Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Biofuels: Fla. Plant Begins Producing Ethanol from Waste

In a major milestone for next-generation fuels, a facility in Florida today became the world's first large-scale biorefinery to produce ethanol from waste using a technology that combines thermochemical and biological processes.


Biofuels: Fla. Plant Begins Producing Ethanol from Waste

The Extraordinary Steps Health Care Providers Are Taking to Prepare for Climate Change

“When you look at what happened in Hurricane Sandy, some of the hospitals in downtown Manhattan were the first to go down,” said Gary Cohen, president of Health Care Without Harm. “They need to be the last ones. They should be the last buildings standing. But they weren’t designed in any way to address climate change effects.”

The industry hasn’t historically been outspoken on climate change, but the hospital evacuations forced by Katrina, Irene and Sandy — along with warnings of intense heat waves, increased incidences of asthma and allergies, and expanding ranges of disease vectors — have made health care professionals take notice of climate change and how it effects the industry and those who depend on it.

The Extraordinary Steps Health Care Providers Are Taking to Prepare for Climate Change

New EPA Chief Takes on Critics of U.S. Agency's Policies

Delivering her first speech as the top U.S. environmental steward, Gina McCarthy on Tuesday pre-empted a frequent mantra of critics of the Environmental Protection Agency - that the agency's regulations disrupt the economy and cost jobs.


New EPA Chief Takes on Critics of U.S. Agency's Policies

Peru Will Provide Solar Power to Half a Million Poor Households

“This program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health,” said Jorge Merino, Peru’s Energy and Mining Minister.


Peru Will Provide Solar Power to Half a Million Poor Households

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Greenland and Antarctica ‘May Be Vulnerable to Rapid Ice Loss Through Catastrophic Disintegration’

Humanity faces 70 feet of sea level rise, possibly coming much sooner than has been expected if we continue with unrestricted carbon pollution.  Two recent studies underscore our perilous situation.

The first study found “East Antarctica’s Ice Sheet Not as Stable as Thought,” as Science reported.  This conclusion is consistent with other recent research that found we’re all but certain to end up with a coastline at least flooded by 20 meters (70 feet).

Some take solace in the notion that this amount of sea level rise might take more than a thousand years.  But a second study finds “stretches of ice on the coasts of Antarctica and Greenland are at risk of rapidly cracking apart and falling into the ocean.”

The lead author, Jeremy Bassis from the University of Michigan, explained that if this new analysis is right, “we might be closer to the higher end of sea level rise estimates for the next 100 years.”  That “higher end” is about 5 or 6 feet.

Here’s a video of Bassis discussing his findings:



Greenland and Antarctica ‘May Be Vulnerable to Rapid Ice Loss Through Catastrophic Disintegration’

Ice-Free Arctic Winters Could Explain Amplified Warming During Pliocene

Year-round ice-free conditions across the surface of the Arctic Ocean could explain why the Earth was substantially warmer during the Pliocene Epoch than it is today, despite similar concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to new research.

"We're trying to understand what happened in the past but with a very keen eye to the future and the present," said Jim White, co-author of the new study.  "The piece that we're looking at in the future is what is going to happen as the Arctic Ocean warms up and becomes more ice-free in the summertime."

Ice-Free Arctic Winters Could Explain Amplified Warming During Pliocene

Efficiency Drove U.S. Emissions Decline, Not Natural Gas

Aggressive energy efficiency efforts by households, companies, and motorists led to the decline in carbon dioxide emissions from energy use in the United States, according to a recent report.  The finding contradicts recent studies that say the power sector's shift away from coal to cheap natural gas caused the bulk of reductions.

U.S. emissions last year fell by 205 million metric tons, or 4 percent, from 2011 levels.  CO2 Scorecard Group, a small environmental research organization, says that nearly half the decline came from energy-saving measures such as retrofits and smarter appliances in homes and offices, as well as from Americans driving fewer miles, and using more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Natural gas is responsible for only about one-quarter of last year's emissions drop, CO2 Scorecard Group asserts.

Efficiency Drove U.S. Emissions Decline, Not Natural Gas, Study Says

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sea Level Rise 'Locking In' Quickly, Cities Threatened

Measurements tell us that global average sea level is currently rising by about 1 inch per decade. But in an invisible shadow process, our long-term sea level rise commitment, or "lock-in" — the sea level rise we don’t see now, but which carbon emissions and warming have locked in for later years — is growing 10 times faster, and this growth rate is accelerating.

Sea Level Rise 'Locking In' Quickly, Cities Threatened, Study Finds

Report: Emissions from North Dakota Flaring Equivalent to One Million Cars Per Year

A new report released today by the investor group Ceres found that the unconventional oil boom in North Dakota has led to a dramatic increase in the amount of natural gas that is intentionally burned off, or flared, carrying major economic and environmental consequences.  In 2012 alone, flaring resulted in the loss of approximately $1 billion in fuel and greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to adding nearly one million cars to the road.


Report: Emissions from North Dakota Flaring Equivalent to One Million Cars Per Year

Elevation of Shaheen-Portman Bill Heralds Shift to Small-Bore Energy Legislation

A popular energy efficiency bill, from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), is modest in its ambition, proponents acknowledge, but it has support from a broad swath of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and interest groups across the industry-environmentalist spectrum, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Supporters hope to see the bill debated in the Senate as soon as this week, and whenever it comes up, they say, it is likely to usher in a series of targeted bills aimed at accomplishing discrete goals that have long awaited congressional action.

Elevation of Shaheen-Portman Bill Heralds Shift to Small-Bore Energy Legislation

Fish and Wildlife Spikes Alaska's ANWR Seismic Testing Plan

Alaska's uphill battle to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development suffered a setback last week when the Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the state's proposal to conduct seismic testing on the coastal plain.

Fish and Wildlife Spikes Alaska's ANWR Seismic Testing Plan

Goldman Sachs Says Coal-Export Terminals Are a Bad Investment

In Asia the predicted “super-cycle” of coal in China and India isn’t looking quite as super as it did a few years ago.  China’s economic expansion has slowed from double digits to around 8 percent, and rapidly growing concerns about air pollution in China are forcing the central and local governments there to reduce electricity generation from coal.  Beijing has announced that by 2015 it will slash its coal consumption by nearly half, compared with 2010 levels.

Goldman Sachs Says Coal-Export Terminals Are a Bad Investment

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Parched New Mexico Reservoir Reveals Effects of Prolonged Drought

A pair of satellite images released by NASA this week shows the effects of a severe drought on New Mexico’s largest reservoir, where water levels are at their lowest levels in four decades.  Earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that Elephant Butte reservoir in southern New Mexico was holding about 65,057 acre-feet of water, only 3 percent of its capacity of 2.2 million acre-feet, largely as a result of prolonged drought conditions and unusually low spring snowmelt from nearby mountains.  That represents the lowest water levels in the reservoir since 1972. From the mid-1980s to 2000 the reservoir was nearly filled to capacity, as illustrated in a 1994 satellite image, top, released by NASA. The reservoir, fed by the Rio Grande, provides water for about 90,000 acres of agricultural land and about half the city of El Paso, Tex.

Parched New Mexico Reservoir Reveals Effects of Prolonged Drought

Update on BC's Effective and Popular Carbon Tax

Fuel consumption per capita has fallen in British Columbia by nearly 19% relative to the rest of Canada; these are just the fuels that are subject to the carbon tax.

Greenhouse gas emissions data show a decrease of 10% over the period of the carbon tax, much better than the -1.1% reduction for the rest of the country.

The economic data show no big differences in performance between BC and the rest of Canada.

Update on BC's Effective and Popular Carbon Tax

Can Agriculture Reverse Climate Change?

The current industrialized food systems—factory-style farming that consumes massive amounts of resources and relies heavily on chemicals—are widespread in developed countries and are a major contributor to climate change.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Key shifts in the way we produce food could take agriculture from a climate bust and turn it into a climate boon.  This undertaking is the cause that gave rise to a Future Tense event at the New America Foundation on Thursday, July 25, called “An Agricultural Revolution to Fight Climate Change?”  The event brought together a number of experts for panel discussions about how to spur on an agricultural transition—from an industrial process to an ecological, innovative method.

Can Agriculture Reverse Climate Change?

Tar Sands Oil Well Blowout: "Nobody Really Understands How to Stop It."

A tar sands oil well blowout is in its 10th week out of control in Canada's Boreal forest, as an in-depth study finds the industry has had more than 9,000 environmental mishaps in 16 years and Alberta's oversight is lax and failing.

Tar Sands Oil Well Blowout: "Nobody Really Understands How to Stop It."

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Generating Electricity from CO2 Pollution

A new technique developed by a team of Dutch Engineers generates electrical power from a novel mixing of CO2, air, and water -- without increasing CO2 emissions.

Generating Electricity from CO2 Pollution

Industry Pressure Shuts Down EPA Fracking Investigations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has spent countless taxpayer dollars and man-hours over the last few years investigating the environmental threats posed by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in many regions across the United States.  And when their draft reports showed that the practice was poisoning water supplies, the gas industry stepped in and immediately put a halt to the studies.

Industry Pressure Shuts Down EPA Fracking Investigations

Energy Sector Vulnerable to Climate Change, U.S. Department of Energy Report Says

Extreme weather events as well as changes in temperature and water availability – all related to our changing climate – are disrupting the ways we generate, distribute, and consume energy, according to a new report released by the US Department of Energy.

The U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather report examines current and potential future impacts of these climate trends on the U.S. energy sector.

Energy Sector Vulnerable to Climate Change, U.S. Department of Energy Report Says

Friday, July 26, 2013

N-Fix: Enabling Crops to Take Nitrogen from the Air

N-Fix is neither genetic modification nor bio-engineering.  It is naturally occurring, nitrogen-fixing bacteria which take up and use nitrogen from the air. Applied to the cells of plants (intra-cellular) via the seed, it provides every cell in the plant with the ability to fix nitrogen.  Plant seeds are coated with these bacteria in order to create a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship and naturally produce nitrogen.

N-Fix "has enormous potential to help feed more people in many of the poorer parts of the world, while at the same time dramatically reducing the amount of synthetic nitrogen produced in the world."

It is anticipated that the N-Fix technology will be commercially available within the next two to three years.

N-Fix: Enabling Crops to Take Nitrogen from the Air

Antarctica’s Permafrost Is Melting

Antarctic permafrost, which had been weathering global warming far better than areas around the North Pole, is starting to give way. Scientists have recorded some of it melting at rates that are nearly comparable to those in the Arctic.

Antarctica’s Permafrost Is Melting

Natural Gas Use Must Peak Between 2020 and 2030 to Meet Key Climate Goals

A new report finds natural gas must peak “sooner than many policymakers currently realize is necessary—if the United States is to meet its climate goals and avoid the worst impacts of global warming.”

The report, from the Center for American Progress, concludes:  There needs to be a swift transition from coal to a zero-carbon future by ensuring that the use of natural gas, particularly in the electric-power sector, peaks within the next 7 years to 17 years.

Bridge to the 2020s? Natural Gas Use Must Peak Between 2020 and 2030 to Meet Key Climate Goals

Critic of Offshore Drilling Safety Regulation Helps Run Company that Owns Failed Natural Gas Rig

The executive VP of a company that owns an offshore natural gas rig that suffered a blowout Tuesday is an active critic of stronger offshore drilling regulations.  Though federal officials confirmed the gas flow had stopped on Thursday morning, the accident raises serious concerns about the safety improvements taken since the disaster caused by a blowout three years ago aboard the Deepwater Horizon.

On Tuesday morning in the Gulf of Mexico, the Hercules 265 drilling rig had been drilling a natural gas well and when gas began spewing uncontrollably from the well, the crew of the rig tried to use a blowout preventer to shut down the well’s flow of gas.  This is the same device that failed to close the out-of-control oil well under the Deepwater Horizon, and the blowout preventer under the Hercules 265 also failed to shut down the flow of gas.

Critic of Offshore Drilling Safety Regulation Helps Run Company that Owns Failed Natural Gas Rig

Thursday, July 25, 2013

EIA Projects World Energy Consumption Will Increase 56% by 2040

Though renewable energy use is projected to double by 2040, EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2013 shows that without new policies that cut fossil fuel use, coal consumption will increase 50 percent by 2040.

EIA Projects World Energy Consumption Will Increase 56% by 2040

Methane Mischief: Misleading Commentary Published in Nature

Nature, the same journal which published Wednesday’s commentary, published a scientific review of methane hydrates and climate change by Carolyn Ruppel in 2011 which suggests the scenario in said commentary is virtually impossible. The review states:
Catastrophic, widespread dissociation of methane gas hydrates will not be triggered by continued climate warming at contemporary rates (0.2ºC per decade; IPCC 2007) over timescales of a few hundred years. Most of Earth’s gas hydrates occur at low saturations and in sediments at such great depths below the seafloor or onshore permafrost that they will barely be affected by warming over even [1,000] yr.

One of the most comprehensive assessments of massive methane release came five years ago, when the former U.S. Climate Change Science Program concluded that "catastrophic release of methane to the atmosphere in the next century appears very unlikely" but also emphasized uncertainty, saying very large increases could not be discounted.

Methane Mischief: Misleading Commentary Published in Nature

Here's a report of Wednesday's commentary:

A release of methane in the East Siberian Sea, off northern Russia, alone could speed the melting of sea ice and climate change with a cost to the global economy of up to $60 trillion, or 15 percent of the total predicted cost of climate change impacts (about $400 trillion), over coming decades.  The size of the world economy in 2012 was about $70 trillion.  This is from a Comment piece in the journal, Nature.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Erasmus University in the Netherlands used economic modeling to calculate the consequences of a release of a 50-gigatonne reservoir of methane from thawing permafrost under the East Siberian Sea.

Leaving Our Descendants a Whopping Rise in Sea Levels

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Anders Levermann discusses how he and his colleagues reached their conclusions, how much disruption such large sea level increases might cause, and why we need to ponder the effect of our actions on future generations. "Society needs to decide about how much damage it wants to do in the future and how much damage future generations can actually cope with," he says.

Leaving Our Descendants a Whopping Rise in Sea Levels

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Ocean Heat Content Continues to Soar

Some 90% of total global warming goes into heating the oceans.  NOAA has several charts showing that the oceans are rapidly heating, just as climate scientists predicted.

As the saying goes, what goes down must come up.  Ocean heat is going to come back up.  That is precisely why climatologists predict a looming climate shift to rapid surface warming, as discussed here.

Ocean Heat Content Continues to Soar

Alaska's Boreal Forests Burning More with Climate Change

The largest U.S. wildfires in the last decade of record-breaking blazes have been in the wilds of Alaska, where fires have blackened more than a half-million acres at a time.

A new study predicts more of the same for all of North America’s boreal forests, the Far North belt of spruce and fir trees that extends from interior Alaska across Canada.

A warming climate could promote so much wildfire in the boreal zone that the forests may convert to deciduous woodlands of aspen and birch, researchers said.

Alaska's Boreal Forests Burning More with Climate Change

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Intermittency of Renewables?… Not So Much

To sum up the so-called “intermittency and storage” problem for renewables:  Geothermal has no intermittency issues and experiences fewer ephemeral shut downs than coal, nuclear, and natural gas.  Solar thermal — with molten salt as its storage medium — can be designed to have no intermittency issues. Offshore wind yields power more or less 24/7 with relatively limited intermittency compared with onshore wind.  The two most common sources of renewable electricity, onshore wind and solar photovoltaics, are, of course, complementary:  wind turbines (which, in the case of GE, already have built-in storage capacity) yield more power at night, while solar panels yield power during the day; hence, used in tandem, they can provide electricity 24/7 with “intermittency” being experienced only locally at each individual solar installation.

Intermittency of Renewables?… Not So Much

Climate Change Is Making Poison Ivy Go Out of Control

Already poison ivy’s growth and potency has doubled since the 1960s, and it could double again once CO2 levels reach the 560 ppm mark, Lewis H. Ziska, a research weed ecologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said.  ”In the last 50 years, the growth rate of poison ivy plant already has doubled.”

Climate Change Is Making Poison Ivy Go Out of Control

New Hydrogen-Making Method Could Give a Boost to Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have been pitched as a greener alternative to gas-powered vehicles, but one problem with this is that the hydrogen is typically produced from a fossil fuel—natural gas—in a process that releases a lot of carbon dioxide.

BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, may have a solution.  It’s developing a process that could cut those emissions in half, making hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles significantly cleaner than electric vehicles in most locations (the environmental benefits of electric cars vary depending on how the electricity is generated).  Beyond providing a cleaner source of hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles, the process could also help clean up industrial processes, like oil refining, that use large amounts of hydrogen.

New Hydrogen-Making Method Could Give a Boost to Fuel-Cell Vehicles

Monday, July 22, 2013

Electric Vehicle Sales Are Skyrocketing

The eGallon, a quick and simple way for consumers to compare the costs of fueling electric vehicles vs. driving on gasoline, rose slightly to $1.18 from $1.14 in the latest monthly numbers, but remains far below the $3.49 cost of a gallon of gasoline.

“More and more Americans are taking advantage of the low and stable price of electricity as a transportation fuel, and that’s very good news for our economy as well as the environment,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “As the market continues to grow, electric vehicles will play a key role in our effort to reduce air pollution and slow the effects of climate change.”

Electric Vehicle Sales Are Skyrocketing

"A World We Have to Avoid at All Costs"

So what about a 4°C rise?  This is a world that we have to avoid at all costs.  Many scientists suggest that a 4°C rise is incompatible with an organised global community.  It is beyond “adaptation.”  Yet this review of 4°C temperature rise does not take into account possible feedbacks and other discontinuities, which on average are anticipated to make the situation worse still.

So a 4 degrees future is something we must avoid.  And that takes us back to 2 degrees – albeit with increasingly lower probabilities of achieving even this.  What does 2°C imply for the wealthy parts of the world, the OECD countries?  It means a 10% reduction in emissions every single year: a 40% reduction in the next few years and a 70% reduction within the decade.  Such reductions are necessary if poor parts of the world are to have a small emission space to help their welfare and wellbeing improve.

Despite the coherence of this analysis, I am repeatedly advised that such levels of mitigation are impossible.  At the same time, living as a civilised global community with a 4 degrees rise would also seem impossible.  In other words: the future is impossible!

So what do we do?  We have to develop a different mind-set – and quickly.  The impossibility we face on mitigation may open us to conceiving of different futures – moving beyond the reductionist thinking of the twentieth century, and towards new ways of framing issues in the twenty-first century."

- Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research

"A World We Have to Avoid at All Costs"

Sunday, July 21, 2013

A Looming Climate Shift: Will Ocean Heat Come Back to Haunt Us?

Despite a large increase in heat being absorbed by the Earth's climate system (oceans, land & ice), the first decade of the 21st century saw a slowdown in the rate of global surface warming (surface air temperatures).

A climate model-based study, Meehl (2011), predicted that this was largely due to anomalous heat removed from the surface ocean and instead transported down into the deep ocean. This anomalous deep ocean warming was later confirmed by observations.

This deep ocean warming in the model occurred during negative phases of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), an index of the mean state of the north and south Pacific Ocean, and was most likely in response to intensification of the wind-driven ocean circulation.

Meehl (2013) is an update to their previous work, and the authors show that accelerated warming decades are associated with the positive phase of the IPO. This is a result of a weaker wind-driven ocean circulation, when a large decrease in heat transported to the deep ocean allows the surface ocean to warm quickly, and this in turn raises global surface temperatures.

This modeling work, combined with current understanding of the wind-driven ocean circulation, implies that global surface temperatures will rise quickly when the IPO switches from the current negative phase to a positive phase.

A Looming Climate Shift: Will Ocean Heat Come Back to Haunt Us?

Acid Test: Rising CO2 Levels Killing Ocean Life

The ocean absorbs approximately one-third of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions at a rate of 300 tons per second, which helps slow global climate change.  But, due to that carbon dioxide absorption, the ocean is now 30 percent more acidic than before the Industrial Revolution, and the rate of change in ocean pH, called ocean acidification, is likely unparalleled in Earth’s history.

With today’s levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide so high, the ocean’s help comes at a cost to marine life and the millions of people who depend on healthy oceans.

Acid Test: Rising CO2 Levels Killing Ocean Life

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Climate Change Threatens N.E. Coastal Birds

Rising sea levels brought on by climate change are threatening some of New England's signature coastal birds, according to a new study.

Climate Change Threatens N.E. Coastal Birds

Federal Law about Fracking: Loopholes & Exemptions

Oil and gas drilling generally, and fracking in particular, are provided with numerous loopholes and exemptions from federal law.  Those for six laws are outlined.

Federal Law about Fracking: Loopholes & Exemptions

European Capacity to Grow Food Is Plateauing, Scientist Warns

"Scarcity is now the problem. We have real constraints in water, soil erosion and yields all coming on top of climate change. It is a convergence that we have never faced before."

European Capacity to Grow Food Is Plateauing, Scientist Warns

Friday, July 19, 2013

Seventh-Warmest Start to Year on Record

On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its analysis for the period from January to June.  They show that six-month span ties with 2003 as the seventh warmest on record since 1880.  Temperatures averaged over both land and sea ran 1.06 degrees F above the 20th century average.

Seventh-Warmest Start to the Year on Record

Snow and Arctic Sea Ice Extent Plummet Suddenly as Globe Bakes

NOAA and NASA both ranked June 2013 among the top five warmest (NOAA fifth warmest, NASA second warmest) Junes on record globally (dating back to the late 1800s).  But, more remarkable, was the incredible snow melt that preceded the toasty month and the sudden loss of Arctic sea ice that followed.

Snow and Arctic Sea Ice Extent Plummet Suddenly as Globe Bakes

Ex-Im Bank Rejects Financing for Coal-Fired Plant in Vietnam; Cites Effect on Global Warming

The Export-Import Bank actually rejected a proposed coal-fired power plant in Vietnam, following President Obama's declaration last month that the U.S. would not finance coal plants abroad.

Turning down the Vietnam plant ... "has significance far beyond this project because it sends a message to the international community that financing dirty coal is no longer acceptable practice," said Doug Norlen, policy director at Pacific Environment. "The impact will spread."

Ex-Im Bank Rejects Financing for Coal-Fired Plant in Vietnam

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Researchers Project Ice-Free Arctic by 2058

A combined team of researchers from the U.S. and China has projected, using a climate simulation tool, that the Arctic will become September ice-free sometime during the years 2054 to 2058.  Ice-free in this context refers to a time period during any given year—generally arriving in September after withstanding the heat of summer.

Mark Serreze, an expert on Arctic sea ice at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., estimates the Arctic will experience ice-free conditions by 2030.

Researchers Project Ice-Free Arctic by 2058

Future Power Generation Could Further Endanger Water Supplies -- UCS Report

The country stands at a critical moment when it can dramatically lower the power industry’s draw on the nation’s strained water supply by replacing its aging power plants with water-smart options like renewable energy and efficiency, according to a study released Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists-led (UCS) Energy and Water in a Warming World Initiative. The report warns that continuing down a business-as-usual path will place a heavy burden on the nation’s overly-taxed water resources.

Future Power Generation Could Further Endanger Water Supplies

NASA: Globally, June Was Second Warmest on Record

How hot was it in June?  So hot that NASA reports the only warmer June in the global temperature record was 1998, a year juiced by both global warming and a super El Niño.

By contrast, 2013 has been hovering between a weak La Niña and ENSO-neutral conditions, which would normally mean below-average global average temperatures — if it weren’t for that pesky accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

NASA: Globally, June Was Second Warmest on Record

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Costs of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Are Passing High-Water Mark

Hurricane Sandy made it clear: as the climate warms, population grows, and sea level rises, extreme weather will hurt more. That's why we need to fix flood insurance.

A report released last month by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) found that by the end of the century, NFIP could have to insure 80% more properties than it does today, and the average loss on each property could rise by as much as 90%. Keeping up a system that provides subsidized flood insurance for those who live in the riskiest areas is barely doable now -- when those risks increase thanks to sea-level rise, it will be impossible. "To keep risks manageable and therefore insurable, all of us need to get serious about broad-scale financial solutions to this crisis."

The Costs of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Are Passing High-Water Mark

Scientists Take a Second Look at Concerns and Potential for Geoengineering

Earlier this week, the National Research Council convened a committee to review approaches that could cool the world, with the goal of creating a scientific foundation that could help resolve political, ethical and legal issues surrounding these controversial techniques.  Geoengineering refers to techniques that deliberately change the climate at scale, like dispersing aerosols and sucking greenhouse gases straight out of the air.  The National Research Council is the working arm of the United States National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists Take a Second Look at Concerns and Potential for Geoengineering

CIA Backs $630,000 Scientific Study on Controlling Global Climate

Battery Seen as Way to Cut Power Losses in High Heat

Disruptions have plagued utilities for years: how do they keep extra electricity on hand and ready to keep the power on while air-conditioners strain utilities’ capacity?

If testing goes well, batteries from Eos Energy Storage hold the promise of providing storage that until now has been unaffordable on a large scale.

Eos projects that its cost will be $160 a kilowatt-hour, and that it would provide electricity cheaper than a new gas power plant built to help fulfill periods of high demand. Other battery technologies can range from $400 to $1,000 a kilowatt-hour.

Battery Seen as Way to Cut Power Losses in High Heat

World Bank to Limit Financing of Coal-Fired Plants

The World Bank's board on Tuesday agreed to a new energy strategy that will limit financing of coal-fired power plants to "rare circumstances," as the Washington-based global development powerhouse seeks to address the impact of climate change.

World Bank to Limit Financing of Coal-Fired Plants

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Keystone XL Scandal: Obama Attorney's Law Firm Represents TransCanada's Pipeline in Alaska

Robert Bauer, former White House Counsel and President Barack Obama's personal attorney, works at the corporate law firm Perkins Coie LLP, which does legal work for TransCanada's South Central LNG Project.

These findings come in the immediate aftermath of a recent investigation revealing the contractor hired by Obama's U.S. State Department to do the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the northern half of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands export pipeline - Environmental Resources Management, Inc. (ERM Group) - lied on its June 2012 conflict-of interest filing. ERM Group checked the box on the form saying it had no current business ties to TransCanada.

Keystone XL Scandal: Obama Attorney's Law Firm Represents TransCanada's Pipeline in Alaska

Report: Midwest Gas Prices Would Rise If Keystone Pipeline Is Built

The Keystone XL pipeline, if built, would cause gas prices in the Midwest to rise by as much as 40 cents per gallon, according to a report being released Tuesday by a consumer group.

Consumer Watchdog, a California group that has released numerous reports over the years about the petroleum industry, claims the pipeline will restrict oil supplies in the U.S. as exporting to other countries picks up.  The result: rising oil prices with the ripple effect extending to gas and diesel prices.

Report: Midwest Gas Prices Would Rise If Keystone Pipeline Is Built

Exxon Says It Won't Disclose Inspection Results of Ruptured Pipeline's Condition

The 1940s-era construction process that ExxonMobil said caused an oil pipe to rupture in Arkansas earlier this year is a common and well-documented problem the pipeline industry has battled for decades—and one the industry believes can be detected and controlled with appropriate vigilance.

That leaves the public and regulators with two critical questions:  Did Exxon manage and test its broken Pegasus pipeline according to established guidelines?  And, if it did, is the Arkansas accident a warning that other pipelines might be at risk?  If so, the repercussions would be nationwide, since many of the nation's liquid fuel and natural gas pipelines are of similar vintage and were built using the same inferior construction techniques.

Exxon Says It Won't Disclose Inspection Results of Ruptured Pipeline's Condition