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What's your opinion on climate change?
- Tell us your thoughts on climate change. You might just change someone's mind...
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- FORMAT:
- ENDS: 14/09/2008 12:00 AM GMT
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Oil sands will pollute Great Lakes, report warns
The environmental impacts of Alberta's oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thousands of kilometres away to the Great Lakes, threatening water and air quality around the world's largest body of fresh water.
In a new report, the University of Toronto's Munk Centre says the massive refinery expansions needed to process tar sands crude, and the new pipeline networks for transporting the fuel, amount to a "pollution delivery system" connecting Alberta to the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S.
It warns that the refineries will be using the Great Lakes "as a cheap supply" source for their copious water needs and the area's air "as a pollution dump."
The report, which is being released today at a conference at the university, says that as many as 17 major refinery expansions around the lakes are being considered for turning the tar-like Alberta bitumen into gasoline and other petroleum products. While not all will be undertaken, enough of them will be to have a regional environmental impact.
Proposed pipeline and refinery projects around the lakes are expected to lead to total investments of more than $31-billion (U.S.) by 2015, spending similar in scale to expenditures at many oil sands projects. For this reason, the report says the various projects, when taken together, threaten to "wipe out many of the pollution control gains" achieved around the lakes since the 1970s.
The massive expenditures are needed because typical refineries can't process heavy crude derived from tar sands without costly upgrades.
"This expansion promises to bring with it an exponential increase in pollution, discharges into waterways including the Great Lakes, destruction of wetlands, toxic air emissions, acid rain, and huge increases in greenhouse gas emissions," it says.
Most of the projected spending is on the U.S. side of the lakes. Only one major refinery project has been announced for the Canadian side, but that expansion, at a Shell refinery in Sarnia, was put on hold in July because of surging costs.
However, two big Canadian companies, TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. with its Keystone project, and Enbridge Inc., with its Alberta Clipper project, are vying to build pipelines to bring crude from the tar sands to U.S. refineries around the lakes.
The report says the environmental effects in Alberta from tar sands development - from dying ducks caught in tailings ponds to massive carbon dioxide emissions - are well known, but the implications for the Great Lakes "are less well-understood and less extensively explored."
Policy makers around the lakes, in both Canada and the U.S., are largely unaware that the tar sands will lead to massive industrial development in their region, and consequently have no strategy to minimize the environmental impacts, it says.
Some of the harshest criticism is for the Ontario government, which it characterizes as "remarkably unengaged" over how tar sands oil will affect the province and "doesn't seem to even be asking the key questions, let alone contemplating the possible policy answers."
There has been one major dispute in the U.S. over a tar sands-related refinery expansion, at a British Petroleum facility at Whiting, Ind. The company proposed a $3-billion refinery modernization that would raise discharges of two pollutants by about 35 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. But it backed down and pledged not to increase the pollutants after a public outcry. The environmental impacts of Alberta's oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thous... more -
Energy Independence: Harnessing the Awesome Power of the High Five
This ground breaking technology from Cunning Labs could be the most promising alternative energy innovation yet. The system taps into the vast energy potential of the “High Five” to generate electrical energy.
Also known as “Up High” to those in the field, the High Five is a celebratory hand gesture made by two people, each raising one hand to slap the raised hand of the other. In most cultures it is meant to communicate mutual satisfaction or to extend congratulations from one person to another.
Although this design only harnesses the power of the “Up High”, future models may extend to include the “Down Low,” that is assuming they can over come the substantial energy loss of the “Too Slow” factor... This ground breaking technology from Cunning Labs could be the most promising alternative energy innovation yet. The system taps into... more -
John McCain: The Nuclear Option
Building 45 new nuclear plants in this country is insanity and will doom the waterways of this country and put our national security at risk. For a candidate who also talks about fighting the 'war on terror' as well, how could this thought even be entertained in the world we live in? Nuclear energy is not safe, it is not CO2 free, and I am truly getting tired of John McCain talking about what he really knows nothing about. He was on a nuclear submarine that didn't get blown up so that is how he assessed nuclear power is safe? Does he even understand the process of how the uranium is extracted and the toxic pollution it causes to our waterways and land? Does he understand how the toxic waste causes cancer? Does he understand the radioactivity of the waste? The immense amount of water nuclear uses? (Not good in a country now experiencing droughts, especially in the US Southwest) The cost in dollars and in potential lives?
My one message to him and yes, Obama as well who has now flip flopped to say he too engages nuclear is: STOP LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. The strides being made in solar, wind, and geothermal are here and now. We could take the money their congressional subsidies give out for their nuclear pipedreams and repower this country! I will make a pledge that should John McCain be corronated I will call the White House every day regarding this issue and 'clean coal.' And I will do the same if it is Obama.
It is unconscienable to me that they could ever want to foist this antiquated unsafe energy source on us just to appease backers and the lobbyists who get the subisidies from Washington Dc. The nuclear option must be out of the question. It is antiquated. It is unsafe. It is toxic. It wastes water. It is expensive. It puts our national security at risk, and will take too much time in light of the reports coming from peer reviewed scientists regarding the current state of our world. Why don't these candidates ever pick up a report instead of a poll to craft their policies? Building 45 new nuclear plants in this country is insanity and will doom the waterways of this country and put our national security a... more -
Why the West should put money in the trees
In 2006, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo outlined an offer to place almost the entirety of Guyana's rainforest under international supervision as part of the world's battle against climate change. In the Green Room this week, President Jagdeo sets out his views on how to reduce the 18% of greenhouse gas emissions caused by tropical deforestation. In 2006, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo outlined an offer to place almost the entirety of Guyana's rainforest under inter... more
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Drought in southern Australia declared ‘worst on record’
If you want to know what the U.S. southwest faces in the coming decades if we don’t reverse greenhouse gas emissions trends quickly, just look to Australia:
David Jones, the head of climate analysis at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the drought affecting south-west Western Australia, south-east South Australia, Victoria and northern Tasmania “is now very severe and without historical precedent”.
Dr Jones said Victoria had had “the driest multi-year period on record, but also by far the hottest….”
He said temperatures were running at about one degree “above any previous comparable drought. That is substantially hotter, and that one degree is a global warming signal.”
He said the data suggests that for every one degree of warming, there is a 15 per cent decline in run-off, or river flow, in the Murray Darling Basin….
He said a similar drying pattern had been observed in Europe’s Mediterranean, and the south-west in the USA….
The highlighted point is key. Previously, droughts around the world were either cold-whether droughts or warm-weather droughts. In the future, virtually all droughts will be hot weather droughts, which are obviously the worst kind.
He said the current dry was at the extreme end of what the climate models had predicted.
Most of the major predicted climate impacts the planet is now experiencing are at the extreme end of what the models had predicted (see “Are Scientists Overestimating — or Underestimating — Climate Change, Part I“).
Here is more on Australia’s astonishing drought:
He said the rainfall deficiencies were the largest on record.
“If you look at Victoria, where the effect has been particularly severe, in the last 12 years we have now missed out on two years of rainfall, which is an extraordinary result,” he said.
“Across Victoria as a whole, if you add up how much rainfall has been missed in 12 years, it is now up around 1300mm or four feet of rainfall, a very, very large rainfall deficit….”
The most dramatic effects have been felt by Melbourne.
Melbourne recorded its driest September on record.
“If one looks at the history of data we have for Melbourne, we have rainfall records going 150 years. We simply have not seen anything like what we currently have, not even close,” he said.
The previous longest dry for Melbourne was the six years from 1979 to 1984.
“Starting in 1997 we have had 11 years, nearly 12 years” of dry conditions.
The shape of things to come for us. The time to act is yesterday. If you want to know what the U.S. southwest faces in the coming decades if we don’t reverse greenhouse gas emissions trends quickly, j... more -
Scientists discover fish in act of evolution in Africa’s greatest lake
In what could be a first in the world, a fish species in the cichlid family has been observed by scientists in the act of splitting into two distinct species in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and one of the world’s biggest fresh water bodies.
This may be remarkable because what is causing them to diverge are adaptations to their vision as animals and plants try to cope with increased pollution and the effects of climate change. The change is also happening without geographical isolation, which was thought to be a precursor for evolution.
The Pundamilia nyererei is a haplochromine type cichlid native to areas in the Mwanza Gulf region of Lake Victoria. This region consists of many islands where each island region has its own color variant of the fish.
In a report published in the journal Nature, researchers from Tokyo’s Institute of Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology have observed the cichlid evolve into a new species better adapted in sighting its prey and predator.
But the scientists have also tabled evidence indicating that it is not pollution and over-fishing alone that are responsible for the disappearance of some fish species in Lake Victoria and the evolving of others like the cichlid into new species.
The report summarizes that new species may be born because of vision differences and what fish see at least in one African lake could be the driving force that causes them to evolve into new species.
This may explain the very rapid loss of pundamilia in Lake Victoria over the past 30 years. The study says the eye adaptations have also affected mating patterns.
Researchers looked at two species, conspicuous by their red or blue colours. They determined through lab experiments that certain genetic mutations helped some fish adapt their vision at deeper levels to see the colour red and others in shallower water to recognise shades of blue.
The researchers showed that the eyes have adapted to this difference so that fish that live in deeper water have a pigment in their eyes that is more sensitive to red light, while shallow-water fish were sensitive to blue.
Generally, the evolutionary process of speciation (the formation of new species) occurs when one species is split by a physical distance or barrier, allowing each group to develop different traits. The observations of Lake Victoria’s cichlids provide evidence of an unusual form of evolution known as sympatric speciation, which occurs without the physical separation of a population group. In what could be a first in the world, a fish species in the cichlid family has been observed by scientists in the act of splitting in... more -
Army keeps military green push, embraces solar, wind, and bio-fuel power
The Army is following the Air Force's green efforts to cut their energy expenditures and, presumably, don't see their weapons budget cut. They will install solar panels and windmills, while investing in bio-fuels and energy conservation in bases all around the country. According to Keith Eastin, assistant Army secretary for Installations and Environmen, this will be good not only for the military, but for all of us:
The Army plans to increase efficiency and serve as a model for the military and the nation when it comes to the operation of our housing, buildings, and forward operating bases. The Army will use its considerable purchasing power to push green projects that might not otherwise receive needed money.
One of these projects is the installation of a 500 megawatt solar thermal plant in Ft. Irwin, an Army base located in the Mojave Desert. Another, the purchase of 4,000 Small Neighborhood Electric Vehicles similar to the Peapod, which will always beat the SUVs currently in use at these bases.
The effort will have to be really serious, as their energy costs have increased a full 40% during the last seven years, even while they have cut consumption by almost 8%. According to their latest numbers released this week in Washington, D.C., right now they are spending $2 billion on fuel every year. However, most of it goes to feeding the generators that power the temporal bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, so no matter how much money they spend on saving energy at home, they still will have to feed the monster around the world. The Army is following the Air Force's green efforts to cut their energy expenditures and, presumably, don't see their weapon... more -
Nature losses to far exceed losses due to 'bank crisis'
The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.
The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.
The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change.
It has been discussed during many sessions here at the World Conservation Congress.
Some conservationists see it as a new way of persuading policymakers to fund nature protection rather than allowing the decline in ecosystems and species, highlighted in the release on Monday of the Red List of Threatened Species, to continue.
Capital losses
Speaking to BBC News on the fringes of the congress, study leader Pavan Sukhdev emphasised that the cost of natural decline dwarfs losses on the financial markets.
"It's not only greater but it's also continuous, it's been happening every year, year after year," he told BBC News.
"So whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within the financial sector, $1-$1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today's rate we are losing natural capital at least between $2-$5 trillion every year."
The review that Mr Sukhdev leads, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (Teeb), was initiated by Germany under its recent EU presidency, with the European Commission providing funding.
The first phase concluded in May when the team released its finding that forest decline could be costing about 7% of global GDP. The second phase will expand the scope to other natural systems.
Stern message
Key to understanding his conclusions is that as forests decline, nature stops providing services which it used to provide essentially for free.
So the human economy either has to provide them instead, perhaps through building reservoirs, building facilities to sequester carbon dioxide, or farming foods that were once naturally available.
Or we have to do without them; either way, there is a financial cost.
The Teeb calculations show that the cost falls disproportionately on the poor, because a greater part of their livelihood depends directly on the forest, especially in tropical regions.
The greatest cost to western nations would initially come through losing a natural absorber of the most important greenhouse gas.
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And that isn't only on a monetary scale. The loss of forests, natural carbon sinks, biodiversity, our oceans, and the ecosystems that depend on them will lose us as a species far more than $$$$$$. We will lose our very essence and our reason for being on this planet. We will lose the very breath of our Earth. To me, while the global markets struggle to maintain a tangible asset, let us not forget that our Earth and its sustainability is our most precious asset in more ways than just the tangible. And if we as a world community do not get truly serious about dealing with this loss within the next year it will not matter what happens on a global market. The loss to us otherwise will be even more catastrophic. The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-... more -
EU countries may use economic crisis to ditch climate change commitments
Leaders of EU countries plan to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to renege on climate change commitments, according to sources close to energy negotiations in Brussels.
Papers seen by the Guardian suggest the EU council, which meets next week, propose dropping the previous commitment to an automatic increase in emissions cuts if the world gets a major climate change agreement next year. It also intends to allow countries to avoid having to cut their own emissions by letting them purchase a large proportion of reductions from overseas.
The current EU target of a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020 will automatically increase to 30% if a global deal is signed. But the papers show that the EU is seeking a completely new legislative process if the EU target is to go over 20%. This effectively shelves the move to 30% and would take many years to complete.
The commission justifies its proposals by saying that EU countries paying for emissions cuts would transfer up to €42bn (£33bn) to developing and other countries from 2008-2020. Leaders of EU countries plan to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to renege on climate change commitments, according to sou... more -
Glaciers of British Columbia could be gone in 150 years
Climate experts are warning that if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions aren't reduced, most of B.C's glaciers will be melted within 150 years.
"If the current projections for the increasing levels of CO2 are accurate then most of the glaciers in B.C. and Alberta will be gone in 150 years," said Brian Menounos, an associate professor of geography at University of Northern B.C.
Menounos is part of a team of scientists carrying out a $2.1 million study on behalf of the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences to see what effects global warming is having on glaciers in the Pacific Northwest. The study is expected to be completed in 2010.
"Of course we don't know what will happen in the next 150 years and what humans are going to do about CO2 emissions, but if current trends are maintained the only ice fields left will be some remnants in the St. Elias Mountains," he said.
The St. Elias Mountain range straddles Alaska, Yukon and the far northern part of B.C.
Menounos said scientists are monitoring glaciers to determine what's being accumulated in the winter when it snows against what melts in the summer heat.
"We know CO2 emissions will change both the total snowfall and summer temperatures. The majority of climate scientists claim that human activity has a role in climate change," he said.
One of the most important aspects of the study is to determine what will happen if the glaciers continue melting and the effects this will have on available water resources.
"Land managers need to know how much of that water resource is still there. In 2014 the water treaty between the U.S. and Canada will have to be negotiated again and both parties will have to come to the table and say 'based on this information we're going to have to agree on how the water is allocated.'
"Canada can't say we're going to take it all because a lot of it flows into Washington state," he said.
Menounos said the 1990s were "not good years for glaciers" and there was significant melting but this decade temperatures have been cooler on average, he said.
"But we know the melting of the large ice masses in the coastal mountains is contributing substantially to the rise in sea levels," he said.
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Gone in 150 years, with people feeling the effects of it until that time especially regarding the availability of water. That is unless the people of the world wake up this next year. We are not taking this seriously enough on a global scale even with all of the evidence coming forward. I just do not understand why the most crucial and important crises of our world are constantly being tucked away as if they can be gotten to another day. In the grand scheme of this world 150 years is not that long. Climate experts are warning that if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions aren't reduced, most of B.C's glaciers will be melted wit... more -
Climate Change: Rising Temps May Be Too Hot for Tropical Species
"Climate change is warming the tropics, too. Average temperatures have increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.78 degree Celsius) in the last 30 years, making them as warm as at any point in the past 2 million years. That increased warmth, however, is not good news for tropical plants and insects, according to a new study in Science.
Ecologist Robert Colwell of the University of Connecticut and his colleagues surveyed more than 1,900 species of plants and insects from sea level to nearly 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) above, along the forested slopes of a volcano near the La Selva Biological Station in northern Costa Rica. The goal was to determine the ranges of currently extant species.
Based on these ranges—and potential further warming of as much as 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C)—more than half of these plants and insects would need to relocate 2,000 feet (610 meters) farther up the mountainside to maintain the temperatures they enjoy in their present range. And for those species—ranging from trees and epiphytes (rootless plants) to predatory ants and leaf-chewing moths currently thriving in the lowland—such a migration could leave a vacuum in its wake.
"Because lowland tropical forests are already the warmest forests on Earth, there are no replacement species waiting in the wings to replace these lowland species, as there are for many places at higher latitudes," Colwell explains.
In the absence of mountainsides to serve as a cool refuge, those plants and insects that cannot face higher temperatures may disappear as it would require migrations of hundreds or even thousands of miles to find a suitable cooler climate—crossing habitats utterly changed by human impacts. "For lowland tropical species whose geographical range lies far from mountains, for example in the middle of the Amazon," Colwell says, "the prospect for extinction cannot be dismissed." "Climate change is warming the tropics, too. Average temperatures have increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.78 degree Celsius) ... more -
Global Crises Compound Refugees' Woes: UN
The global financial, food, and fuel crises and the negative impacts of climate change pose a severe threat to the world's 37 million uprooted people, and will likely increase their numbers, warned the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Monday.
"Competition for scarce resources has become an increasingly important factor in provoking and perpetuating violence," said Antonio Guterres, addressing delegates from the UNHCR's 76-nation governing committee. As a result, the number of people forced to flee their homes is on the rise.
At the end of 2007, 11.4 million people were living as refugees and 26 million were displaced within their own country -- known as internally displaced people, or IDPs.
These latest figures mark the second straight year of increases after a five-year decline in the number of uprooted people around the world.
The underlying causes for the alarming trend in displacement range "from multiple new conflict-related emergencies in world hotspots to bad governance, climate-induced environmental degradation that increases competition for scarce resources, and extreme price hikes that have hit the poor the hardest and are generating instability in many places," said Guterres.
A doubling of world prices of staple foods such as rice and wheat has had a particular impact on refugees and IDPs, who leave behind most of their material possessions but also farms, small businesses, or jobs when they flee conflict or environmental disasters.
This July, hundreds of refugees from Cote d'Ivoire living in Guinea's capital asked to relocate to a United Nations-run refugee camp "to escape their precarious situation in Conakry, where they found serious difficulties in feeding themselves and finding accommodation," according to the UNHCR's spokesperson in Guinea.
"We are confronted with a series of interlinked conflicts in an arc of crisis that stretches from Southwest Asia to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Some of them are deepening, with important implications for global security," said Guterres.
Indeed, this new and complex constellation of violence has directly affected the United Nations' work with refugees and displaced people.
UNHCR funds used to address emergencies more than doubled from 2006 to 2007, and this year's expected $150 million budget for emergencies marks another significant leap from last year's $87 million.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the highest numbers of IDPs in the world and it is also the site of one of the worst and least recognized humanitarian crises.
A group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups recently called for immediate action to improve security and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Congo after renewed fighting displaced an additional 100,000 people in the eastern part of the country.
An estimated 1.2 million Congolese have been uprooted by the conflict, which the nonprofit International Rescue Committee has classified "the world's deadliest documented conflict since World War II."
However, financial constraints and safety precautions preclude sometimes even the most basic of humanitarian aid from reaching many of those who've fled their homes.
This has also been the case in Somalia, where 1.1 million people are displaced and almost half the population requires urgent assistance due to ongoing conflict and resource shortages.
In July, the Germany-based charity Bread for the World cut back operations in Somalia and the United Nations Development Program withdrew staff from the country amid rising safety concerns for their employees.
Concluding that "a hungry man is an angry man," Guterres cautioned the international community can either meet the basic needs of the world's poor -- many of whom are refugees or IDPs -- or "expect more social and political turmoil in the years to come."
Climate Refugees a Growing Concern
******CONTINUES The global financial, food, and fuel crises and the negative impacts of climate change pose a severe threat to the world's 37 mil... more -
Climate change in the Arctic
Video documentary about the observations on climate change in the Arctic.
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ABC Refused to Air We Campaign Ad.
[This is a letter I recently received from the We Campaign]
Did you notice the ads after last night's presidential debate?
ABC had Chevron. CBS had Exxon. CNN had the coal lobby. But you know what happened last week? ABC refused to run our Repower America ad -- the ad that takes on this same oil and coal lobby.
I sent a letter asking ABC to reconsider their decision and put our ad on the air, but still we haven't heard back more than a week later. I think they need to hear from all of us. Can you help? Please send a message to ABC and tell them to air the Repower America ad this Friday on 20/20. Just click here:
http://www.wecansolveit.org/ABC
We're working to get 100,000 public comments to ABC before 20/20's next airing.
Our Repower America ad has a clear and simple message -- that massive spending by oil and coal companies on advertising is a key reason our nation hasn't switched to clean and renewable sources for our energy.
Here's the script of the ad:
The solution to our climate crisis seems simple.
Repower America with wind and solar.
End our dependence on foreign oil. A stronger economy.
So why are we still stuck with dirty and expensive energy?
Because big oil spends hundreds of millions of dollars to block clean energy.
Lobbyists, ads, even scandals.
All to increase their profits, while America suffers.
Breaking big oil's lock on our government ...
Now that's change.
We're the American people and we approve this message.
You can view the ad on the ABC petition page, here.
As our country faces deep economic problems, we need to be able to have an honest debate about the root causes of our problems. As Al Gore has said, "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the future of human civilization. And every bit of that has to change."
As oil and coal backed groups outspend even major party committees in this political year, it's outrageous that ABC would deny our ad. Let ABC know what you think. Just click here.
Thank you,
Cathy Zoi
CEO
www.wecansolveit.org [This is a letter I recently received from the We Campaign] Did you notice the ads after last night's presidential debate? ... more -
Obama faces coal conundrum
As an environmentalist this is the one reason why Obama (and McCain to clarify) will not get my vote, because neither of them have gained my trust on this. I was looking this time for someone who would truly lead on the environment to bring the country to a higher consciousness to see that solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels (not ethanol) were what this country must have now to lead us into the 21st Century not only to save our planet but ourselves. It is an understatement to say that I am disappointed that there is not one candidate who is on that higher level of consciousness about this important crisis.
There is no change and there will not be significant progress regarding the climate crisis and political will if Obama (and yes, others as well) still plays to the coal industry while touting an environmental plan. As the article states, there is no such thing as clean coal... and it isn't only about that. It is about the cancer, and the mercury, and the asthma, and the lung diseases, and the toxicity, and the pollution... and the mountaintop removal that is destroying the beauty of this country. Yet, we didn't hear any of them talking about this in any campaign speech or in any debate.
Nothing about the devastation done to Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and other states in blowing up the mountains that will continue to be blown up regardless of how the coal is burned. This is why I concentrate on Obama. I know McCain is not going to care... I was hoping Obama would, but have seen more and more that he does not and I will not give him a free ride on it. I expect better and I expect truth from those who claim to want 'change' because real change means telling the people the truth. Yet he continues to lie every single time he discusses clean coal technology when he doesn't tell people the truth about the availability or feasability of it.
Some say this isn't enough to change their vote... all well and good. It is for me, because the longer candidates think they can still get votes no matter how much they fail us they won't ever try to keep their promises and earn them. I have had enough of politicians who claim to want to do the right thing but then turn around and do exactly what everyone else does or as the money dictates. And pushing 'clean coal' out of political expedience at a time when our Earth's delicate climate balance is on the brink of tipping instead of taking a true and bold moral stand is not the right thing to do now. As an environmentalist this is the one reason why Obama (and McCain to clarify) will not get my vote, because neither of them have gai... more -
B.C. glaciers could melt in 150 years, expert says
Climate experts are warning that if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions aren't reduced, most of B.C's glaciers will be melted within 150 years. Climate experts are warning that if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions aren't reduced, most of B.C's glaciers will be melted wit... more
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Deadly by the dozen: 12 diseases climate change may make worse
Now is the time to get your very own disease since we humans are hastening the change of climate with our nasty habits...
Bird flu, cholera, Ebola, plague and tuberculosis are just a few of the diseases likely to spread and get worse as a result of climate change, according to a report released yesterday by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). To prevent such ailments from becoming as destructive as the "black death" (which wiped out a third of Europe's population in the 14th century) or the flu pandemic of 1918 (which killed an estimated 20 million to 40 million people worldwide, including between 500,000 and 675,000 people in the U.S.), WCS suggests monitoring wildlife to detect signs of these pathogens before a major outbreak.
To see the list and the rest of the story, go to the link above...and then start thinking about what YOU can do... Now is the time to get your very own disease since we humans are hastening the change of climate with our nasty habits... ... more -
How local governments are 'standing in the way of clean energy'
Too often people who want to install clean, efficient solar and wind systems can find themselves drowning in a sea of red tape.
With the federal government's failure to address climate change, close to 900 U.S. cities and towns have agreed to reduce greenhouse gases in their communities by at least 7 percent by 2012. Support for small-scale solar and wind electricity generators would go a long way toward meeting those goals, especially as large-scale systems continue to get bogged down by opposition in many communities.
States nationwide are implementing or expanding programs that serve as an important economic incentive; people who generate their own clean energy can send the excess to the grid, dramatically lowering their electric bills, while also reducing demand on non-renewable, over-stressed electric systems. However, many towns, counties and cities are still making it difficult and expensive for people who want to generate their own renewable energy.
Small-scale solar and wind generation systems can promote green jobs at this time of economic turmoil, skyrocketing energy costs, widespread desire for energy independence, and increasing public concern about air quality and climate change. Local officials must do their part by removing unnecessary barriers to installation of these systems that exist in local building codes and permit and inspection requirements.
In Virginia, renewable energy contractor Jim Madden calls local permit and planning processes a major obstacle. "The biggest problems," he said, "are the length of time required and lack of knowledge about renewable energy systems at the county government level." In New York, solar contractor Steve Englemann says that local permit requirements cause "by far the greatest delay in the industry, requiring so much time and energy, and delaying jobs to the extent that we have a hard time financially with our business because of it. Every town and village has very different requirements from one another, which is a huge burden on our business."
According to Curt Bradley in California, "Contra Costa County will issue a permit for a small wind generator if the site is zoned for agricultural use, but not if it is zoned commercial or industrial." Recently, a church that is ideally located in the San Francisco Bay wind corridor asked Bradley to install two small wind turbines, 10 kilowatts or less, to provide energy for their sanctuary, school and offices. Because the church is located on property that is zoned commercial, the county planning department would not entertain their proposal.
It is particularly striking that this is happening in California, which has some of the nation's strongest laws and policies to encourage the adoption of small-scale solar and wind, but stories like these are repeated from state to state. In Arizona, where the state is upgrading its net metering program, solar and wind contractors cite barriers that include local government disorganization, inconsistent permit requirements and wide variations in fees.
The more than 40 states that have adopted net metering should take the next step by mandating that towns adopt consistent and appropriate permit requirements and uniform standards. For example, New Hampshire's legislature recently passed a law that prevents local governments in the state from applying building height limits to wind turbines and sets a statewide standard for how much sound they can emit. The states could also smooth the process by educating building and electrical inspectors about the proper installation of common renewable systems.*******CONTINUES**************** Too often people who want to install clean, efficient solar and wind systems can find themselves drowning in a sea of red tape. ... more -
Corporations Have Big Plans to Profit from Global Warming
A bunch of multinationals have figured out how to make their pollution-based businesses seem like the solution to the climate crisis.
With the world's leading scientists in agreement on the science behind global warming, how are multinational corporations preparing for climate change? Some, like Exxon Mobile, continue to squeeze the last drops of profit out of any oil field they get their hands on while paying scientists to deny climate change. Some see profitability in adapting to a more energy-efficient world. And then there's the third group: the greenwashers -- those hoping to come off as enviro-friendly while they make a buck (or a few million) off our global crisis.
Greenwashing is nothing new, but there's a huge difference between covering up environmentally damaging activities with an eco-friendly gesture or two and touting your pollution-based business as the solution to the climate crisis.
An example of the former would be Wal-Mart patting itself on the back for selling millions of energy-efficient lightbulbs while simultaneously selling cheap junk from China by the truckload. Nobody will be fooled by a few compact fluorescents into believing that Wal-Mart is up there with the Sierra Club in defending our planet.
But how about companies like Bayer, which is currently working to produce drought-resistant plants to help farmers face a post-global warming reality? And then there's corn ethanol, a fuel that requires so much oil to produce that it hardly represents a move away from petroleum products at all, and yet it is the darling of politicians on both sides of the aisle. To many, these products are undetectable as greenwashing. And that's not by accident.
During a conversation on climate change at this month's Slow Food Nation festival, author and activist Anna Lappé said, "What scares me about this historic moment is that as we collectively raise the consciousness about the connection between the food system and climate change -- that there is one, that we need to do something about it -- at the very same time what we're seeing is some of the biggest agribusiness companies and also the biggest biotech companies taking advantage of that consciousness-raising to present themselves as the solution, and that I think is very dangerous."
For example, proponents of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), an artificial hormone that boosts a cow's milk production, now cite a study published at Cornell University "proving" that using rBGH is green. When the study came out, newspapers wrote clever headlines about reducing cows' carbon "hoofprint." Yet the basis of the study (that cows treated with rBGH eat the same amount as cows not treated with the hormone) was flawed, and the study was written by a group including Dale Bauman (who has received funding from Monsanto, the company then behind rBGH, in the past) and a Monsanto consultant. (Monsanto owned rBGH and marketed it under the brand name Posilac until it sold the product to Eli Lilly and Company last month.)
In reality, the way to reduce a dairy cow's carbon hoofprint is to allow her to graze on pasture to reduce the amount of grain in her diet. As a perennial, grass does not require annual planting. Nor does it require fertilizer (beyond the manure fertilizer the cows apply to the pasture themselves). The cows also replace the machinery to harvest, process and transport their food that would be required for a diet of grain. But a cow receiving rBGH cannot enjoy a diet of mostly grass; she simply cannot take in enough calories a day via grazing to support increased milk production. Only a higher-calorie grain diet -- one that makes cows sick -- can support the metabolism of a cow on drugs.
************CONTINUES A bunch of multinationals have figured out how to make their pollution-based businesses seem like the solution to the climate crisis. ... more -
Shanghai is sinking!
Shanghai is now considered among the world's most vulnerable urban areas to a rise in sea levels, all thanks to melting polar ice caps, the prevalent use of land subsistence in China's coastal cities and heavy construction of skyscrapers.
Xu Shiyuan, a professor of geology at East China Normal University said to Shanghaiist:
"(Land subsidence) is more serious in areas where groundwater is heavily used, or highrise density is high."
"While the city moves to stop the ground from being pulled down as ground water is sucked out, researchers now worry that the ground is being pushed down as masses of skyscrapers are plopped down across the urban landscape.
"There are about 10,000 buildings with more than 10 floors in Shanghai, of which 80 percent have been built in the past 10 years, according to Emporis, one of the world's leading providers of building information."
Could Shanghai really disappear below the waterline? Looks like the planners really need to come up with another solution to drilling, and quickly too. Shanghai is now considered among the world's most vulnerable urban areas to a rise in sea levels, all thanks to melting polar ice... more
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