green blog 269 items | updated May 22 2012

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

A new study found most Americans are willing to pay more to move the country toward cleaner energy, but is that enough to win the culture war over green energy policy?

The study, conducted by researchers at Harvard and Yale in 2011, shows that the average U.S. citizen is willing to pay $162 more a year in energy bills to support a national energy policy that requires 80 percent clean energy by 2035. That's a 13 percent increase in energy costs nationwide.

But, as Grist's David Roberts writes, the war over clean energy is "about more than prices or watts. It’s about cultural identity." Roberts argues that conservatives understand the fight over climate change and clean energy better, at a financial and cultural level, than progressives. That's why they're funneling money into super PACs and political think tanks that make clean energy policies appear to be an attack on the American way of life.

This new study show that Americans may be willing to take the first step towards cleaner energy, but as Roberts argues, it's going to take more than money to win the culture war over clean energy. The idea of spending more on energy to use less energy overall needs to become part of a new American way of life.

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, President Barack Obama signaled that he may finally be ready to take a stand on climate change.

"It's been easy for the other side to pour millions of dollars into a campaign to debunk climate-change science. I suspect that over the next six months, this is going to be a debate that will become part of the campaign, and I will be very clear in voicing my belief that we're going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change in a serious way," Obama told Rolling Stone.

One possible reason for the president's new stance, polls now show that a majority of Americans believe extreme weather is linked to global warming. And with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney's recent shift to the right on global warming, climate change is set to become a wedge issue during the 2012 presidential election.

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

It's Earth Week, leading up to the official Earth Day on April 22. Rallies, concerts and community service events are all being held to increase awareness of environmental issues around the world. Want to find a way to participate? The Environmental Protection Agency has a roundup of events taking place around the country. If you're in Washington D.C., the big event is on the National Mall. And if you'd rather spend Earth Day actually enjoying nature, all National Parks are offering free admission April 21 to 29.

Concerned citizens aren't the only ones getting involved with Earth Day this year -- retailers have embraced Earth Day as yet another way to advertise. Might as well enjoy the freebies: Target will be giving out reusable shopping bags; Cosmetics brand Origins will swap your skincare product for one of their own "Earth-friendly" products; Barnes & Noble is offering an online discount on Earth-friendly toys and games; and Chipotle is giving out free burritos to customers who purchase a reusable lunch bag made from old billboard signs.

By Carrie Mihalcik / current.com

March was the warmest ever on record for the continental United States.

More than 15,000 warm temperature records were broken in March, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Every state experienced at least one record warm day and 25 states east of the Rockies had their warmest March on record.

Along with the warm temperatures came an increased number of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across the eastern part of the country. More than 223 preliminary tornado reports came in during March, a month that usually averages 80 tornadoes, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.

NOAA illustrated the increase in temperature over this past month with a day-to-day animation of daily records that were either tied or broken.

The Environmental Protection Agency today announced its long-awaited rules on greenhouse gas emissions for power plants. In 2007, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision that allowed the agency to deem carbon to be a pollutant, and now the EPA is going forward on that front, saying in a press release that “greenhouse gas pollution threatens Americans’ health and welfare by leading to long lasting changes in our climate that can have a range of negative effects on human health and the environment.”

The Washington Post reports the new rules will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced. That puts the average gas plant in the clear, but has repercussions for coal plants, which emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt. Republicans are already arguing that the Obama administration is bypassing Congress to create what they call job-killing rules and have introduced legislation to delay implementation.

One of the newest talking points among climate change denialists is that environmental groups are outspending oil and gas lobbyists to push an agenda. Sen. James Inhofe, author of the book "The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future," points to a report put out last year by Climate Shift, saying this represents that conservatives can't be blamed for using money to influence public opinion.

But the author of the Climate Shift report has struck back against Inhofe's claims, saying in a blog post on Big Think that "Inhofe conflates the totals for spending on all program activities by these opposing coalitions of non-profit organizations with totals spent on lobbying by aligned corporations." The fight over who is spending more might seem like a distraction over a pressing issue, but public opinion has definitely moved on the core issues in the past year. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, 52 percent of respondents believe that developing renewable energies is more important priority than increasing production of fossil fuels, down from 63 percent a year ago.

Is Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a danger to the national sport? Learn more below about how his policies are contributing to the kind of climate change that could put hockey on a permanent intermission. But first...

Pollution drifts from Asia to the U.S.
We live in a global society. Proof exists in new research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research which indicates that not only is smog traveling from Asia to the Western United States, but also that that Asian emissions directly contribute to ground-level pollution in the U.S.

In fact, the researchers say that as much as 20 percent of ground pollution in the country is attributable to Asian emissions. The article goes onto note that Ozone emissions are falling in the U.S., but rising in Asia, raising the challenge of negotiating international emissions standards treaties.

More environmental news this week...

A trial against BP over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that affected tens of thousands of businesses and individuals has been delayed until Monday as the parties continue to work on a settlement. A potential deal would be worth around $14 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg News. But if BP can’t reach an agreement to compensate the victims, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says federal prosecutors are prepared to battle the oil giant in court and promises developments in the ongoing criminal investigation.

In other environmental news this past week...

The organized efforts to deny that climate change is happening has received attention this past week, thanks to uncovered documents that show who is sponsoring the movement and what their agenda is going forward. Internal reports show that the right-wing think tank, the Heartland Institute, is being funded by the Koch brothers, Microsoft, and many tobacco companies. Most alarming is word that the group is attempting to develop a K-12 schoolhouse “global warming curriculum” that presents climate science as “a major scientific controversy.” The revelations have embarrassed the Institute to the extent it has questioned the veracity of stolen documents. One environmental activist has admitted to posing as someone else to obtain the documents. Now you know how it feels to be illegally hacked, say climate scientists in a letter to the Heartland Institute.

In other environmental news from the past week...

We're taking a look at some of the stories affecting our planet. Here's some news you shouldn't miss.

China reports it saved drinking water for tens of millions from contamination
Chinese officials report containing a potential catastrophe by halting the spread of poisonous cadmium flowing through the Longjiang River. The word from local media is that officials were able to dilute the toxic metal which threatened drinking water for tens of millions of people. Can the reports be trusted that the disaster, stemming from a leak from a mining company in Guangxi, is under control? Hard to say, but in another report from The New York Times this week, Chinese officials are said to be struggling now that the “edifice of environmental propaganda is collapsing.” That story dealt with denials about urban air pollution.

August Walter Jr., who was tasked with helping lead BP’s plan to cleanup an oil spill off the Gulf Coast, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit that accuses BP of falsifying data to make it look like Mississippi beaches were cleaner than they actually were. The plaintiff says he was fired from his job after telling federal authorities that BP’s $14 billion cleanup efforts had shirked responsibilities on oil debris that had drifted to the coast. The allegedly falsified data was used to convince an assessment team that certain beach areas had been sufficiently “cleaned.” A BP spokesperson says that Walter’s claims are without merit.

The hottest mystery in the environmental arena is who framed climate scientists on the eve of a major international climate conference. For the past few years, many who are pressing the case that human carbon emissions have caused global warming have had to endure the leak of thousands of private e-mails that purportedly go to the integrity of researchers. The New York Times takes a look at speculation on the identity of the leaker, pointing to various clues that suggest an anti-climate-change activist. “It smells a lot like a certain quadrant of the denier community,” commented Kert Davies, the research director of Greenpeace.

Google has released its annual Zeitgeist, a compilation of data about popular search terms, and according to Treehugger, the three most popular environmental topics from the past year are “How to Compost,” “What is Vegan,” and “What Causes Earthquakes.” To mark the end of the year, many environmental websites are doing plenty of seasonal features, from holiday gifts for the philanthropist to the year’s best environmental journalism. Perhaps our favorite is “2011: The Year In Pee And Poop.”

Durbin summit closes with minimal progress on climate change

The international summit on climate change finished its work in Durbin on Sunday, yielding a modest commitment among nations to continue efforts to combat rising emissions in lieu of a sweeping treaty. Under the agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has been renewed and a $100 billion Green Climate Fund has been established to assist developing countries convert to clean energy sources. The outcome disappointed leading environmental advocates who want legally binding cuts to the emissions of nations. “While governments avoided disaster in Durban, they by no means responded adequately to the mounting threat of climate change,” said Alden Meyer, director of policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The decisions adopted here fall well short of what is needed.”

A debate on how to apportion BP fines for Deepwater Horizon disaster
A task force created by President Obama in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has recommended that a “significant portion” of the billions of dollars in fines paid out by BP for the environmental disaster should go to restoring the gulf. The recommendations include projects like conserving habitat, restoring water quality, protecting marine resources, and enhancing community resilience. Currently, legislators are debating what percentage of funds will go into these efforts versus broader economic ones favored by states to do things like rebuild boardwalks and convention centers. Many lawyers representing victims are also looking to score their healthy cut of proceeds too, demanding as much as 6 percent of all judgments and settlements.

Nations meet to discuss climate change

Delegates from 194 nations are meeting this week in Durban, South Africa, to address the global response to climate change. The meeting, known as COP17, comes as the International Energy Agency, says that Earth is on a trajectory to warm by nearly 11 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) by 2100. Expectations for the conference are fairly modest, and even if there’s consensus, it might not lead to broad action.  After all, the Kyoto Protocol was ratified in 1997 with the support of almost every country except for a few, including Afghanistan, Sudan and the United States. Meanwhile, the next United Nations summit on climate change will take place in Qatar, which has the highest per-capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

Brazil deals with ongoing oil spill off coast
Chevron has finally taken responsibility for a massive oil spill off the Brazilian coast. The company’s chief operating officer told reporters that Chevron underestimated the pressure in an underwater reservoir, leading to a leak that began on November 7. Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency estimates that more than 110,000 gallons of oil have already spilled into the Atlantic Ocean and that the leaking hasn’t yet stopped. Brazilian authorities, who rely on  world-famous beaches for tourism, have lashed out at Chevron for not owning up to the incident sooner and being prepared to deal with the spill.

Congress kills plan for National Climate Service
Those who thought it was insane for Congress to block rules proposed by the Agriculture Department that would no longer treat pizza as a vegetable in school lunches, here’s a topper: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wanted to establish a National Climate Service that would have provided data such as the best times of the year that farmers could plant crops. The new service would have required no new funding. And yet, because of the political climate on climate talk, Congress killed the plan. Speaking of lawmakers, check out this video during a Congressional hearing on Friday about whether to keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off-limits to oil development. Rep. Don Young and historian Douglas Brinkley have a hilariously heated exchange,

How Thanksgiving dinner battled the elements
As Thanksgiving rolls around, consider the small miracles made this year to bring food on the plate. Courtesy of the website, Extreme Thanksgiving from Resource Media, comes this spectacular graphic that demonstrates how weather events such as heavy rains, heat waves, draughts, and a hurricane have interfered with food production throughout the country.

Atmosphere Recovery gets the green for being green
The winners of this year’s Cleantech Open were announced recently as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. Hundreds of start-up companies competed for the grand prize of $250,000 in a contest meant to celebrate innovation in environmentally-friendly enterprise. The winner was Atmosphere Recovery, who impressed the judges “with its laser-based gas analyzer system that improves the efficiency of manufacturing processes.” Here’s more information on some of the other finalists working towards a more Green Economy.

Celebrities have their own ideas about how to solve global warming
In this Funny or Die video, Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Sean Penn and other celebrities hold a meeting to discuss ways to combat climate change. No, the ideas such as a mass hold-your-breath movement aren’t serious, but it’s still good fun. The ideas are presented to the Clinton Foundation Celebrity Division.

Are corporations wasting recycling opportunities?
Today is “America Recycles Day,” but not everyone in the environmentally-conscious community is celebrating. On Tree Hugger, Lloyd Alter argues that large corporations have been promoting the need to recycle for a half century, but quietly making actions that are counter to the movement. For instance, recently, Coca-Cola dissuaded the Grand Canyon from imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles at the park and pressured the producers of "American Idol" into disassociating itself from a campaign against disposable plastics. Arguing that the holiday’s name should be changed to “Zero Waste Day,” Alter also presents this graphic that shows recycling may be headed in the wrong direction.

Heather Rogers; Message in a bottle/via

By Eriq Gardner

Tar sands project gets reviewed amid protests
The Obama administration is set to make a key decision whether to approve a $7 billion project that carries oil extracted from Canadian tar sands along a 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline to Oklahoma. Obama says he will personally make the decision, relying upon a recommendation from the State Department, which has opened an investigation into undue influence on policy makers and possible conflicts of interest. About 12,000 concerned citizens gathered at the White House on Sunday to protest potential approval, including a NASA scientists who believes that if the pipeline were to be approved, it would be “game over for the climate.”

The world’s water crisis may be solvable, say scientists
According to a report in the journal, Water International, there’s enough water to solve shortages in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and double food production in the coming decades. The problem has been making efficient use of key rivers across Africa, which the head scientist for agricultural research group CGIAR argues is a “political challenge, not a resource concern.”

Oceans are trawled for trash
The European Union  has launched an innovative project to solve the problem of waste material thrown in oceans: Fishermen are being paid to fish out trash, haul it back to land, where it can be sold to recycling companies. The project has recently expanded and may do something about the estimated 250 billion tons of dissolved plastic in the Mediterranean. Paying fisherman to do something other than bottom see trawling could also help threatened biological diversity in the oceans, recently the subject of a marine science expedition.

Climate change is costly and politically unpopular
A new study appearing in Health Affairs reveals that climate change-related natural disasters has caused more than $14 billion in additional health care costs in the United States. The report says that the health care system absorbed 760,000 visits to hospitals and doctors, including 1,689 premature deaths. Few politicians have made the health care case in enacting policies that control climate change, but there’s potential. Already, 77 percent of Americans believe the U.S. needs to take the lead in adopting clean energy policies, according to a new study.

Picture of the week: A flying rhino
The World Wildlife Fund has since 2003 been trying to increase the number of critically endangered black rhinos in South Africa. Via the Grist, here’s a photograph of their work showing one rhino being transported by air to a safer habitat.

(Photo by http://www.greenrenaissance.co.za/ for the World Wildlife Fund)