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Schwarzenegger pushes markets for global warming emissions
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce an executive order Monday in New York that joins California's landmark global warming law with the Northeast's program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to build a large, robust carbon trading market that will dramatically reduce emissions. The executive order will now get the northeast states working with California to trade credits in the very near future. Linking California to that program could help California power plants meet their obligations under the state's new global warming law.
(10/15/06) MORE»
U.S. population passes 300 million people
The United States now has a population of more than 300 million people, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Tuesday. The Census Bureau keeps count of the estimated number of Americans, based on the birth rate, death rate and immigration rate, which means the United States adds another person to its population every 11 seconds. It estimated that the population hit the 300 million mark at 7:46 a.m. EDT -- 39 years after the U.S. population reached 200 million.
(10/12/06) MORE»
Collapse of ecosystems likely if plunder continues
Humans are living well beyond their ecological means and are now exhausting natural resources at an unprecedented rate. In so doing, says WWF's bi-annual report, we are threatening ourselves and all other species with extinction. New calculations on the decline in the planet's capacity to provide food, fibre and timber, and absorb carbon dioxide, suggest we are using 25% more resources than are renewed naturally in a year. This ecological "overshoot", which has been growing steadily for nearly 40 years, will on present trends be 100% by 2050, making the likelihood of large-scale ecosystem collapse likely, and conflict and political tension certain, says the environmental group's report.
(10/25/06) MORE»
Global Warming May Be Mother of All Finance Woes
If global warming triggers devastating climate change and disrupts world agriculture, financial markets will also react severely. It will be ``the mother of all market corrections,'' according to David Korten in his book ``The Great Turning.'' Overlay other widely circulated premises that oil and gas production may have reached its peak or might be subject to regional supply shutdowns, and it's clear you have a menacing leviathan lurking about.
(10/23/06) MORE»
The hefty 'global warming' jet tax
Holidaymakers could be hit with a 'global warming' tax of up to £50 under plans aimed at forcing airlines to reduce gas emissions. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett yesterday said the new charges should be imposed by as early as 2008 or Britain will be thrown into ' climate chaos'. In a keynote speech in Berlin, she urged Brussels to speed up plans to enforce the levy on airlines to encourage them to fly more fuel-efficient planes and deter people from travelling by air. The cost is almost certain to be passed on to holidaymakers as budget airlines would be worst affected by what the aviation industry describes as a 'tax on holidays'.
(10/25/06) MORE»
Parking permit plan targets 'gas guzzlers'
Drivers of the most environmentally polluting cars could be charged three times more for residents' parking permits under a scheme proposed by a council. Richmond upon Thames in south west London, one of Britain's most affluent boroughs, has drawn up a plan to introduce a sliding scale of charges for residents' parking permits. The plans would mean people using electric cars would pay nothing for a residents' permit while others would qualify for a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the cost.
(10/25/06) MORE»
Energy Descent Pathways - evaluating potential responses to
peak oil
A newly published analysis of Peak Oil and how to create an "energy descent" by Rob Hopkins is now available on-line. The many reviews are positive. "…these proposals are formulated in sound, well-considered, pragmatic terms, wreathed in good common sense. Far from it being a doomsday message, we are left with a sense of real hope that a more benign age may follow the oil-based excesses of the present world. This report deserves to be studied by governments at local and national levels, and is indeed being reviewed by the European Commission, but more important than that it needs to be standard reading in school curricula and find a place on everyone's bookshelf". C.J.Campbell (Founder of ASPO - The Association for the Study of Peak Oil)
(10/24/06) MORE»
Texas, private partners to invest $10B in wind energy
The state of Texas will partner with private-sector parties to invest more than $10 billion in new wind energy infrastructure. The wind energy initiative will diversify the state's energy production, clean up the air and help Texas surpass its renewable energy goals, Gov. Rick Perry said. For every 1,000 megawatts generated by new wind sources, Texas will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by six million tons over the next 20 years, the governor's office said. The investment also will provide a boost to the economy, Perry said. (10/03/06) MORE»
E.O. Wilson asks Christians to help save all creatures
Edward O. Wilson has long been recognized as one of the foremost biologists in the world. Always honest and frank, he has now stepped into the pit of perhaps his most controversial subject: the conflict between science and religion. In his newest book, "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth," written as a letter to a Southern Baptist pastor, Wilson frames this fundamental dichotomy simply. After a beautiful and passionate introduction about this shared interest, Wilson takes a scientific approach to why religions and religious people should care about the Creation. (10/06/06) MORE»
Report warns of "mass exodus"
Rising sea levels caused by global warming could force the mass exodus of millions of Pacific Islanders as "environmental refugees." Most are expected to head toward Australia, which has been urged to review its immigration program accordingly. The overhaul is a key recommendation in a report by a coalition of aid, development, church and environment non-government organisations to be released today. (10/09/06) MORE»
Home wind turbines turn fashionable
A mere breath of a breeze disturbs the quiet of autumn in south London and the wind turbine on the gable of Donnachadh McCarthy's home turns lazily. "I'm in surplus. I am now providing money to the grid," he said with a grin, gesturing at a red light winking on the wall that marks the progress of his domestic power station. "I have exported 20 percent more electricity than I've imported this year. The average carbon footprint is 8.5 tonnes in the EU, whereas mine is less than half a tonne." (10/11/06) MORE»
Global Warming Hitting Your Wallet: Carrots and Sticks
U.S. insurance rates are already rising because of the impacts of global warming—and consumers should prepare for even higher rates—as flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events become more common, a new study says. In some cases, insurers have pulled out of high risk markets completely, shifting the burden to taxpayers. (10/11/06) MORE»
Developers embrace London's zero-carbon challenge
London's zero-carbon ambitions proved their commercial viability when 17 developers jumped at the chance of working on a major zero-emission housing project this week. Six shortlisted candidates will now be competing to take on the development of the 200-home estates, which is to produce zero carbon emissions thanks to a combination of energy efficiency and onsite renewables. (09/28/06) MORE»
Coal regains regal status as energy prices rise
King Coal is back. Years of punishing increases in natural gas prices have the nation's utilities preparing to shift away from expensive gas-fired generation in favor of more than 150 new coal-burning plants...Colorado-based Tri-State has explored the ultra-clean coal gasification technology that Xcel proposes to use, but Tri-State opted not to use the process for its three proposed plants. "We considered that, but timing-wise, we need to get our (conventional coal) facilities up and running in a timely manner," Van Someren said. "Coal generation takes a beating from various entities, but all our facilities operate well within state and federal emissions regulations." (10/01/06) MORE»
California's Efficiency to Prevent 10 New Power Plants
From talk by Dian Grueneich, of California's Public Utility Commission: California's Energy Action Plan II puts energy efficiency at the top of its list. From 2004 until 2013, the state has pledged to cut 25,506 GWh/year, 5,000 MW of peak power, and 444 million therms/year, eliminating the need for 10 new power plants and cutting 9 million tons of CO2 emissions. Grueneich tells people that energy efficiency is the "largest economic development program in the state." (08/15/06) MORE»
The Century of Drought
Drought threatening the lives of millions will spread across half the land surface of the Earth in the coming century because of global warming, according to new predictions from Britain's leading climate scientists. Extreme drought, in which agriculture is in effect impossible, will affect about a third of the planet, according to the study from the Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research. (10/10/06) MORE»
Pay now to avoid catastrophic climate change costs later, UK tells polluting nations
The future costs of uncontrolled climate change would far outstrip investments needed now to avert it, Britain told a meeting of the world's top polluters in Mexico this week. Summarised former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicolas Stern's review, the UK Treasury said in a statement: "Action is urgent—the earlier we start, the greater the chance we will have of limiting the risks of dangerous climate change. The costs of action are manageable if policies are well designed." (10/04/06) MORE» |
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