisted the bill will go to the EPW Committee. "That never really originated from this office," he said.

Bingaman's approach to the climate debate has long been aimed at limiting the new program's effects on the U.S. economy, while also maintaining domestic competitiveness with fast-emerging economies in Asia. Pushing a bill with that approach, Bingaman has tried to win support from senators who previously would not sign up for global warming legislation.

In 2005, Bingaman lobbied Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), then the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to sign up as a cosponsor. Domenici considered the measure but ultimately backed down under pressure from the Bush administration.

Since then, Bingaman has teamed with Specter, the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Wicker said at least two other senators, including a Republican, also will sign on today as cosponsors.

One member who won't be on board is Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). In an interview last month, Voinovich said Bingaman approached him about cosponsoring the bill but he turned it down. "I haven't and I don't think I will," Voinovich said. "The point is, and what everyone has to understand, is I'm from Ohio. I'm a manufacturing state."

By Steven Mufson of the Washington Post
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said yesterday that he is set to sign executive orders tomorrow matching California's standards for greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, adding the nation's fourth-most-populous state to the roster of those embracing aggressive new limits on vehicle emissions.

John Edwards is the winner of MoveOn.org's second virtual town hall, focusing on climate issues. The former North Carolina senator earned 33 percent of votes, followed by Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich with 15.7 percent each. The liberal group held its first virtual town hall back in April, focusing on Iraq (Sen. Barack Obama was the winner). It will hold a similar event related to health care in August or early Fall.

Watch one of Edwards' award-winning answers here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nulc0WwPiXo

By Edmund L. Andrews of the NY Times
Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, plans to propose raising the cost of burning oil, gas and coal, in a move that could shake up the debate on global warming.

By Ken Livingstone; courtesy of the NY Times
Success in London suggests that properly executed congestion pricing works, and works well.

By Al Gore; courtesy of the NY Times
America should join an international treaty that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide.

An editorial By Nicholas D. Kristof of the NY Times
Subsistence villagers in Africa will pay with their lives for our refusal to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Respiratory infections constitute the most widespread human infectious disease, and a substantial proportion of them are caused by unknown etiological agents. Reoviruses (respiratory enteric orphan viruses) were first isolated from humans in the early 1950s and so named because they were not associated with any known disease.

By William Yardley of the NY Times
Climate change is expected to raise the repair and replacement cost of thousands of infrastructure projects as much as $6.1 billion for a total of nearly $40 billion from now to 2030, the study says.

Earlier this year, the world's top climate scientists released a definitive report on global warming. It is now "unequivocal," they concluded, that the planet is heating up. Humans are directly responsible for the planetary heat wave, and only by taking immediate action can the world avert a climate catastrophe. Megadroughts, raging wildfires, decimated forests, dengue fever, legions of Katrinas - unless humans act now to curb our climate-warming pollution, warned the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "we are in deep trouble."

A Washington Post Editorial
ONE OF THE benefits of being in the second tier of presidential candidates is feeling freer to promote worthy ideas that might seem too risky to a front-runner. That may be the case with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), whose plan to tackle climate change involves a bold move for any politicia...

By Emily Yoffe of the Washington Post
Al Gore's scare tactics on global warming are having a chilling effect on the debate over climate change.

By Alec MacGillis and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
BENTON, Ill. -- In 2004, as a state legislator running for the U.S. Senate, Barack Obama came to this small town 300 miles from Chicago to pledge support for southern Illinois' struggling coal country.

Was it Al Gore's movie? Or is it the legacy of hurricane Katrina and a growing realisation that the US is as vulnerable as anyone to extremes of weather and climate? Whatever the explanation, Americans are growing more worried about global warming. According to a recent poll, climate change now looms larger than any other environmental threat in the mind of the American public.

Courtesy of Reuters
China has overtaken the United States as the top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, because of surging energy use amid an economic boom, a Dutch government-funded agency said on Wednesday.

A NY Times Editorial
The energy bill passed by the Senate on Thursday includes an important breakthrough: the first substantial improvement in the nation’s automobile fuel-efficiency standards since 1975.

By Edmund L. Andrews of the NY Times
Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would reverse incentives and benefits to the oil industry and instead underwrite renewable fuels.

By Steven Mufson
A group of Senate Democrats from coal-rich states is drafting an amendment to proposed energy legislation that would provide as much as $10 billion in federal loans to pay for capturing and storing greenhouse gases produced by plants that would turn coal into liquid transportation fuels or...

By Steven Mufson
With U.S. gasoline prices near record levels, the Senate is to take up an energy bill today that Democratic leaders hope will be a rallying point for voters concerned about national security and climate change as well as pump prices.

By ERICA WERNER
06/08/07 05:14:02

California Attorney General Jerry Brown wants presidential candidates to weigh in with the Environmental Protection Agency in favor of his state's bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and SUVs.

Brown, a Democrat, sent a letter to the 18 leading Democratic and Republican presidential contenders in advance of testifying on the matter Friday before a House global warming panel.

He asked them to submit written testimony to the federal EPA, which is weighing whether to grant California a waiver needed to put in place a state law that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, by 25 percent from cars and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles beginning in 2009.

At least 11 other states are ready to follow California's lead if the state gets the needed federal waiver.

"As one who may be the next president of the United States, I believe that your written statement, which we will submit to EPA as part of the legal record, will help bolster our case," Brown wrote in the letter sent late Thursday. "I urge you to give us the strongest possible statement for submission to EPA."

Brown asked the candidates to weigh in by June 15, the public comment deadline.

He was assured of a favorable response from at least two of the Democratic contenders. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson already have submitted testimony to EPA favoring California request.

California's waiver request became controversial in Congress this week when Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee included language in a draft energy bill that would block EPA from granting such a waiver.

Committee Chairman John Dingell, R-Mich., an auto industry stalwart, argues that letting California implement its own emissions rules would lead to confusing separate requirements. The auto industry wants one federal standard.

But Dingell is opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Pelosi's pick to head a new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Markey's committee was holding a hearing later Friday on the implications of an April Supreme Court decision that gave EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gases. The ruling led the agency to hold hearings last month on California's two-year-old waiver request. Brown was testifying Friday along with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and others.

States that are ready to impose emission reductions for greenhouse gases from automobiles if California gets its waiver are Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Other states, including New Mexico, are moving to adopt them.

By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 2, 2007; Page D01

U.S. auto sales grew 5 percent in May as car buyers snapped up fuel-sipping models while gas prices rose.

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the NY Times
Such an agreement would be a major shift for a White House that has resisted setting firm limits on emissions.

By Marc Kaufman
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says that although global warming is changing Earth's climate, he's not convinced that is "a problem we must wrestle with."

NASA administrator Michael Griffin defends the space agency's programs, including plans for a permanent moon base and manned missions to Mars. He also says that while NASA studies climate change, the agency has no authorization to "take actions to affect climate change in either one way or another."

By Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
Tuesday 29 May 2007

Trading of permits grows as Congress considers caps.
Congress hasn't come up with a plan for limiting greenhouse-gas emissions, but U.S. companies are wagering billions of dollars that it will.

By Jad Mouawad of the NY Times
Some executives warn that current fuel shortages could become a long-term problem, leading to higher gas prices.

By CORNELIA DEAN of the NY Times
Ray Anderson wants his carpet tile company to become a sustainable operation that does no harm to the biosphere by 2020.

The headquarters of the federal environment agency in Dessau, Germany, occupies a low-slung building on the edge of an abandoned gasworks. Dessau, a center for munitions production during the war, was virtually obliterated by Allied bombs. Over the next 50 years, East German factories saturated the soil with chemical and industrial waste. Yet both the agency building and its location might be said to embody a new, ecologically sensitive Europe.

By ANDREW C. REVKIN and PATRICK HEALY
The plan would back investments to cut urban energy use and releases of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming.

By JIM RUTENBERG and EDMUND L. ANDREWS of the NY Times
President Bush said nothing would be put into effect until the regulatory process was completed, just weeks before the end of his term.

By HANNAH FAIRFIELD
Ten states have joined to create the first mandatory carbon cap-and-trade program in the United States.

Significant progress toward stabilizing and reducing global warming emissions can be achieved at a relatively low cost using known technologies.

By SIMON ROMERO of teh NY Times
The move by President Hugo Chávez is the centerpiece of recent actions aimed at consolidating his government’s control over the economy.

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS of the NY Times
The move would end a ban on drilling in environmentally sensitive areas along the coasts of Alaska and Virginia.

By John Chiang, Mindy S. Lubber

A popular commercial asks, "what's in your wallet?" A similar question
should be asked of investors: Do you know what risks are lurking in your
portfolio?

By Philip Elliot

Americans in large bipartisan numbers say the heating of the earth’s atmosphere is having serious effects on the environment now or will soon and think that it is necessary to take immediate steps to reduce its effects, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds.

YouTube Link

Read more from the Center for American Progress at: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/environment_poll.html

By Juliet Eilperin and Jon Cohen
A third of Americans say global warming ranks as the world's single largest environmental problem, double the number who gave it top ranking last year, a nationwide poll shows.

By THOMAS J. LUECK of the New York Times
The plan is intended to foster population growth and to reduce greenhouse gases.

Russia has started building the world's first floating nuclear plant, designed to provide power for remote areas.

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 16, 2007;

The boy has drawn, in his third-grade class, a global warming timeline that is his equivalent of the mushroom cloud.

By Juliet Eilperin
The U.S. military is increasingly focused on a potential national security threat: climate change.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
It really is wrong that those least responsible for climate change should pay the most.

By SOMINI SENGUPTA
Thirty-one square miles of river delta islands near the Bay of Bengal have vanished in the last 30 years.

By SIMON ROMERO and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
A showdown between President Hugo Chávez and U.S. and European companies over key oil projects could wind up with all sides losing.

By Juliet Eilperin
Some sections of a grim scientific assessment of the impact of global warming on human, animal and plant life issued in Brussels yesterday were softened at the insistence of officials from China and the United States, participants in the negotiations said.

An international global warming conference approved a report Friday warning of dire threats to the Earth and to mankind - from increased hunger in Africa and Asia to the extinction of species - unless the world adapts to climate change and halts its progress.

By FELICITY BARRINGER and WILLIAM YARDLEY
States are already using the Supreme Court’s decision to speed their own efforts to regulate gas emissions.

By ANDREW C. REVKIN
There is a growing consensus that the first world owes the third world a climate debt.

WASHINGTON: The U.S Supreme Court ordered the federal government Monday to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming.

In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars.

Greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the landmark environmental law, Justice John Paul Stevens said in his majority opinion.

The court's four conservative justices - Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas - dissented.

Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases, flowing into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate, are leading to a warming of the Earth, rising sea levels and other marked ecological changes.

By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Wealthy countries are spending far more to limit their own risks from global warming’s consequences than to help the world’s most vulnerable regions.

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill push for a cap-and-trade system to rein in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, an unlikely alternative has emerged from an ideologically diverse group of economists and industry leaders: a carbon tax.

By MARK HERTSGAARD of TIME
With his curly, salt-and-pepper hair and thoughtful demeanor, Chris West looks like just another mid-career professor as he crosses the streets of Oxford University. But West, trained as a zoologist, is more an activist than an academic these days. From his cramped office around the corner from Balliol College, he directs the government's UK Climate Impacts Program, which educates individuals and businesses in Britain about the risks they face from climate change and the ways to cope with it.

YouTube 37 minute video

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO, March 29 (Reuters) - Better architecture and energy savings in buildings could do more to fight global warming than all curbs on greenhouse gases agreed under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, a U.N. study showed on Thursday.

By TIMOTHY EGAN
The so-called sky islands of southern Arizona, once green havens above the desert, have experienced near collapse.

By David A. Fahrenthold
Environmental activist (and former vice president) Al Gore descended on Capitol Hill yesterday, telling two congressional panels that global climate change represents the most dangerous crisis in American history and that the measures needed to fix the problem -- such as an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars and power plants -- are far more drastic than anything currently on the table....

By Steven Mufson
The Sierra Club and Kansas City Power & Light Co. have signed an unusual accord in which the utility agreed to offset all the greenhouse gas emissions from a new coal-fired plant by adding wind power and taking steps to conserve energy on a large scale.

While the U.S. government and some corporations are finally acknowledging global climate change, some critics say partnering with such forces may "tame" the movement's goals and strategies.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will receive more than $100 million in additional money from Washington this year.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. auto executives on Wednesday downplayed calls for tougher vehicle mileage standards, telling a House panel that increased use of bio-fuels and a range of incentives would be the best way to lower dependence on foreign oil.

Hundreds of millions of people will not have enough water within a couple of decades as the harmful effects of global warming already start to appear, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium.

As the snow melts from the towering peaks in the distance, Culebra Creek runs fast and the trout are biting. But Van Beecham, a fourth generation fishing guide, is uneasy.

This has been the world's warmest winter since record-keeping began more than a century ago, the U.S. government agency that tracks weather reported Thursday.

By MATT RICHTEL
Some technology investors that portray themselves as green-friendly are inconsistent with their marketing message.

By FELICITY BARRINGER
Bill McKibben, who was one of the first laymen to warn of global warming, is now the philosopher-impresario of the program of climate-change rallies called Step It Up.

Former Opponents Clinton, McCain Tout Its Benefits, but Its Campaign Value May Be Dropping

By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; Page A06

What's the closest thing in politics to a religious experience? The ethanol conversion.

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Some scientists argue that a number of central points in Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” are exaggerated and erroneous.

By Alan Cooperman
The National Association of Evangelicals said yesterday that it has been unable to reach a consensus on global climate change and will not take a stand on the issue, disappointing environmentalists who had hoped that evangelical Christians would prod the Bush administration to soften its position...

Ken Cohen, vice-president for public affairs and Sherri Stuewer, vice-president for safety, health and environment explain Exxon's position on climate change and lay down basic principles for a future US policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

By Steven Mufson
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- From the top of a new coal-fired power plant with its 550-foot exhaust stack poking up from the flat western Iowa landscape, MidAmerican Energy Holdings chief executive David L. Sokol peered down at a train looping around a sizable mound of coal.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 8, 2007 (ENS) - Late today, the 27 European Union member governments approved a new target to cut their collective greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from the 1990 level in 2020. The agreement was reached at the Spring Council meeting of EU heads of government.

By Peter Baker
SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 9 -- President Bush sealed a deal with Brazil on Friday morning intended to promote international production of ethanol, opening a six-day tour of Latin America dedicated to renewing U.S. commitment to a region that has become estranged from Washington in recent years.

By Warren Brown
GENEVA, March 6 The Opel Corsa OPC is a little sports coupe that looks sharp, runs fast and gets 30 miles per gallon. It can be parked in the tightest of parking spots. It proves beyond any reasonable doubt that fuel-efficient cars don't have to be boring. And even at the stiff price of 34,664 Swiss francs -- about 22,000 euros in most of Europe -- Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, expects the Corsa OPC to be a big and profitable seller....

The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

UNITED NATIONS, New York: To head off the worst of climate change, governments must pour tens of billions of dollars more than they are into clean- energy research and enforce sharp rollbacks in fossil-fuel emissions, a scientific panel reported to the United Nations on Tuesday.

The United Nations itself must better prepare to help tens of millions of "environmental refugees," the panel said, and the authorities everywhere should discourage new building on land less than one meter, or 39 inches, above sea level.
The 166-page report, two years in the making, forecasts a turbulent 21st century of rising seas, spreading drought and disease, weather extremes, and damage to farming, forests, fisheries and other economic areas.

"The challenge of halting climate change is one to which civilization must rise," said the panel of 18 scientists from 11 nations, whose work was conducted at the United Nations' request and sponsored by the private United Nations Foundation and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.

Their dozens of recommendations about what to do to mitigate and adapt to global warming came three weeks after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an authoritative UN network of 2,000 scientists, made headlines with its latest assessment of climate science.
The IPCC expressed its greatest confidence yet that global warming was being caused largely by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in Earth's atmosphere, mostly from the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels. If nothing is done, the panel said, global temperatures could rise by as much as 11 degrees by 2100.

Temperatures rose an average 1.3 degrees in the past 100 years. The scientists who produced the report released Tuesday said further increases this century should be limited to about 3.6 degrees or the world risked crossing a climate "tipping point" that could produce "intolerable impacts on human well-being."

They said global carbon dioxide emissions should be leveled off by 2015- 2020 and then cut back to less than one- third that level by 2100 — via a vast transformation of global energy systems, toward greater efficiency, away from fossil fuels and toward biofuels, solar and wind energy and other renewable sources of energy.

That changeover would be spurred by heavy "carbon taxes" or "cap-and-trade" systems, whereby industries' emissions are capped by governments and more efficient companies can sell unused allowances to less efficient ones.

Such programs — already in use in Europe under the Kyoto Protocol climate pact — have been proposed in Congress but are opposed by the Bush administration, which also rejected the Kyoto treaty.

The White House says that it is spending almost $3 billion a year on energy-technology research and that that is its major contribution to combating climate change. But the UN panel said such research worldwide was badly underfunded and required a tripling or quadrupling of spending, to $45 billion or $60 billion a year.

Specialists say governments particularly should step up research into carbon capture and sequestration — technology to capture carbon dioxide in power-plant emissions and store it underground or underwater. In fact, the experts panel urged governments to immediately ban all new coal-fired power plants except those designed for retrofitting with sequestration technology.

Among its list of recommendations, the report Tuesday also called on UN agencies to study the need for an internationally accepted definition of "environmental refugee," since treaties recognize only political refugees as eligible for aid from the UN refugee agency.
The report expresses "special concern" that international capacity could be overwhelmed by coastal refugees fleeing seas rising as they expand from heat and melted land ice. Scientists estimate that a rise in sea levels of one meter by 2100 — conceivable in IPCC projections — would displace roughly 130 million people worldwide.

Policymakers have settled on 'emissions trading' as their favorite global-warming fix. But it isn't working.

A New York Times Editorial

Climatologists have found a surprisingly detailed record of weather patterns that raises questions about how water is being used in the Southwest.

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
The lawsuit could allow energy companies to avoid as much as $60 billion in royalties to the government over the next two decades.

By ANDREW C. REVKIN
According to a new report, the Bush administration’s climate policy will result in emissions growing 11 percent in 2012 from 2002.

By Jose Antonio Vargas
YouTube doesn't want to be just a goof-off destination anymore.
It just went a little C-SPAN.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

TONAWANDA, N.Y. -- Taking time out from her cross-country presidential campaign schedule, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton flew back to New York Monday and suggested the country approach energy independence the way it approached space exploration.

An ambitious buyout deal for TXU, a Texas utility, is already being hailed as a pivotal moment in the fight against global warming.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 26, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington today announced the formation of the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative to implement a joint strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Download the PDF announcement here. [PDF/356K]

By Juliet Eilperin
The board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation's leading general science organization, yesterday issued a consensus statement declaring global climate change "a growing threat to society."

EU environment ministers agree in principle to cut emissions by 20% by 2020, and seek a global 30% cut.

By Doug Struck
PINE FALLS, Manitoba -- Here on the edge of the silent and frozen northern tier of the Earth, the fate of the world's climate is buried beneath the snow and locked in the still limbs of aspen trees.

Right now, everyone is using the atmosphere like a municipal dump, depositing carbon dioxide free.

The Gulf Coast oil drilling expansion President Bush signed into law last year contained a strong environmental sweetener that helped push it through Congress.

Al Gore, the Oscar hopeful known to his most fervent fans as "The Goracle", has gone from failed presidential contender to the most unlikely of global celebrities in the wake of the release of his film, "An Inconvenient Truth."[!]

By PAUL KRUGMAN
The fact that California has been able to achieve so much is a good omen for our ability to limit climate change.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota put its faith in a future fueled by renewable energy Thursday as the governor signed a law requiring utilities to generate a quarter of their power from renewable sources such as wind, water and sun by 2025. Considering where Minnesota stands now -- about half the power produced in the state is from coal, and only 5 percent from renewable sources -- the move is the most aggressive in the country, analysts say.

On January 11, 2007, the Arkansas Public Service Commission (PSC) finalized
new Energy Efficiency Rules to spur a statewide focus on conservation and
energy efficiency. The PSC order requires all jurisdictional electric and
gas utilities to begin implementing cost-effective energy efficiency
programs across all customer types by October 2007. The PSC opened this
docket to further Arkansas' Energy Conservation Endorsement Act of 1977,
and came to its decision after a year of inquiry, including a statewide
workshop and stakeholder collaborative process. Prior to these efforts,
Arkansas ranked 45th in energy efficiency spending per capita among the
states.

The Energy Efficiency Rules follow Resource Planning Guidelines that were
issued by the PSC during the first week in January and together represent
the first comprehensive regulatory framework for the way that electric
utilities must plan their future delivery systems and services. The
utilities must look at generation, transmission, and energy efficiency and
demand response options in a comprehensive and holistic manner. Arkansas
PSC Chairman Sandra Hochstetter noted that in many cases demand response,
conservation, and energy efficiency programs can supplant or defer new
electric generation investment. The net effect of the rules, she said,
should be to provide the most stable and cost-effective electricity
delivery system for the future of the state. The EPA-State Energy
Efficiency Renewable Energy Projects provided technical assistance to the
PSC under the energy efficiency docket.

For more information about the Arkansas Energy Efficiency Rules, visit:
http://www.state.ar.us/psc/News1-11.pdf and
http://www.apscservices.info/PDF/06/06-004-r_83_1.pdf

For more information about The EPA-State Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy
Projects visit: http://www.epa.gov/powerprofiler/pdf/eere_factsheet.pdf

*******
State and local officials interested in additional information about
developing and implementing cost-effective clean energy and environmental
strategies that help further environmental and clean energy goals and
achieve public health and economic benefits may visit:
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/stateandlocal.

By MATTHEW L. WALD
Power companies are planning to build about 150 coal plants in the next few years. Almost none of them will be built to capture carbon dioxide.

The head of the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday said she could take a piecemeal approach to tackling U.S.

Leading international politicians have reached a new agreement on tackling climate change, at a Washington summit.

Delegates agreed that developing countries would also have to meet targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, as well as rich countries.
The informal meeting also agreed that a global market should be formed to cap and trade carbon dioxide emissions.
The non-binding declaration is seen as vital in influencing a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, correspondents say.
The forum's closing statement said man-made climate change was now "beyond doubt".
"Climate change is a global issue and there is an obligation on us all to take action, in line with our capabilities and historic responsibilities," said the statement from the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (Globe).

'Tipping point'

The two-day meeting brought together legislators from countries including the Group of Eight rich nations, plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

The BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin was at the meeting and says that although the declaration carries no formal weight, it indicates a real change in mood.
The legislators agreed that developing countries had to face targets on greenhouse gas emissions, in the same way rich countries do.
They said they wanted a successor to the Kyoto Protocol - which expires in 2012 - in place by 2009.
US senator Joe Lieberman forecast that the US Congress would enact a law on cutting emissions by the end of next year, possibly this year.
And presidential candidate John McCain, who is co-sponsoring climate legislation with Mr Lieberman, was emphatic on the need for new initiatives.
"I am convinced that we have reached the tipping point and that the Congress of the United States will act, with the agreement of the administration," he told the forum.
But Dr John Holdren, the head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said President George W Bush needed to appreciate that the US economy would not suffer unnecessarily if emission were capped.
"The economic damage from not addressing climate change is much larger than the economic cost of addressing it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Canadian parliament moved to force the government to meet its Kyoto Protocol target for reducing emissions.
The ruling Conservative party argues that meeting the target, of reducing emissions by 6% from 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012, is impossible.
The parliamentary vote gives the government 60 days to formulate a plan for getting back on track.
With United Nations climate negotiations in December failing to agree a timetable for mandating new cuts in emissions when the current Kyoto targets expire in 2012, the British-led Globe set up the Washington meeting in the hope of stimulating progress in a less formal setting.
The UN's panel on climate change said earlier this month that higher global temperatures caused by man-made pollution would melt polar ice, worsen floods and droughts and cause more devastating storms.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/6364663.stm

Was life better when a sheet of ice a mile thick covered Chicago? Was it worse when Greenland was so warm that Vikings farmed there?

Al Gore announced on Thursday a series of worldwide concerts to focus on the threat of climate change, with a powerhouse lineup from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Snoop Dogg to Bon Jovi.

The 24-hour event on July 7 is part of a campaign, Save Our Selves - The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, that promoters hope will trigger a broad movement to address what the former vice president calls a global climate crisis.

"In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people," the environmental activist, filmmaker and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement. "The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement."

Gore is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008 despite his repeated statements that he's not running. Recently, some former aides met in Boston to discuss a campaign to draft the former vice president.

The concerts on seven continents will bring newfound publicity to Gore, who already is enjoying celebrity status with his Oscar-nominated documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." Gore said he was thrilled that the film, on the perils of global warming, was nominated for best documentary and for best song, the latter nod coming for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up."

More than 100 performers are scheduled to appear at the July concerts, including Etheridge, the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Duran Duran, Korn, Pharrell, the Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Promoters said the Live Earth concerts will take place in Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; London and cities to be announced in Japan, Brazil and the United States.

Promoters said the concerts - dubbed Live Earth - could reach 2 billion people through attendance or broadcasts. Proceeds will create a foundation to combat climate change led by The Alliance for Climate Protection, which is chaired by Gore.

The Save our Selves campaign was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.

© 2007 Associated Press.

By JOHN TIERNEY
Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could turn out to be more practical than the alternative: persuading six billion people to stop putting it there.
More >>

Boulder, Colorado. As scientists sound daily alarms about the dire consequences of global warming, Americans are asking one question: What can we do about it?

The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) has an answer: Deploy clean energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies now!

On Wednesday morning, January 31, 2007 at a press conference in Washington, D.C., ASES unveiled a 200-page report, Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.: Potential Carbon Emissions Reductions from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 2030. The result of more than a year of study, the report illustrates how energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can provide the emissions reductions required to address global warming.

The press event included remarks from report editor Chuck Kutscher, ASES Executive Director Brad Collins, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) climate scientist James Hansen, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Congressmen Henry Waxman and Christopher Shays. According to Hansen, “We must begin fundamental changes in our energy use now in order to avoid human-made climate disasters.”

To develop the report, ASES recruited a volunteer team of top energy experts. These experts produced a series of nine papers that examined how energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions—the main cause of global warming.

ASES collected the nine papers together and added an overview of the studies to create the report. It covers energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industry, as well as six renewable energy technologies: concentrating solar power, photovoltaics, wind power, biomass, biofuels, and geothermal power. The results indicate that these technologies can displace approximately 1.2 billion tons of carbon emissions annually by the year 2030—the magnitude of reduction that scientists believe is necessary to prevent the most dangerous consequences of climate change.

The report illustrates how energy efficiency measures could keep U.S. carbon emissions roughly constant over the next 23 years as the economy grows, and how renewable energy technologies could make deep cuts below today’s emissions. Wind energy provides about 35% of the renewable energy contribution, while the rest is divided about evenly among the other technologies. “Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can begin to be deployed on a large scale today to help save us from the worst consequences of global warming,” said Kutscher. “With continued R&D to lower costs and a reasonable level of policy support, they have the potential to meet most, if not all, of the carbon reductions that will be required in the future.”

The report is available as a free download at www.ases.org/climatechange. High-quality graphics showing the various emissions reductions and deployment locations are also available at that site.

For more information, contact Brad Collins, 303/443-3130 x102,
E-mail: bcollins at ases dot org.

By Anthony Faiola
KAMIITA, Japan -- When the Japanese government issued a national battle cry against soaring global energy prices this winter, no one heeded the call to arms more than this farming town in the misty mountains of western Japan.

You could be excused for thinking that we'll soon do something serious about global warming. Last Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- an international group of scientists -- concluded that, to a 90 percent probability, human activity is warming the Earth. Earlier, Democratic congressional leaders made global warming legislation a top priority; and 10 big U.S. companies (including General Electric and DuPont) endorsed federal regulation. Strong action seems at hand.

But Southern Baptist Convention forbids environmental activism.

By Matt Curry
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, February 08, 2007

DALLAS - Texas Baptist leaders are working to block Republican Gov. Rick
Perry's plan to speed the approval process for 18 new coal-fired power
plants - an unusual move because the largest national Baptist
organization officially opposes environmental activism.

Are we running out of oil? No. Are we running out of affordable oil? Probably. We are certainly running out of the cheap oil that has powered the world economy since the 1950s. Those of us who are willing to face reality have begun to search in earnest for alternative energy solutions.

When I met Grantham last autumn he, quite rightly, refused to confirm that the vice president was a client. But you can see the evidence in Cheney's own personal financial disclosure.

By WILLIAM K. STEVENS
It has been pointed out many times that we are engaged in a titanic global experiment. The further it proceeds, the clearer the picture should become.

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL and ANDREW C. REVKIN
The report said warming and its harmful consequences could be substantially blunted by prompt action.

By CORNELIA DEAN
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will moderate its gloom on sea level rise, lowering its worst-case estimate.

By BRYAN WALSH
The debate on global warming is over.

A GAO report from last December that contains important background information on Federal support for advanced energy technologies, including energy efficiency and renewable energy. Among other things, it shows that DOE's budget authority for energy R&D dropped by more than 85% from 1978-2005.

Meantime, as we know, our dependence on foreign oil has grown to record levels, and it continues to grow.

Download the report. [PDF / 1.5MB]

Potential U.S. Carbon Emissions Reductions from Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency by 2030

Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies are among the most desirable of our options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – but how much of a contribution can they make? According to this new study sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society, they can contribute a lot more than commonly believed.

By CORNELIA DEAN
Witnesses spoke about how the Bush administration had delayed, altered or watered down the findings of government scientists on the issue of global warming.

By Juliet Eilperin
As 600 scientists meet this week in Paris to finalize the first worldwide assessment in six years of the evidence on global warming, lawmakers on Capitol Hill searched for a political consensus yesterday on how to address climate change.

By Peter Baker and Steven Mufson
It was just a couple of dozen words out of more than 5,000, uttered so fast that many in the audience missed them at first. But President Bush's commitment to fight global warming in his State of the Union address this week has echoed around the world and provoked debate about whether he is shifting...

Where might 20 billion alternative-fuel gallons come from?

ANTICIPATING Tuesday's State of the Union speech, Al Hubbard, President Bush's national economic adviser, spoke of "headlines above the fold that will knock your socks off in terms of our commitment to energy independence." The address that Mr. Bush delivered certainly was bold. But by choosing energy independence as his main policy target, Mr. Bush missed opportunities to improve energy security and to combat climate change...

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I would love to see Democrats put something better on President Bush’s desk — regarding both energy and Iraq.
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By Blaine Harden
FEDERAL WAY, Wash., Jan. 24 -- Frosty E. Hardiman is neither impressed nor surprised that "An Inconvenient Truth," the global-warming movie narrated by former vice president Al Gore, received an Oscar nomination this week for best documentary.
More >>

Once again, we have heard this president make big promises about energy independence.
Once again, we fear that very little will change.

A coalition of business, climate and environmental organizations, called the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), is calling on the federal
government to enact legislation requiring significant reductions of
greenhouse gas emissions. For more information visit:
http://www.pewclimate.org/uscap.cfm

The Investment Implications of a Changing Climate
A report from Citigroup [PDF / 2.7MB]

By Sholnn Freeman
The Department of Energy announced yesterday $17 million in grants to support the development of battery technology for plug-in hybrid vehicles and ethanol, two areas in the energy debate where officials in Washington and Detroit are closely aligned.

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and FELICITY BARRINGER
President Bush called for a huge government-mandated increase in renewable fuels, mainly ethanol.

By Sholnn Freeman
The Ford Edge gliding along the George Washington Memorial Parkway doesn't have spinning rims or a booming sound system. The bling in this SUV is the technology. The vehicle runs almost silently. It needs no gas and releases no polluting exhaust.

By Juliet Eilperin and Michael Grunwald
The House Democrats had not quite finished their "100 hours" agenda when they met in the Capitol basement Thursday morning, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was already looking ahead. As her colleagues ate bagels and turkey sausage, she warned that their next challenge would be a lot tougher.

By CARL ZIMMER
Assisted migration triggers strong, mixed feelings from conservation biologists but it may be the only way to save some of the world’s biodiversity.

The new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee says his committee will act on climate change. He has invited Al Gore to testify. [PDF / 175KB]

By FELICITY BARRINGER
Ten companies have banded with environmental groups to call for a nationwide cap on carbon dioxide emissions.

Check out www.stepitup07.org to learn about the National Day of Climate Action, this April 14. Author Bill McKibben and colleagues are hoping to spark hundreds and hundreds of rallies on that day – in every state and in many of America’s most iconic places, from the levees in New Orleans to the top of the melting glaciers on Mt. Rainier. Sign up, pitch in.

By FELICITY BARRINGER and ANDREW C. REVKIN
Democrats are increasingly determined to impose mandatory controls on carbon dioxide emissions.