tagged w/ greenhouse gasses
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A panel of scientists told Congress the entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear from the world map if temperatures rise by as little as 2C –3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, with severe consequences for the rest of the world.The fall-out would be felt thousands of miles away from the Arctic, unleashing a global sea level rise of 23 feet. Low-lying cities such as New Orleans would vanish.A panel of scientists told Congress the entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear... more
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Military chiefs are holding discussions on how to cope with the threat of a world ravaged by wars provoked by uncontrolled climate change.Military chiefs are holding discussions on how to cope with the threat of a world... more
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Scientists are saying lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the United States' Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes linked to global climate change. They warn that the oceans' complex undersea ecosystems and fragile food chains could be disrupted.Scientists are saying lower levels of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly... more
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A new report by environmental think-thank the New Economics Foundation warns that continuing global economic growth is not possible if nations are to tackle climate change.A new report by environmental think-thank the New Economics Foundation warns that... more
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New surface temperature figures just released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration show the decade ending in 2009 was the warmest on record.New surface temperature figures just released by the National Aeronautics and Space... more
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One of Alaska's most eroded villages wants to revive a lawsuit that claims greenhouse gasses from oil, power and coal companies are to blame for the climate change endangering the tiny community.
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native village of Kivalina, filed the case in federal court in San Francisco in 2008, but it was dismissed in October. Now they're appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with their opening brief due March 11.
Oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC are among two dozen defendants named in the lawsuit. Representatives for the two companies declined to comment Thursday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/kivalina-appeals-eroding-_n_441420.htmlOne of Alaska's most eroded villages wants to revive a lawsuit that claims... more
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According to the London Guardian, scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost. The discovery highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.According to the London Guardian, scientists have recorded a massive spike in the... more
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By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
Climate change legislation is off the table for now, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still working to regulate greenhouse gasses. The organization is up against strong opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is heading the charge, with the assistance of Bush-era EPA officials, now lobbyists with clients in the energy industry.
The EPA and the Clean Air Act
In April 2009, the EPA found that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gasses pose a hazard to public health. This finding obligated the EPA to regulate these pollutants under the Clean Air Act, a responsibility the Bush administration fought to avoid. The power the agency now has to limit carbon emissions extends far beyond its usual scope, and the EPA’s decisions will have a lasting impact on environmental regulation in this country. As the agency moves to act, everyone from Sen. Murkowski to the state of California is protesting the changes. Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones reports:
“The California Energy Commission last month sent a letter to the EPA asking it to slow down on implementation of regulations on greenhouse gas emissions….The CEC argues that phasing them in too fast could hurt efforts in the state to expand use of low-carbon energy.”
Opponents in Congress are taking action to shut down the EPA’s attempts to curb greenhouse gasses, Sheppard writes. Both Sen. Murkowski and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) have filed bills that would delay or stop the EPA’s regulatory process.
Attempting to ‘gut the Clean Air Act’
Grist’s Miles Grant is also keeping a close watch on opponents of the regulation.
“At first it seemed like simply one bad idea from Sen. Lisa Murkowski,” he writes. “But now we know the real story—a tangled web of public officials, polluter lobbyists, and efforts to gut the Clean Air Act.”
It emerged this week that Murkowski had help in drafting her bill from EPA administrators from the Bush administration, as first reported by the Washington Post. These former officials now work in Washington as lobbyists and represent clients like Duke Energy and the Alliance of Food Associations on climate change matters.
“Every day it seems we’re learning more,” says Miles. “More about the revolving door between the Bush administration and polluter lobbyists; more about their influence with senators and their staffers; and more about who’s really pulling the strings on efforts to block climate action—Big Oil’s MVP, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).”
Even the American Farm Bureau Federation…
Another opponent, as Care2 notes, is the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the country’s largest farm group. The organization approved a special resolution during its four-day convention on Sunday. The resolution supports legislation like Murkowski’s or Pomeroy’s that would “suspend the EPA’s authority to regulator greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.”
During a speech, AFBF president Bob Stallman said that American farmers and ranchers “must aggressively respond to extremists” and “misguided, activist-driven regulation.”
“The days of their elitist power grabs are over,” he said.
More opportunities to improve climate policy
The EPA’s new power is not the only opportunity that the Obama administration has to improve U.S. climate policy. David Roberts, also reporting for Grist, writes about $2.3 billion in new tax credits for clean energy manufacturing companies, announced last Friday.
“There were 183 projects selected out of some 500 applications; one-third were from small businesses; around 30% are expected to be completed this year. The winners are spread across 43 states,” Roberts reports.
Roberts calls it “better than usual industrial policy.” The credits are meant to give a boost to the new green energy economy.
But Roberts warns, “It’s also absurd that clean energy industries still depend on capricious, short-term extensions of tax credits. … Obama has called on Congress to cough up $5 billion a year for these credits, but how enduring will yearly appropriations be the next time Congress changes hands?”
Iowa and the biodiesel tax credit
The answer likely depends on how much support these projects get from the representatives of states that will benefit from the tax credits. In Iowa, for instance, the state’s three Democratic Representatives have asked the House leadership to prioritized a 2010 renewal of the biodiesel tax credit, as Lynda Waddington reports for the Iowa Independent.
“If members of the U.S. Senate do not act on last year’s program extension, however, it might be a moot point,” Waddington writes. The renewal has gotten stalled in the Senate, where both Iowa Senators are blaming the opposite party for delays.
From policy to people
When politicians jockey over regulations and renewals, climate change work in Washington can seem very abstract. But people like John Henrikson, a forester who’s committed to farming 150 acres of trees in sustainable ways, help ground lofty policy ideas down in reality.
“Henrikson’s approach embodies a new way of thinking about our relationship with forests. For years he has been processing his own trees into trim and molding, sold through a broad network of local businesses,” reports Ian Hanna for Yes! Magazine. “Five years ago he got his forest certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, a global system for eco-labeling sustainably managed forests and the products derived from them. And, most recently, he’s developed a project to sell rights to the carbon sequestered on his property.”
Without strong policy coming out Washington, it’s harder for entrepreneurs like Henrikson to make green business a reality. If legislators like Sen. Murkowski and groups like the AFBF don’t block them, the EPA’s new rules are going to begin coming out in March. There’s a major action to combat global warming that the U.S. can take before then, though—for example, we could officially commit to our promise to reduce emissions 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. The deadline for registering climate pledges under the new Copenhagen Accord is the end of this month.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Mulch for a complete list of articles on environmental issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Pulse, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
Climate change legislation is off the... more
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A research team funded by the British government has found that global warming has caused a seven-fold increase in cases of malaria on the slopes of Mount Kenya.A research team funded by the British government has found that global warming has... more
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The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if the Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse.The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global... more
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The problem of the Copenhagen summit on global warming is that rich countries and poor countries want different things, mutually incompatible, and both groups want something that is incompatible with the future of Earth. Rich countries want to continue to pollute a bit longer and then stop very gradually, and do not want to pay the price of the pollution they have produced so far. Developing countries want to start to pollute and not having to pay for it.
http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/nature/copenhagenvertice091209.htmlThe problem of the Copenhagen summit on global warming is that rich countries and poor... more
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Four protesters were arrested after locking themselves to a 1.5 million pound generator on its way to a Duke Energy coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The protesters were aiming to prevent the generator, which had been traveling on a flatbed trailer from reaching the coal plant.Four protesters were arrested after locking themselves to a 1.5 million pound... more
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Three leading scientists who have just released a report documenting the accelerating pace of climate change say the so-called scandal that has erupted over hacked emails from climate scientists is nothing more than a smear campaign aimed at sabotaging climate talks in Copenhagen in December.Three leading scientists who have just released a report documenting the accelerating... more
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The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone within two decades, according to scientists who say that the rapid melting of its glacier cap over the past century provides dramatic physical evidence of global climate change.The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone within two decades, according to... more
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that the UK faces a "catastrophe" of floods, droughts and killer heatwaves if world leaders fail to agree a deal on climate change.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that the UK faces a... more
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The California Air Resources Board Thursday approved a landmark regulatory proposal governing carbon emissions that will likely serve as a model for the nation and the world.
The “Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) proposal requires all fuel producers in the state to decrease their impact on global warming by effecting a 10% reduction in the carbon footprint caused by the state’s motor fuels by the year 2020.The California Air Resources Board Thursday approved a landmark regulatory proposal... more
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