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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Great minds: Saudis prove EIA's point
Offshore drilling has an 'insignificant' effect on oil prices |
Joseph Romm |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I am glad that so many in the energy debate have picked up on one of the two messages from my previous post (see 'EIA to McCain: Drop offshore [drilling]'). But in listening to the radio and TV debates, I realize that some people have the impression that U.S. Energy Information Administration said offshore drilling might eventually lower oil prices. It did not. It found that allowing offshore drilling would have no significant effect on prices as far out into the fu ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, oil, oil and gas drilling, Saudi Arabia (all these topics) |
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Revkin interviews Hansen
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David Roberts |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here, NYT reporter Andrew Revkin interviews climate scientist James Hansen about the 20th anniversary of his seminal Congressional testimony: More on Dot Earth. |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, James Hansen, politics, video (all these topics) |
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Sorry deniers and delayers, part one
Even U.S. government says human emissions are changing climate |
Joseph Romm |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (a.k.a. the Bush Administration) has issued a must-read report, Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. It wouldn't be must-read or even big news if it weren't for the fact that Many environmentalists stopped talking about the extreme weather/global warming link a decade ago. The deniers, the delayers, and of course the Roger Pielkes of the world have pushed back against any claims that climate change is driving ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (all these topics) |
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Achieving the climate goal
Short-term targets key to long-term stabilization |
Tony Kreindler |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Ken Ward takes a worthwhile look at the goalposts for U.S. climate policy in his argument for making 350 parts per million the new bright line for success. We agree that we need to aim lower than 450 ppm -- the world is at roughly 380 ppm now, and we're already witnessing adverse climate impacts. But we part ways when it comes to how we're going to get there. Ward suggests that EDF's support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act can't be reconciled with a s ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Climate change ideas for On Day One
Day two of the UN Dispatch-Grist collaboration |
Ideas for On Day One |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Our weeklong collaboration with UN Dispatch rolls on today with a discussion prompted by On Day One user taylorshelton who suggests government subsidies for non-renewable energy should be eliminated. Eliminate all subsidies for traditional fuels (coal, oil and nuclear) and invest all energy-related funds into renewable energy resources like solar, wind and cellulosic ethanol with the goal of completely eliminating dependence on fossil fue ... |
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| Topics: Big Oil, climate, coal, energy, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Nibbling the hand that supplies you
Saudi Arabia to host summit on high gas prices |
Joseph Romm |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Since when do we deal with our addiction by going to summits hosted by drug suppliers? Yet here is the Washington Post: 'Saudi Arabian Oil Summit Hopes to Isolate Cause of Price Rise' JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 21 -- Leaders from oil-producing and oil-consuming nations will meet here Sunday to try to pinpoint the reasons behind the rise in oil prices, which have doubled over the past year, and to find ways to bring them down. You cannot make this s ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, gas prices, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics, Saudi Arabia (all these topics) |
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Checks and the City
Tokyo set to pass citywide cap-and-trade bill |
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24 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:32 AM on 24 Jun 2008 Tokyo, Japan, is on track to pass a bill on Wednesday that would limit the amount of greenhouse gases big companies in the city could emit, making it the first such mandatory program in the country. The city's 1,300 largest emitters are responsible for some 20 percent of Tokyo's total greenhouse-gas emissions. The bill aims to cap emissions from factories as well as office buildings starting in 20 ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, Japan, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable
Hansen on fossil fuels |
Josh Dorner |
24 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On tar sands, oil shale, the like, and global warming: 'If we use unconventional fossil fuels then there's no hope.' On the Bush-McCain plan for offshore oil drilling: 'It's just a crazy thing to do.' -- Dr. James Hansen, speaking at a National Press Club luncheon, which honored him and commemorated the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1988 Senate hearing on global warming. |
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| Topics: climate, James Hansen, politics, quotables (all these topics) |
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Twenty years later
The new testimony before Congress |
Guest author |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest post from climate scientist James Hansen, taken from his briefing to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming. ----- My presentation today is exactly 20 years after my June 23, 1988 testimony to Congress, which alerted the public that global warming was underway. There are striking similarities between then and now, but one big difference. Again a wide gap has developed between what is understood about global wa ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, James Hansen (all these topics) |
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A modern-day Cassandra
Thoughts on the 20th anniversary of James Hansen's historic Congressional testimony |
Representative Ed Markey |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy -- of seeing the future. But she was also cursed to have no one believe her. For far too many years, Dr. James Hansen has been a modern-day Cassandra. Gifted with a scientific training that allowed him to see the forces at work that are warming the planet, for too many years he was also not believed by many who chose to ignore or deny the scientific reality of global warming. Today, it is my pleas ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, Ed Markey, James Hansen, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Paul Revere rides again
Hansen marks 20th anniversary of landmark testimony to Congress with renewed call to action |
Kate Sheppard |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| James Hansen. Photo: nasa.govIt was a sweltering June 23 in Washington, D.C., when climatologist James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to testify about his certainty that the record high temperatures were the result of human activity. That was 20 years ago. 'The earth is warmer in 1988 than at any time in the history of instrumental measurements,' Hansen told s ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate science, James Hansen, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Maximum impact
Will California's climate change regulations mandate maximum emission reductions? |
Ken Johnson |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| [This post is follow-up to a David Roberts post from Jan. '08: "What does California's climate bill mandate?"] Sometime later this month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will release its draft 'Scoping Plan' on implementation of the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), which requires that statewide GHG emissions be reduced to or below 1990-level emissions by 2020. AB 32 also requires that the regulations ... |
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| Topics: California, climate, climate change impacts, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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There will be flood
The Midwest will suffer if we don't change our approach to flood protection |
Guest author |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay by Mary Kelly, the head of Environmental Defense Fund's rivers and deltas program. ----- We've heard a lot this week about how the floods in the Midwest might be an act of humans -- or an act of City Council, as one Iowan leader put it. We can start the futile cycle of fighting Mother Nature again if we want to: spend billions of dollars on levees and flood control infrastructure, encouraging development of river floodplains and low-lying wet ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Iowa, severe weather (all these topics) |
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Climate change ideas for On Day One
A UN Dispatch-Grist collaboration |
Ideas for On Day One |
23 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This week marks the twentieth anniversary of NASA Scientist James Hansen's groundbreaking Congressional testimony on global warming, an event that put climate change squarely on the political agenda. In honor of the anniversary, UN Dispatch, On Day One, and Grist are partnering to discuss ideas the next president can adopt to take on climate change. We are joined by a panel of experts who will weigh in on ideas submitted to On Day One by every ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, James Hansen, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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A Cambridge physicist's cooling summer treat
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JMG |
22 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Download 'Sustainable Energy -- Without the hot air' for free. You'll be glad you did. |
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| Topics: climate, energy, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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A hundred miles of mirrors
Solar thermal can save us, but it needs public clamor |
Ted Nace |
22 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| [Editor's note: When this post was originally run, the phrase '100 miles by 100 miles' was changed to '100 square miles,' which is very different. The article has now been corrected (or rather, unmiscorrected) and the appropriate intern flogged; our apologies to Ted and Alex.] This post was coauthored with Alex Carlin, organizer of Let's Go Solar and instigator of the recent Environment America study (PDF), 'On the Rise: Solar Thermal Power and the Fight Against Global ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, energy (all these topics) |
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A shrinking Chad
Lake Chad now one-tenth of its 1972 size |
Joseph Romm |
22 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Satellite images show Lake Chad one-tenth the size it was in 1972, not even 40 years ago. Lake Chad used to be the world's sixth-largest lake, but its resources have been diverted for human use or affected by rainfall such that its been almost entirely depleted in a very short amount of time: In the IPCC's 2007 report (PDF) on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in Africa, there is no specific mention of Lake Chad. But staring at these satellite images one can ... |
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| Topics: Chad, climate, climate change impacts, climate science, water crisis (all these topics) |
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I'd drive 245 billion miles (just not five billion more)
Americans drove less in April 2008 |
Joseph Romm |
21 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| April 2008 saw another sharp drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly report on 'Traffic Volume Trends' (PDF). This follows, 'the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history' in March (see here). I was compelled to blog on this because of the incredibly astute media coverage by AFP, 'worldwide news agency,' which wins the 'Duh!' award for the month: Observers surmise a possible link between the decl ... |
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| Topics: cars, climate, climate science, gas prices (all these topics) |
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Nuuk beachfront real estate
Greenland can warm 2-4°C in one year |
Joseph Romm |
21 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A new article in Science Express (PDF)($ub. req'd), 'High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years,' examines, 'The last two abrupt warmings at the onset of our present warm interglacial period.' The article explores the underlying causes of ... ... abrupt shifts of northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation resulting in 2-4°K changes in Greenland moisture source temperature from one year to the next. The article conclud ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, Greenland (all these topics) |
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Hill heap
A weekly roundup of greenish news from the Capitol |
Kate Sheppard |
21 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A few of this week's environmental happenings that I've been meaning to point out: Oilman-turned-clean-energy-evangelist T. Boone Pickens came to town to testify about the country's transmission problems that are preventing wind from becoming a major source of power. Pickens, who is attempting to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas, joined experts from the Department of Energy and wind-energy lobbyists in testifying before the Senate Committee on Energ ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, Muckraker, news, oil, politics, wind power (all these topics) |
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A huge tax increase?
The GOP disinformation machine settles on an angle |
Ryan Avent |
20 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| It seems that another way that the GOP will try to win on this issue is by painting carbon pricing as a massive tax increase. This is just dishonest, though politically it's their best bet (assuming a complete lack of regard for actual outcomes). Let's all think back to the Lieberman-Warner debate, when Bush did his best to scare the crap out of everyone by arguing that L-W would increase gas prices 53 cents-per-gallon by 2030. In fact, it's difficult to imagine th ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, gas prices, politics (all these topics) |
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Big bad boom
Radioactive deja vu in the American West |
David Roberts |
20 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from Chip Ward, author and board member of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. It was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom's kind permission. ----- In the American West, we take global warming personally. Like those polar bears desperately hunting for dwindling ice flows, we feel we're on the frontlines of the new weather regime. The West is drying up. For example, canyon-hugging conservationists ... |
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| Topics: business, climate, energy, environmental movement, nuclear power, politics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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NOAA: Global warming has damaged our weather
Worse heat waves, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and storms to come |
Brad Johnson |
20 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Originally posted at the Wonk Room. The traditional media rarely discusses extreme weather events in the context of global warming. However, as the Wonk Room Global Boiling series has documented, scientists have been warning us for years that climate change will increase catastrophic weather events like the California wildfires, the East Coast heatwave, and the Midwest floods that have been taking lives and causing billions in damage in recent days. Yesterday, th ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, politics (all these topics) |
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The Weather Aboveground
U.S. federal report details climate change's impact on weather extremes |
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20 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:41 AM on 20 Jun 2008 North America will continue to experience more heat waves, intense rains, increased drought, and stronger hurricanes due to the worsening effects of climate change, says a new report from the U.S. federal government. The report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program is being billed as the first comprehensive federal review of climate change's effects on weather ex ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate science, news, scientific research, United States (all these topics) |
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D.C.'s newest baseball team: The Washington Exxons
Protestors object to a green baseball stadium sponsored by the world's dirtiest corporation |
Mike Tidwell |
20 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Imagine a Major League Baseball stadium constructed to actually fight lung disease. Imagine engineers eschewing asbestos in every form, using only materials approved by the American Lung Association. Imagine emergency inhalers at every seat, with team officials aggressively marketing the 'healthy-lung' park to conscientious fans. Then imagine your surprise, in visiting the park, to see a huge Marlboro cigarettes ad plastered across the left field fence. Ima ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, green living, politics (all these topics) |
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