***The Latest on Climate Science, Solutions, and Politics More small battles won in war on coal — but trouble looms behind enemy lines

http://climateprogress.org/2009/02/27/more-small-battles-won-in-war-on-coal-but-trouble-looms-behind-enemy-lines/

News from the front: Accompanying Pelosi's and Reid's announcement that the Capitol Power Plant will switch to natural gas, more coal plants around the country are on the chopping block due to lawsuits and power companies' getting wise.

Behind enemy lines, however, the industry-funded front group ACCCE (American Coalition for Clean Coal Euphemisms?) is regrouping and recruiting new allies.

***Climate debate puts nuclear plants back on the table

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/40457917.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUzyaUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

After years of exile, nuclear plants are back on drawing boards around the country as carbon-free alternatives to power plants fueled by coal or natural gas.

No nuclear plants have been proposed in Minnesota, but a move to undo the state law that effectively bans them may get a hearing next month.

Obama Targets $30 Billion Oil and Gas Subsidies

http://priceofoil.org/2009/02/27/obama-targets-30-billion-oil-and-gas-subsidies/
Yesterday, proclaiming a "once in a generation" opportunity, President Obama proposed a 10-year budget that offers a serious change of direction on many issues to the one taken by his predecessor.  Moreover hidden deep in Obama's budget are proposals to repeal several oil industry tax incentives while imposing new taxes on Gulf of Mexico producers to close "loopholes" that have allowed companies to avoid royalty payments.

****GOP Leaders Outline Strategy for Opposing Obama’s Budget

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003063185

GOP congressional leaders Friday vowed to oppose President Obama's budget priorities, comparing them to those of socialist governments in Europe.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio — speaking to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington — targeted their barbs at Obama's fiscal 2010 budget blueprint, including his proposal for a new cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions allowances.

***White House focusing on cap-and-trade strategy, EPA chief says

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/02/27/27greenwire-obama-admin-focusing-on-capandtrade-strategy--j-9915.html
Advocates for a carbon tax continue to make their case for action on Capitol Hill, but U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson insisted today that the Obama administration has already embarked on a legislative strategy focused on passing a cap-and-trade bill.

Demonstration Will Counter Negative Propaganda of Capitol Power Plant Protesters

http://cei.org/celebrate-coal
A rally to Celebrate Coal! and Keep Energy Affordable will be held in front of the Capitol Power Plant on Monday, March 2nd, from 1 to 3 PM, the Competitive Enterprise Institute announced today.  Celebrate Coal! and Keep Energy Affordable is designed to counter the negative propaganda of Capitol Climate Protection's protest scheduled for the same time in a park near the Longworth and Rayburn House Office Buildings.

***Investment Managers Call on Congress to Enact Strong Climate Change Action Plan

http://www.globalwarmingisreal.com/blog/2009/02/27/investment-managers-call-on-congress-to-enact-strong-climate-change-action-plan/
A group of 35 professional investment managers with more than $3 trillion of assets under management sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Feb. 25 urging them to ensure passage of legislation necessary to spur clean energy resource development and make a transition to a low-carbon society.

World faces last chance to avoid fatal warming: EU

http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE51Q22X20090227
The world faces a final opportunity to agree an adequate global response to climate change at a U.N.-led meeting in Copenhagen in December, the European Union's environment chief said on Friday.

World leaders from about 190 countries meet in Copenhagen in December to try to agree a global framework to replace the Kyoto Protocol on fighting global warming, which expires in 2012.

***Overhaul of climate programs proposed

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/27/1n27climate005026-overhaul-climate-programs-propos/?zIndex=59328
A panel of top analysts, including two from San Diego, yesterday proposed a sweeping overhaul of federal climate change programs to help the public better understand global warming and move quickly to deal with its effects.

*****Risks of Global Warming Rising: Is It Too Late to Reverse Course?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=risks-of-global-warming-rising
The risk of catastrophic climate change is getting worse, according to a new study from scientists involved with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Threats—ranging from the destruction of coral reefs to more extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts and floods—are becoming more likely at the temperature change already underway: as little as 1.8 degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of warming in global average temperatures.

Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Gamble

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/science/earth/28capntrade.html?ref=politics
In proposing mandatory caps on the greenhouse gases linked to global warming and a system for auctioning permits to companies that emit them, President Obama is taking on a huge political and economic challenge.Business lobbies and many Republicans raised loud objections to the cap-and-trade program Mr. Obama proposed as part of his budget this week, saying the plan amounted to a gigantic and permanent tax on oil, electricity and manufactured goods, a shock they said the country could not handle during economic distress.

Will Americans learn to love 'smart grid'?

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/02/27/27greenwire-will-americans-learn-to-love-smart-grid-9911.html
General Electric Co. splurged on a $3 million Super Bowl ad this year to promote "smart grid" technology in hopes that a singing scarecrow bouncing around a high-voltage transmission tower might get viewers away from the beer and dip to think for just 30 seconds about electricity.

Four big reasons to get behind the smart grid

http://weblog.infoworld.com/sustainableit/archives/2009/02/smart_grid_it.html

With venture capital flooding in and stimulus money on the way, the smart grid is taking shape -- and the business world stands to benefit.  Energy is the life-blood of commerce. The smart grid -- an intelligent electricity-delivery system drawing significant interest from the U.S. government, venture capital investors, startup companies, and established tech giants, including IBM, Cisco, GE, and Google -- promises to make that energy flow more freely, more reliably, more efficiently, and at lower costs to both consumers and businesses.

The Obama administration is signaling that it’s ready to take on climate change. [Ha! WATCH him fail!]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?_r=2&ref=o...
On another front, it's also heartening to see that the budget projects $645 billion in revenues from the sale of emission allowances. After years of denial and delay by its predecessor, the Obama administration is signaling that it's ready to take on climate change.  Many will ask whether Mr. Obama can actually pull off the deficit reduction he promises. Can he actually reduce the red ink from $1.75 trillion this year to less than a third as much in 2013? Yes, he can.

Green Transmission Superhighway Needed for Renewable Energy to Reach Full Potential

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/green-transmission-superhighway-needed-for-renewable-energy-to-reach-full-potential
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) have released a white paper titled "Green Power Superhighways: Building a Path to America's Clean Energy Future," detailing current inadequacies of the U.S. electric transmission infrastructure and offering policy solutions to address them.

*****The peak of environmental protest was Greenpeace actions in the early 1980s.

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/2/26/9464/79373
...the peak of environmental protest was the surge of Greenpeace USA led actions in the early 1980s.

The strength of public commitment to environmental action and climate crisis intervention (as opposed to the breadth of public opinion, a fickle product of ADD mass-media news cycles) is directly proportional to our conviction and moral clarity -- for which protest, or the lack thereof, serves as a convenient civic barometer. Without thinking about it, most Americans gauge how bad things are by whether there are people in the streets (or Zodiacs).

New President Not A Fan Of Oil Sands

http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/green-news/president-sands/

It is no secret that if you call yourself an environmentalist, you are not a fan of the oil sands in Northern Alberta. The tar sands, as they are commonly called, use an extraction method that differs from normal oil drilling. Tar sand oil production releases much more carbon emissions and is much dirtier than typical oil drilling. This makes it a highly destructive process to get a little bit of oil. It is also incredibly costly. For the reason that there is so much activity up there, many experts say that it is a sure sign we are at peak oil and are looking for unconventional sources of oil.

National Geographic exposes tar sands and government bias

http://naturecanadablog.blogspot.com/2009/02/national-geographic-exposes-tar-sands.html
If you have not seen the March edition of National Geographic, make an effort to do so. The latest issue of the magazine includes an excellent 24-page spread on the tar sands that includes the typical first class photography for which National Geographic is renowned. Also, check out the web site for a short video that includes interviews and images not seen in the magazine.

Greenwash: Why 'clean coal' is the ultimate climate change oxymoron

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/greenwash-clean-coal

The people who told us for years that climate change was a myth now say it's all true – but something called 'clean coal' can fix it. This is pure and utter greenwash, says Fred Pearce. `Next week, Americans are being invited to take part in what could become the largest act of civil disobedience against global warming in the country's history. People are protesting at the coal-fired power plant that powers legislators on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

FOX NEW$$$$: Obama’s Climate Rip-Off

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/02/26/milloy_obama_energy/

President Obama wants to pay you to support global warming regulation. What he isn't saying, however, is that his enticement won't come close to covering what the regulations will cost you.

In his 10-year budget released this week, the President proposed a so-called cap-and-trade scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under the proposal, 100 percent of the permits to emit greenhouse gases would be auctioned to coal and natural gas-burning electric utilities, industrial plants and other emitters-to-be-designated. The proceeds from the auctions would then distributed to individual Americans "to help the transition to a clean energy economy," according to his budget proposal.

Governor Schwarzenegger Applauds President Obama’s Budget Proposal to Fight Global Warming Pollution

http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4489&Itemid=1
Fighting climate change is the number one environmental challenge facing this generation, and the only way to realize real reductions in our nation's greenhouse gas emissions is through a strict cap. Establishing that cap economy-wide is also the best way to ensure America's businesses are all competing on a level playing field.

*****Sen. Boxer plots to thwart GOP filibuster on climate bill [Oh, the Repugs are going to fry her now!]

The chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee is considering a bold budget move aimed at passing global warming legislation in the Senate without having to deal with an expected Republican filibuster.  Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that she is researching the use of the budget reconciliation process as an avenue for passing cap-and-trade legislation now considered a key agenda item for President Obama.

****NASA's Chief Climate Scientist Stirs Controversy With Call for Civil Disobedience [FOOL!!! Risking career and reputation for what!?!!?!?]

http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.com/2009/02/james-hansen-nasas-chief-climate.html

NASA's chief climate scientist is in hot water with colleagues and at least one lawmaker after calling on citizens to engage in civil disobedience at what is being billed as the largest public protest of global warming ever in the United States.

In a video on capitolclimateaction.org, Dr. James Hansen is seen urging Americans to "take a stand on global warming" during the March 2 protest at the Capitol Power Plant in Southeast Washington, D.C.

Record-Setting Climate Protest Plans Gather Momentum In Washington

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/26/record-setting-climate-pr_n_170105.html
Youth organizers have planned a major conference and demonstration for this weekend in Washington, D.C. The event, called PowerShift, is also intended to organize the single biggest lobbying day in American history, putting environmentalists in front of more than 350 Congressmen and staff.

*****A Global Green Deal

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090316/hertsgaard
Pachauri urged Obama to embrace the European Union's target: reducing emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, which the EU says it will achieve by increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy by 20 percent. Privately, Obama may understand that his policies don't go far enough--his science advisers are excellent--but the forces of the status quo are too powerful for him to overcome without help.

***Obama's budget plan seeks repeal of oil and gas industry tax breaks

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/02/26/26greenwire-obama-seeks-repeal-of-industry-tax-breaks-subsi-9882.html

President Obama's budget proposal would repeal several oil industry tax incentives while imposing new taxes on Gulf of Mexico producers to close "loopholes" that have allowed companies to avoid royalty payments. The overall budget eliminates $31.5 billion in "oil and gas company preferences" over a decade, according to a slender summary released by the White House this morning. Many provisions are certain to prompt resistance from the oil industry and from Republican and Democratic lawmakers from oil-producing states.

Iraq welcomes faster US withdrawal reports

http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/02/25/iraq-welcomes-faster-us-withdrawal-reports-3/
AP: Iraq's government welcomed reports Wednesday of a U.S. combat troop withdrawal next year and said Iraqi forces would be ready to take full responsibility for security.Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports an accelerated pullout and Iraqi officials will work closely with American commanders under a possible timetable to remove U.S. soldiers from the battlefield by August 2010, said Sadiq al-Rikabi, one of al-Maliki's top advisers.

Lockheed Martin Invests in Smart Grid Research and Development at Penn State University

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2197929/
Leveraging a partnership spanning more than 30 years, this latest Lockheed Martin - Penn State collaboration will focus on Smart Grid technology. Specifically, the research will include advisory and control methods, predictive and diagnostic modeling and simulation, cyber security, and the development of a test bed for exploration, experimentation and validation of Advanced Meter Infrastructure and Smart Grid technologies.

WSJ: Lobbyists Line Up to Torpedo Speech Proposals [Oh boy, Barack's TOAST now. Let's just WATCH!]

online.wsj.com/article/SB123561083268377547.html
Industries from health care to agribusiness to mining that stand to lose under President Barack Obama's policy agenda are ramping up lobbying campaigns to derail or modify his plans. The day after Mr. Obama formally laid out his policy goals in his first address to Congress, the former chief executive of HCA Inc. unveiled a $20 million campaign to pressure Democrats to enact health-care legislation based on free-market principles.

***The coal industry's ridiculous claims that coal is clean

http://action.ThisIsReality.org/coenbrothers
"Air Freshener" is directed by the Coen brothers, and we're proud to say it's Reality's latest ad -- calling out the coal industry's ridiculous claims that coal is clean as only the Coen brothers can. Watch it now:

http://action.ThisIsReality.org/coenbrothers

Oh boy, FOX NEW$ will Destroy NASA's Jim Hansen!!!! [let's watch!]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501064,00.html

FOX NEW$$$$$: NASA's chief climate scientist is in hot water with colleagues and at least one lawmaker after calling on citizens to engage in civil disobedience at what is being billed as the largest public protest of global warming ever in the United States.

In a video on capitolclimateaction.org, Dr. James Hansen is seen urging Americans to "take a stand on global warming" during the March 2 protest at the Capitol Power Plant in Southeast Washington, D.C.

President’s Call for Carbon Caps & the 3-Pack Response

http://www.enviromedia.com/enviroblog/?p=966
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today told reporters he plans to accomplish Obama's energy and environmental goals through three different pieces of legislation: first will be a national renewable portfolio standard and other energy efficiency measures; second will be the green grid; and third will be the most contentious debate on the carbon cap and trade bill.

Why solving the climate crisis will increase GDP

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/2/24/162559/088

Higher productivity and lower health costs outweigh additional spending. I think the overwhelming evidence is that a climate-stable future will have a higher GDP, even before avoided climate disruption is counted.

The main extra benefits economists overlook are the helpful side effects other than mitigating the climate crisis -- "positive externalities," in economic jargon.

Obama's Excellent Atomic Omission

http://www.counterpunch.org/wasserman02262009.html

Two lethal words went thankfully unspoken in President Obama's address to the nation this week---atomic energy.

Unfortunately, two others---"clean coal"---were included.

Dr Helen Caldicott - If You Love This Planet ...

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/31844&52717
Helen Caldicott, M.D., pediatrician and internationally recognized author and lecturer, hosts a weekly, one-hour radio program titled If You Love This Planet. Produced by Scott Powell, Amanda Bellerby and Jasmin Williams. ... International Policy, Craig Eisendrath co-wrote the 1966 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, and has been a strong voice against the militarisation of space for many years since. He is currently Chairman of the Project for Nuclear Awareness. ...

*********Budget Expects Revenue From Limits on Emissions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/25/AR2009022503360.html?hpid=topnews
A mandatory cap on the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, which President Obama embraced on Tuesday as central to his domestic agenda, would be designed to generate badly needed revenue for the government while addressing arguably the world's most pressing environmental issue.

Coal-fired power plants back on Kansas Legislature’s agenda [Opposing COAL is for FOOLS!!!]

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1055148.html
Last year, lawmakers tried three times to circumvent the regulator's decision to deny permits for Sunflower Electric Power Corp.'s two-plant proposal. Each time their efforts were vetoed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat.  [Hmmm.  King was a fool, and Jesus, and Gandhi...]

After a 20-year ban, France helps Italy embrace nuclear energy [Cancer is not "safe" until it is eradicated. SO GOES NUCLEAR.]

http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/02/25/after-a-20-year-ban-france-helps-italy-embrace-nuclear-energy/
Twenty years after banning new nuclear plants, Italy is turning to France to restore its nuclear program.

On Tuesday, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed a cooperation deal with President Nicolas Sarkozy for the construction of four power plants in Italy.

Yes, they admit, a new nuclear plant being built in Finland is already 50 percent over budget and three years behind schedule...

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/02/26/ga-legislators-take-ownership-of-nuke-plants/
Yes, they admit, a new nuclear plant being built in Finland is already 50 percent over budget and three years behind schedule, suggesting things haven't ...

WHEN IS "NORMAL" ACTUALLY...."SICK," "PATHOLOGICAL?" Hmmmmm. TODAY.

When there is a Collapsed Elementary School full of Kids / Revolution / War / Holocaust / Meteor Attack /. Rape / Mass Murder / Mass Starvation... going on around you.  Then, "being," or "living - "Normal," "Balanced," "Peaceful," "Disarming,"  "Fun..." - are Truly: SICK, MAL-ADAPTIVE, MURDEROUS, PATHOLOGICAL, INSANE.....
WHEN IS "NORMAL" ACTUALLY...."SICK," "PATHOLOGICAL...?"  Hmmmmm. TODAY. RIGHT NOW.

BOOKMARK THIS SITE: Today With President Barack Obama

It is really awesome!!!     Today With President Barack Obama http://ochairball.blogspot.com/

*****THE FINAL AMERIAN REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN. DO WE LEAVE PRES. OBAMA TO FIGHT BY HIMSELF? GOD DAMN US IF WE DO.

I REPEAT, GOD DAMN US TO HELL IF WE LEAVE PRES. OBAMA ON THE BATTLE FIELD BY HIMSELF TO FIGHT THIS WAR.  GOD DAMN US IF WE DON'T PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE, NOW - LIFE, LIMB, HONOR, RESPECTABILITY, TREASURE....

Friends, my head is spinning, isn't yours? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!  In no particular order:

1. The Pres is planning to use the Repug strategy in reverse - BANKRUPT THE MILITARY, BIG OIL, BIG COAL, THE RICH to return the country to the masses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!!!
   
2. For the first time in the history of this country WE HAVE A PRES THAT IS THE PRES OF THE PEOPLE.  See that magnificent little girl in the box Tues night with Michelle, who will not "quit."
3. Pres is proposing a military procurement guy THAT IS AGAINST COLD WAR WEAPONS!!!!!!!!!!
4. Pres is shutting YUCCA MTN / THE NUC INDUSTRY!!!!!
5. Pres is PUSHING THE END OF NUC STOCKPILES WITH RUSSIA.
6. Pres is pushing HEALTH CARE FOR US, FOR THE MASSES, FOR THE POOR.
7. Pres is pushing  EQUAL EDUCATION FOR ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. Pres is pushing  A LEVEL FINANCIAL PLAYING FIELD, DEFEATING THE STRANGLEHOLD OF THE RICH.
   
9. ETC.
10. ETC.
11. ETC.

    THIS IS NOTHING SHORT OF THE TRUE, REAL AMERICAN, DEMOCRATIC, WORLD'S PEOPLE REVOLUTION  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GOD DAMN US TO HELL IF WE LEAVE PRES. OBAMA ON THE HILL BY HIMSELF TO FIGHT THIS WAR.

Obama cuts funds for Nevada nuclear dump

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gytJPJlVIdkL9W6KPUevCUbtU-sgD96J2P3G0
President Barack Obama is taking the first step toward blocking a nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain by slashing money for the program in his first budget, according to congressional sources.

Obama's budget to be announced Thursday will eliminate virtually all funding for the Yucca project with the exception of money needed for license applications submitted last year to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

****Tech students to descend on D.C for eco-conference

http://www.powershift09.org/node/878
[TOO COOL.  Check this whole PowerShift09 thing out!!!!!!!  http://www.powershift09.org  StarL]

*****March 1 — Global Exchange is organizing folks to travel to Washington D.C. by train. The trip will begin in Emeryville, California

http://www.globalexchange.org/war_peace_democracy/climatechange/ccatrain.html
Capitol Climate Action (http://www.capitolclimateaction.org/)Train: We are traveling by rail to Washington DC for a few reasons. Rail travel is efficient and is a form of transportation that must be greatly expanded as part of a green North American future. We think it sends a powerful message to travel cross-country by train. Why by train?

Not only that, time on the train will give us time to make new friends and reconnect with old ones. Join people from around our nation looking to build community and spark a powerful national movement to accelerate our response to the climate emergency.

Logistics:

Strategy Note – Dress to Impress at the Capitol Climate Action

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/01/30/strategy-note-%E2%80%93-dress-to-impress-at-the-capitol-climate-action/
Organizers asking action participants to dress in their "Sunday Best" at the civil disobedience at the Capitol on March 2nd.

It’s Getting Hot In Here - Dispatches from the Youth Climate Movement

VERY COOL: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/

The US happens to be the main market for tar sands oil

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2009/02/according-to-don-martinin-todays-national-post-the-national-geographics-feature-on-albertas-oil-sands-it-pr-hell-delivering.html
"The US happens to be the main market for tar sands oil."  [Hmmmm.  That makes us kind of complicit in the murderous environmental destruction, no?]

Indigenous people in legal challenge against oil firms over tar sand project

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/activism-carbon-emissions
Canada's Beaver Lake Cree Nation group say their traditional way of life is being devastated by the rush to extract oil from vast tar sand fields

If 700 billion tons of co2 doesn't cause global warming, how much would it take to do so?

In case you didn't know, we (sub)humans have put 700 billion tons of co2 in the atmosphere so far. I hear all the time, "There is no global warning," or, "co2 does not cause global warming?"

Hmmmmm. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 7000 billion tons? 7000000 billion? .007 billion?

******Mar. 2 DC ACTION: Martin Sheen, Paul Hawken, James Hansen, Rabbi Lerner and others invite citizens to stand with them against coal

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-kessler/martin-sheen-paul-hawken_b_170014.html

In advance of the Capitol Climate Action, which is taking place on Monday, March 2, Dr. James Hansen, Rabbi Michael Lerner, author Paul Hawken, actor and activist Martin Sheen, and many others have released an open letter inviting people to the largest civil disobedience on global warming in U.S. history.

Their letter is below:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-kessler/martin-sheen-paul-hawken_b_170014.htm

[IF NOT NOW, WHEN? 

IF NOT HERE, WHERE?

IF NOT YOU, WHO?]

Failed Launch Deals Harsh Blow to Global Warming Research

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/66299.html?wlc=1235621606
TECH NEWS WORLD: The failed Tuesday launch of a carbon-monitoring satellite puts a big question mark on the United States' already hampered program for studying global warming emissions. Scientists and politicians are now left to decide whether to go forward and skip a step, or try to rebuild the destroyed orbiter.

Turf war over climate bill looms between House panels

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/02/25/25climatewire-rangels-memorial-day-markup-plans-raise-prosp-9874.html
The House Ways and Means Committee plans to mark up global warming emissions legislation by Memorial Day, setting up a possible turf fight among powerful Democratic committee leaders over one of President Obama's signature agenda items.

ENVIRONMENT: Following Obama’s Speech, Parsing Key Players for Global Warming Legislation

http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/1185/

In last night's speech, President Obama called on attendees to send him "legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution." As a new Center report explains, that means the mushrooming number of climate change lobbyists will be talking to a lot of old friends and former bosses.

Many of those lobbyists used to work on Capitol Hill, and some were themselves members of Congress. They represent scores of different climate interests, including some mentioned by Obama — like the electric grid and "technologies like wind power and solar power, advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more efficient cars and trucks."

******Climate bill needed to 'save our planet,' says Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/02/25/25climatewire-emissions-bill-needed-to-save-our-planet--oba-9849.html
NYT:  President Obama lent his voice last night to the push for a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, using his first speech to a joint session of Congress to lobby for controversial legislation sure to spark a heated debate during tight economic times.

***Obama stresses energy investment but policy battles loom

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/02/25/25greenwire-obama-stresses-investment-but-policy-battles-lo-9850.html
NYT:  But while Obama laid the groundwork for a year of action on energy policy, his message of urgency generally avoided a head-on discussion of several sticky policy issues that will face Congress, including measures that wade into competing regional interests and potential state-federal conflicts.

Federal lab tilting at windmill efficiency

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=18272&t=Federal+lab+tilting+at+windmill+efficiency

The Lawrence Livermore National Lab is joining with Siemens Energy to help improve efficiency of wind farm sites, turbines, and wind farm operations.

Climate bill needed to 'save our planet,' says Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/02/25/25climatewire-emissions-bill-needed-to-save-our-planet--oba-9849.html
NYT; President Obama lent his voice last night to the push for a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, using his first speech to a joint session of Congress to lobby for controversial legislation sure to spark a heated debate during tight economic times.

****Antarctic glaciers melting faster than thought

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090225/ap_on_sc/un_un_warming_antarctic
AP: 

The report Wednesday from Geneva was a broad summary of two years of research by scientists from 60 countries. Some of the findings were released in earlier reports.

In Washington, as part of an overall update on global warming, top researchers on Wednesday sounded a similar warning to the U.S. Senate about rising temperatures in the Antarctic.

The head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group set up by the United Nations, told lawmakers on the Environment and Public Works Committee that Earth has about six more years at current rates of carbon dioxide pollution before it is locked into a future of severe global warming.

Three set themselves on fire in central Beijing

[I was horribly appalled as a spoiled, stupid, western, "ruling class" youth at the self-immolation of the Buddhist monks to end the Vietnam War.  I thought they were just plain wrong.  Dr. MLK on the other hand, was finally awakened by them to his full Humanity, and the speech at Riverside Baptist that got him murdered exactly a year later to the day, DEMANDING an end to the Vietnam Genocide was inspired by those same expressions of ultimate human outcry to Humanity.      "THERE COMES A TIME, when silence is betrayal," MLK.  SL]
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSPEK66609
Three people set themselves on fire in the heart of downtown Beijing on Wednesday, state media and a witness said, and city police said they appeared to have come to the capital to voice "personal complaints".  The trio set off the blaze in their car just before 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) at the intersection of the city's main Chang'an thoroughfare and high-end shopping street, Wangfujing.  [I don't know if today's article was one of those Times. SL]

Energy symposium weighs perils and opportunities on climate change

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/02/24_BERC.shtml
UC BERKELEY NEWS: While the average Californian now uses about 40 percent less electricity than the average American, we cannot rest on our laurels, Mary Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board, told a gathering at Berkeley on Monday that explored "bold ideas for a new energy landscape." To meet the challenges of global warming — and the state's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — each Californian needs to cut his or her carbon footprint from the current average, 14 tons per year, to 10, she said.

Audio clip

On sprawl and greenhouse-gas emissions:

California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols discusses a little known but critical new California law, which she says is essential to progress on global warming. (37 seconds)

Nichols addressed the third annual UC Berkeley Energy Symposium, where the dangers and opportunities — political, economic, and environmental — of the current moment were a recurring theme.

***** Four developments to watch in clean tech

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_11776706
SJ MERCURY NEWS: As more than 800 clean-technology leaders representing about $3 trillion in capital gather this week at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco on the eve of a new era for green jobs and the environment, major shifts are under way that could change the global energy and climate agenda. Here are four prognostications for 2009. The European Union and China will forge a carbon dioxide emissions deal with or without the United States.

Economic Crisis Complicates California’s Goals on Climate

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/science/earth/25carbon.html?ref=business
NYT: California was one of the first states to enact legislation to tackle global warming, with legislators passing a 2006 measure to curb carbon dioxide emissions in all economic sectors, including manufacturing, transportation and real estate development. But the state is also providing a lesson in how contentious carrying out such a law can be, especially at a time of economic crisis.

Obama calls for carbon cap legislation

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h4mF5jHBRFt6PKLtBEbaS3_1K0Kg
AP:"To truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Obama told lawmakers in his maiden speech to Congress.

"So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America."

****** Environment Climate change timetable slips as Obama backtracks Copenhagen deadline

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/24/barackobama-climatechange
GUARDIAN:  Campaign pledge to quickly pass laws to cut emissions faltering in the first weeks of his presidency.Barack Obama has been forced to slow down early legislation to reduce the CO² emissions that cause global warming, a key green objective of his presidency.Officials conceded that Congress is unlikely to pass such legislation by the end of 2009, a delay that could hurt efforts to reach a global treaty at the climate change conference in Copenhagen this December...Nancy Sutley, the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said.

Obama prefers Congress to EPA in tackling climate -- Browner

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/02/23/23climatewire-obama-prefers-congress-to-epa-when-it-comes-t-9800.html
NYT:  President Obama would prefer to tackle global warming through a cap-and-trade bill but remains open to setting rules for cars and power plants as a backstop, his top energy and climate adviser said yesterday.

Clinton puts climate change high on the agenda with China

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/02/23/23climatewire-clinton-puts-climate-change-high-on-the-agend-9802.html
NYT: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wrapped up her first diplomatic mission to Asia yesterday with climate change experts praising her for putting global warming at the center of U.S. foreign policy....Accompanied by her top climate change envoy, Todd Stern, Clinton raised the issue at every point in her tour of Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and China. During her final stop in Beijing she toured a cogeneration plant built with high-efficiency gas turbine technology from General Electric Co. and urged China not to make the "same mistakes" as the United States in producing rampant emissions of greenhouse gases.

*Fed May Take Control Of Smart Grid Plans

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/24/fed-may-take-control-of-s_n_169531.html
HUFF POST: While wind turbine and solar projects are ready to capture this new, eco-friendly energy source, where are the transmission lines to get the power to where it is needed?  Democratic congressional leaders, a former president and his one-time vice president, several Obama Cabinet members, energy executives and business leaders thrashed out that very predicament at a high-profile clean energy conference on Monday.

Tracking the Fallout Of the Arctic's Vanishing Sea Ice

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2125
Now, an increasing number of scientists are turning their attention to a vital question: Once the Arctic Ocean's summer sea ice disappears — which many scientists say could happen in roughly 20 years — what comes next?

Calls Mount for Obama to Fire NASA Climate Boss James Hansen

http://newsblaze.com/story/20090223165501zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Hansen's plea: 'Please join us' for civil disobedience sit-inNEWSBLAZE: Calls are mounting for President Barack Obama to fire James Hansen, the controversial figure in charge of climate studies at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

*****DN! The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and Whats at Stake for American Power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1HsmRNDZDc
DN! Mark Schapiro, author of Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and Whats at Stake for American Power. Schapiro writes, The European-led revolution in chemical regulation requires that thousands of chemicals finally be assessed for their potentially toxic effects on human beings and signals the end of American industrys ability to withhold critical data from the public.

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Italy returns to nuclear power after two decades

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article5797154.ece

Italy and France yesterday Tuesday signed a co-operation agreement on nuclear power that marks the return of Italy to nuclear energy two decades after it was banned by a referendum.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and President Sarkozy signed the accord at a Franco-Italian summit in Rome also attended by the heads of Enel and Electricite de France (EdF). Mr Berlusconi vowed to reintroduce nuclear-generated electricity shortly after he returned to power for the third time in last April's elections, saying that construction of new reactors would begin by 2013.

***If Obama stops dirty coal, as he must, what will replace it? An intro to biomass cofiring

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/2/23/141747/203?source=rss
GRIST: Biomass cofiring will be the focus of a couple of posts since, although rarely-discussed, it is probably the cheapest, easiest, and fastest way to provide new renewable baseload power without having to build any new transmission lines.

UK faces 'climate criminal' claim

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7906383.stm
BBC:Campaigners have said the UK will be a "climate criminal" if it allows a new coal-fired power station in Kent.

In a letter to climate change minister Ed Miliband, the World Development Movement (WDM) demands the scrapping of plans for Kingsnorth.

The WDM says new coal-fired power stations will increase the impact of climate change on poor countries.

**Environmentalists Advance on Emissions in Supreme Court

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/washington/24mercury.html

The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on emissions of mercury, lead, arsenic and other pollutants from the nation's coal-fired power plants.

Environmental groups hailed the action as a final blow to Bush administration efforts to frustrate tight regulation of the emissions, but any new Obama administration rules may draw their own court challenges.

*The Tar Sands, and ForestEthics, get major attention in the media

http://www.forestethics.org/article.php?id=2279

ForestEthics has a long history of gaining major media attention with edgy ads, and we've struck again. This time, we shed light on the dirtiest oil on Earth, Canada's Tar Sands:

• We teamed up with the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations to place a full-page ad in USA Today, depicting Canadian Tar Sands oil oozing over the continental United States.
• Also, we ran "Personals" ads directed at Obama during his recent visit to Canada.

*** The Moral Case Against Tar Sands

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-jervey/the-moral-case-against-ta_b_168582.html
HUFF POST:  Lost in all the climate talk, though, is the fact that on the local level, tar sands extraction and processing is one of the greatest social and ecological injustices of our time.

FedEx's Smith Favors Carbon Tax Over Cap-And-Trade

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902231648DOWJONESDJONLINE000540_FORTUNE5.htm
Congress should consider imposing a "carbon tax" to curb pollution and use the proceeds to reduce U.S. payroll taxes, FedEx Corp. ( FDX) Chairman and Chief Executive Fred Smith said Monday.

A carbon tax would be a much more efficient way to reduce pollution than a cap-and-trade system that would cap the emission of air pollutants and permit trading in pollution credits by firms that stay below the cap, Smith said in response to questions after a speech to the National Press Club.

*Home Energy Tax Credits to Save You Thousands In 2009

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/renewable-energy-tax-credit-47100802
Home energy tax credits are available for solar energy, energy efficiency, biodiesel and hybrid cars, home solar panels and more. See which federal home energy tax credits you can claim in 2009.

** HealthLink plans demonstration at Salem power plant

http://www.wickedlocal.com/swampscott/news/x1056821074/HealthLink-plans-demonstration-at-Salem-power-plant
LOCAL: HealthLink, based in Swampscott, will hold a demonstration in front of the Salem Harbor Generating Station at noon Sunday, March 1, in connection with the nation-wide action in Washington to pressure President Barack Obama to create sustainable energy policies.

The rally at the plant coincides with demonstrations at three other plants in Massachusetts — two in Somerset and one in Northampton.

Meadowlands NJ solar panels start soaking up the sun

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/02/23/ap6084794.html

FORBES: The 65,000-square-foot roof of the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus became a solar generator, capable of producing 412 kilowatts of electricity without the environmental concerns posed by oil tankers, nuclear waste, coal mine runoff and natural gas pipelines.

That's enough juice to power about 50 single-family homes, according to Alfredo Matos, PSE&G's vice president for renewables and energy solutions, or about 40 percent of the Exposition Center's needs.

President Obama’s Climate Change Challenge

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/02/president-obama%E2%80%99s-climate-change-challenge/
Britannica

Global Warming Gets Obama Administration Attention, Despite Economy

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/global-warming-47022301
DAILY GREEN: Hillary Clinton talks climate in China, the EPA prepares CO2 regulations - and California farms suffer from a climate-induced drought.

*** Clinton and Gore talk Smart Grid

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19194.html
POLITICO: Bill Clinton and Al Gore told a roomful of climate change heavyweights Monday that the nation must push on with a national clean energy Smart Grid — or risk losing the battle on climate change. Attending an energy summit at Washington's Newseum, the former president and vice president praised the new Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders for their work on the economic recovery package, saying it would allow the nation to move forward on dealing with climate change by utilizing more renewable energy.

*** Gore, Clinton headline energy conference YESTERDAY in DC. [watch for VIDEO email]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hP1MeJ5rEOxzGy1ncVpvaaQDhIxgD96HDHFO0
[watch for VIDEO email]

** Federal officials prioritize placement of power grid [and YOU are doing what to insure this?]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hP1MeJ5rEOxzGy1ncVpvaaQDhIxgD96HFMP00
AP: Democratic congressional leaders and the Obama administration indicated Monday that they will push for greater federal authority to locate electric transmission lines, saying a national power grid stands in the way of developing alternative energy sources.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he will soon introduce legislation that includes giving federal regulators authority to override states on electric grid placement decisions as part of a package of energy proposals the Senate is expected to take up in the coming weeks.

**** Nation's leaders urge action on better electricity grid

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/23/electricity.grid/
CNN:  U.S. political, business and environmental leaders urged the nation Monday to act quickly to build a unified, national electricity grid, both to diminish the impact of global warming and to boost the economy."We need to move with a sense of urgency," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a forum called the National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy, which was hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund."We need a very, very smart grid," said the Nobel laureate physicist and former director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...Former President Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and UN Foundation President Timothy Wirth....

US budget to have CO2 revenues by 2012-W.House

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2440610920090224
REUTERS: U.S. President Barack Obama's budget accounts for revenues from an emissions trading system in 2012, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday."That's true," Gibbs said when asked whether a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases would be in place in time for revenues to be generated by 2012.The president, a Democrat, has said he wants the United States to take the lead in fighting climate change.

**** Why the Obama Climate Change Plan Won't Work

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/02/23-1
COMMON DREAMS: President Obama's proposed cap-and-trade plan for reducing greenhouse gases will not achieve the reductions quickly enough to prevent devastating climate change, according to an analysis posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The broad political support for cap-and-trade scheme is rooted in its biggest flaw - that an incremental approach designed to keep prices for carbon-based energy low will be insufficient to accomplish a quick shift in energy sources.

UK branded a 'climate criminal' in global coal plant protes

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UK_branded_climate_criminal_in_global_0222.html
RAW STORY: Environmental activists from 27 groups representing more than 40 developing nations have launched a global protest against British plans to build new coal plants. The groups are concerned that global warming will disproportionately impact developing nations with "increased floods, droughts, sea-levels and disease" affecting "hundreds of millions of people."

Ontario weighs nuclear options

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/591485
As much-ballyhooed Green Energy Act makes its debut, the province is forging ahead with its plan for a two-reactor plant at Darlington.

National Geographic Slams Tar Sands

http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2009/02/national-geographic-slams-tar-sands.html
The march edition of National Geographic will have a photo spread of the Athabasca Tar Sands. According to CanWest, the feature will include several pictures of Athabasca's ...

Guadeloupe Strikes: A Warning to Obama?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/guadeloupe-strikes-a-warn_b_168960.html 
HUFF POST: On February 12, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress that the global economic crisis was the most serious security challenge facing the United States and that it could topple governments and trigger waves of refugees, the Los Angeles Times reported.A week later, the French government was sending police reinforcements to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after a month of strikes and protests over low pay and high prices followed by clashes between police and protesters.

US, China pledge joint effort on economy, climate change

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/US_China_pledge_joint_effort_on_economy_climate_change_999.html
Less than a tenth of the funds promised to developing countries by rich nations to help them adapt to global warming has actually been delivered, a study by The Guardian newspaper showed ..

Have literally gone "blind" putting up >>> ****** Yesterday's Fiscal Summit. URGENT OPPORTUNITY.

I can't make out what I'm typing - working round the clock to get this crucial Playlist up for you.  Hence, today's posts are light.  More tomorrow.

Subject: ****** Yesterday's Fiscal Summit. URGENT OPPORTUNITY.

Watch this Playlist top to bottom.

SHARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E

Never will you get a better:

*  Leadership course
*  Magnificent display of leadership
*  Education in democracy
*  Image of what a President looks like, MUST look like

Patriotic necessity.

****** Yesterday's Fiscal Summit. URGENT OPPORTUNITY.

Watch this Playlist top to bottom.

SHARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=67C4B4C376F39D5E

Never will you get a better:

*  Leadership course
*  Magnificent display of leadership
*  Education in democracy
*  Image of what a President looks like, MUST look like

Patriotic necessity.

WP POLL: Obama leads the Republicans in Congress by 61-26 percent in trust. [WILL WE SUPPORT THE QB!?!!??!!?]

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/story?id=6939993&page=1
WP/ABC: Obama clearly holds the upper hand, both in overall approval and on the dominant issue of the day. He leads the Republicans in Congress by 61-26 percent in trust to handle the economy, the biggest such lead for a president in ABC News/Washington Post polls since late 1991. (Bill Clinton came close at the start of his first term.)
 [WILL WE SUPPORT THE QB!?!!??!!?  If we do, it will be the first time in history.]

"Dear [Quarterback] Obama": The President Reads 10 Letters a Day from the Public, With Policy Ramifications

[Best Quarterback (we're the so-far-AWOL team) in the history of the world. Our last, best hope. Hold me accountable on that. Start L.]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/dear-president.html
ABCNEWS: The letter to President Obama came from a woman in Arizona whose husband lost his job. He was able to find work, but the new gig came with one-third the pay; the family is struggling to make their mortgage payments....

**Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip. Approaching the tipping point on climate change

VIDEO HERE >>> http://www.tfigblog.com/the_future_is_green/2009/02/wake-up.html
This brilliant animated film by Leo Murray was just brought to my attention and I wanted to waste no time in posting it here. It does a masterful job of explaining, in lay terms, exactly how close we are to a tipping point, beyond which it may be impossible to prevent the most catastrophic consequences of global warming.

Envisioning a new, interconnected energy system

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20090222_Envisioning_a_new__interconnected_energy_system.html
PHILA INQUIRER: The smart grid will rely on two-way communications, perhaps with data carried over the power lines themselves. That data can tell a manufacturer to ratchet back its operations as demand peaks - something that already happens through intermediaries that sell so-called "demand response" into today's electrical system. The smart grid will make such demand response widespread.

Hip, Hip Hooray for the G's - Google, GE and Green Energy!

http://www.examiner.com/x-2938-Atlanta-Web-Examiner~y2009m2d21-Hip-Hip-Hooray-for-the-Gs--Google-GE-and-Green-Energy
EXAMINER: Did you know that Google is investing a lot of money - in the millions - to change the country's energy infrastructure more into the likes of the Internet, making energy decentralized and distributed, and possibly saving you and I lots of money?Partnered with GE in many green initiatives, the company envisions a smart electric grid that would be controlled and monitored by a vast computer network that would determine prices based on real-time supply and demand. If this happens, it will change the way that you and I use and pay for electricity.

Why smoggy skies over Beijing represent the world’s greatest environmental opportunity

http://reflectedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/02/chinas-silver-lining.html
JAMES FALLOWS: Why smoggy skies over Beijing represent the world's greatest environmental opportunity... And the problems that are less obvious at a glance are even more threatening. Toxic emissions into lakes, groundwater, and farmland; the drying-up of rivers and silting-up of dams; the rapid exhaustion of water in the northern half of the country that, in the view of many experts, is likely to be China's next great environmental emergency....

Pickens energy plan sparks interest from Gov. Paterson

http://www.stargazette.com/article/20090222/NEWS01/902220311
STAR GAZETTE: exas billionaire T. Boone Pickens may have made a new convert from the Empire State.  Pickens made a pitch Saturday to members of the National Governors Association to join the 14 governors who already have signed onto his plan for American energy independence.

Greenest Nation A laggard no longer, America could soon out-innovate Europe and Japan.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185812
NEWSWEEK:This is a trick question. What big country is, by most measures, greener than Japan and Germany and produces more geothermal energy than all of Europe combined? It might help to know that this nation is also a pioneer in environmental stewardship, having passed many of the world's toughest regulations on vehicle emissions, energy efficiency and nature conservation.It couldn't possibly be the United States....

Korea Dreams of 'Green Revolution'

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/113_40054.html
South Korea wants to share the vision of ``low-carbon, green growth'' with the rest of the world in order to find a breakthrough during the worst economic recession in decades, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said Sunday.

Carbon trading bill due within weeks. AU

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/22/2498109.htm?section=justin
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Government remains committed to its plans for a carbon trading scheme.

Clinton Paints China Policy With a Green Hue

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/world/asia/22diplo.html?hp
NYT: Declaring that "we hope you won't make the same mistakes we made," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited China to join the United States in an ambitious effort to curb greenhouse gases, as she toured an energy-efficient power plant in Beijing on Saturday.

Iraq invites France back to build nuclear plant

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h7H6ulBYm6Gj63_Ass_yoO0BgFpg
AFP: Electricity Minister Karim Wahid on Sunday invited France to help Iraq build a nuclear power plant, three decades after Paris constructed a reactor near Baghdad that was bombed by Israeli warplanes.

Rethinking Nuclear Power. FL

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/feb/21/bz-rethinking-nuclear-power/
Last month, homeowners and businesses began receiving the tab for Progress Energy's nuclear plant. The consumer outrage has led lawmakers to call for changes. Suddenly, Florida's appetite for an expensive nuclear plant has diminished.

Senator wants to end 'effective ban' on nuclear power plants. WV

http://uaelp.pennnet.com/news/display_news_story.cfm?Section=WireNews&Category=HOME&NewsID=174280

Nuclear power might be in the vanguard of West Virginia's energy future, but a tiny line in law known as Article 27-A is keeping investors from even talking seriously about the first plant.And to Senate Economic Development Chairman Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, that "effective ban" is inconsistent with West Virginia's zeal to be an energy leader.

Nuclear plant cost bill OK’d. Atlanta.

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/02/21/reallegbriefs0221.html

ATLANTA JOURNAL: A House of Representatives subcommittee has given preliminary approval to a bill allowing Georgia Power to charge customers in advance for the cost of future construction of a nuclear power plant.The House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications panel approved the bill (SB 31) in a voice vote. The bill, one of the more controversial pieces of legislation this session, now moves to the full committee, which will take it up on Monday.

They're Tar Sands, not Oil Sands!

http://oilbeseeingyou.blogspot.com/2009/02/theyre-tar-sands-not-oil-sands.html
What comes out of the tar sands is not oil. It is, in fact, tar, bitumen, the same sticky, smelly stuff they build roads with. With a lot of processing, using up a lot of energy and other precious resources like clean water, it can be turned into a synthetic oil which, with further processing using up a lot more energy and other resources, can be turned into gasoline. But it takes almost as much energy to produce a gallon of gasoline from tar sands as the energy you get out of the gallon of gasoline.

Human Rights Council - Relationship between Climate Change and Human Rights

http://www.climate-l.org/2009/02/human-rights-council-to-consider-report-on-the-relationship-between-climate-change-and-human-rights.html   The tenth session of the Human Rights Council will convene from 2-27 March 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland, and is expected to focus on the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the universal realization and effective enjoyment of human rights as the priority theme. Among other agenda items, the Council will consider a report by the High Commissioner on the relationship between climate change and human rights.

Apocalypse now. Climate change is here and now and getting personal

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/2/19/10158/5081
GRIST: Not long ago, most climate scientists stuck to the future tense when they talked about the impacts of global warming. Now, they are using the present tense -- and using it more and more often. Now, they tell us the damages have arrived in the United States.

The Race Toward a Climate Change Cure. TIME FEATURE

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1880469,00.html
Some climate experts say that without breakthrough technologies and as yet unimagined solutions, we cannot stem the progress of climate change... Recently, researchers had a chance to look back at the IPCC's early predictions, and it turns out that the panel had indeed made some mistakes — it had significantly underestimated the rate of increase in global carbon emissions.

Will Climate Go Over The Edge? NEWSWEEK FEATURE

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185822
NEWSWEEK:  There is something compelling, in a ghoulish sort of way, about the notion that earth's climate may be headed toward a tipping point. The idea gained broad currency in 2007, when a panel of scientists, including Harvard environmental expert John Holdren—now the White House science adviser—warned that the planet is approaching a threshold beyond which damage to the environment would be irreversible.

**Permafrost Methane - the global implications have yet to sink in

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-global-warming-methane22-2009feb22,0,4075760,full.story
LA TIMES: To many Alaskans, it is hardly news that permafrost is thawing: Across the state, houses have been collapsing and trees tipping over. Researchers estimate that repairing affected schools, roads and bridges will cost up to $6 billion over the next two decades.

***Sylvia Earle: How to protect the oceans (TED Prize winner!)

VIDEO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43DuLcBFxoY
http://www.ted.com Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet.

****Economist Nicholas Stern - Dire Climate Change Scenario: Mass Migrations, Extended World War

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/21/lord-nicholas-stern-paint_n_168865.html
HUFF POST: If we don't deal with climate change decisively, "what we're talking about then is extended world war," the eminent economist said... "Somehow we have to explain to people just how worrying that is," the British economic thinker said.  SEE ALSO: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/11/stern-climate-change  ; http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16580-400-billion-the-price-of-our-future.html