Turbines will soon churn in 11 Minnesota cities

http://www.startribune.com/41632632.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
Recycled turbines that turn renewable wind energy into electricity are expected to begin appearing this summer in Anoka, Buffalo, North St. Paul and eight other Minnesota cities that are part of a power agency.

As climate changes, is water the new oil?

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN21529713
If water is the new oil, is blue the new green?

Translation: if water is now the kind of precious commodity that oil became in the 20th century, should delivery of clean water be the same sort of powerful political force as the environmental movement in an age of climate change?

And, in another sense of green, is there money to be made in a time of water scarcity?

***** Case against climate change melting away

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/world/Case-against-climate-change-melting.5096564.jp

large corporations such as Exxon Mobil, which in the past financed the Heartland Institute and other groups that challenged the climate consensus, have reduced support. Many such companies no longer dispute that the greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels pose risks.

Start L. has been quite ill - slowing the rate of posting. Health returning. Rate of posts should improve now.

**** Texas to become, as some put it, the Saudi Arabia of carbon disposal.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/032209dnproglobalwarming.36990b9.html
Nearly two dozen bills before the Legislature, by Republicans and Democrats, would thrust Texas into the national debate on dealing with climate change. Their aims range from capping the state's CO2 emissions to positioning Texas to become, as some put it, the Saudi Arabia of carbon disposal.

We have 100 months (now 93) until the irreversible Tipping Point

http://HomeearthSecurity.com  (click on the countdown clock)
We calculate that 100 months from 1 August 2008, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases
will begin to exceed a point whereby it is no longer likely we will be able to avert potentially
irreversible climate change.

Eco-corruption

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/22/la-muela-renewables-spain-corruption

Powerful wind turbines churned the air above La Muela last week but the stir in this small Aragonese town was caused by the arrest of the mayor and 18 other people on charges that reveal a new phenomenon in Spain: eco-corruption.

Windswept La Muela, with its 500 giant windmills, has become one of Spain's richest towns on the back of what is the new gold for rural communities - renewable energy. Eight years ago, the wind energy companies that provide up to 40% of Spain's electricity on blustery days came looking to plant their turbines. These now line the hills outside the town and form neat patterns across the plain.

Global Green New Deal needed to save planet

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0318/1224243006437.html
Scientists are no longer mincing their words on the dangers posed by global climate change

LAST WEEK'S international scientific conference in Copenhagen, Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges Decisions, was intended to inform the agenda of next December's UN summit in the Danish capital and to put pressure on politicians worldwide to deal with the growing threat posed by global warming.

5 Myths on Nuclear Power

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/20/AR2009032001781.html
Thirty years ago this week, a chain of errors and equipment malfunctions triggered the defining event in the history of American nuclear power: the accident at Three Mile Island.

******Recession Killing Obama Climate Plan

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2009/03/20/recession-killing-obama-climate-plan.html

Congress is trying to fast track healthcare reform. But Obama's cap-and-trade plan? Not so much. And these Gallup poll numbers give you some perspective as to why: "For the first time in Gallup's 25-year history of asking Americans about the trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent."

Economy 51 percent, environment 42 percent. Here is the party ID breakdown: Republicans 64-31, Independents 50-42, Democrats 44-50. (A new Gallup poll also shows support for nuclear energy soaring.)

US installed solar capacity up 17 pct in 2008

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2050533620090320

"Increasingly, solar energy has proven to be an economic engine for this country, creating thousands of jobs, unleashing billions in investment dollars and building new factories from New Hampshire to Michigan to Oregon," said Resch.

Solar lags behind wind energy in terms of installed U.S. capacity. Wind energy grew in 2008 by 8,538 MW, more than the total installed solar capacity. The annual survey by the American Wind Energy Association issued in January showed total installed capacity of about 25,170 MW.

The top states in wind power were Texas at 7,116 MW, Iowa at 2,790 MW and California at 2,517 MW.

Stimulus seen sowing seeds for renewable energy's revival

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/20/20greenwire-stimulus-seen-sowing-seeds-for-industrys-reviv-10227.html
Financiers and law firms specializing in renewable energy say they see growing interest in reviving moribund projects and breaking ground on new deals. And while big banks that have braced the industry's backbone are still on the fence, some hedge funds and private equity and venture capital firms are cautiously looking to take advantage of stimulus provisions that temporarily eliminate the need for tax equity financing, which has long been a mainstay for renewable energy projects.

Marching for water in Los Angeles

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/03/drought-march-f.html

Organizers of a Los Angeles March for Water, part of an international World Water Day movement, are expecting thousands to turn up for the three-mile march Sunday. Participants will protest water waste and pollution in Southern California, as well as draw attention to a global water crisis, according to the group.

The march comes at a time when Los Angeles, the nation's second largest city,  faces a possible water shortage and has raised rates for heavy users.

Seven in 10 biologists believe that mass extinction poses a colossal threat to human existence

http://environment.independentminds.livejournal.com/54433.html
Throughout the 20th century the causes of extinction - habitat degradation, overexploitation, agricultural monocultures, human-borne invasive species, human-induced climate-change - increased exponentially, until now in the 21st century the rate is nothing short of explosive. The World Conservation Union's Red List - a database measuring the global status of Earth's 1.5 million scientifically named species - tells a haunting tale of unchecked, unaddressed, and accelerating biocide.

China dust storm: Global dimming starts here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/mar/19/pollution-china
If the stars seem a little less bright and the skies less clear later this year, then part of the reason will be the Gobi gunk that has been blown into the Earth's atmosphere over the past few days.

Global dimming has many causes, but new research and recent weather reports from China suggest soil erosion and industrial development is a major element in the loss of clarity in the planet's skies.

A Great Wave Rising: The Coming Crisis in Water Policy in America

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_news_WaterPolicyCrisis_20090319
One of the greatest crises ever experienced in fish and wildlife management is currently building — the great wave of water policy conflict. The combination of rapid development and climate change will change everything we know about water availability and water quality in America. The clock is ticking. The time of crisis is nearly upon us.

When it comes to global warming Americans trust scientists most, family and friends second

http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=121946
According to the poll, 82 percent of Americans trust scientists on climate change with 28 percent saying that they strongly trust scientists. Americans also trust those close to them: 77 percent said they trusted family and friends when it came to information about climate change. Environmental organizations were trusted by 66 percent of those polled, making it third.

Chinese hold U.S. feet to fire on global warming

http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/403999_joel18ww.html

But tough talk came from Xie Zhenhua, a member of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party and head of China's Climate Change and Coordinating Committee.

"China is not a country that does nothing: On the contrary, we have done a lot," Xie said Wednesday. He ticked off a list of market-based measures such as financial incentives and taxes used by China to cut emissions.

Cantwell and Xie both spoke at a Washington, D.C., symposium sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"The United States is in the same boat," Xie added. "They just talk about it but there are no actions, and we don't even know whether Congress will pass it."

Pioneering ecologist to head NOAA

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-noaa-chief20-2009mar20,0,373783.story
Jane Lubchenco of Oregon State says she's eager to take on issues including global warming, polluted coastal waters and severely depleted fish populations.

UK: Climate change protest in City

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23664836-details/Climate+change+protest+in+City+will+start+tonight/article.do

CLIMATE change activists who are planning a protest in the City at next month's G20 summit are to begin their demonstration tonight.

More than 1,000 activists are expected to arrive in Bishopsgate for a "weekend of activity" ahead of a plan to camp out for the duration of the convention of world leaders.

The group Climate Camp will spend this evening playing hunting games to familiarise themselves with the area and tomorrow there will be a day-long seminar discussing the problems of carbon trading.

Violence at Indonesian Greenpeace protest

http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=121886
Greenpeace activists and security guards clashed outside the headquarters of Indonesia's biggest logging and palm oil company, the Sinar Mas Group, in Jakarta Thursday, environmentalists said.

Activists said they were punched and kicked by guards and police as they tried to protest against alleged illegal land-clearing in Indonesia's vast eastern Papua region and on Borneo island.

"The excessive violence today by Sinar Mas security is testament to the way this company does business," Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said in a statement.

Quake-hit town split over reactor restart

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090320n1.html
Residents of a remote village in Niigata Prefecture must choose between jobs and safety as they weigh a request to restart the world's biggest nuclear plant, shut for more than a year after a deadly earthquake triggered a fire and radiation leaks.

Support for Nuclear Energy Inches Up to New High

http://www.gallup.com/poll/117025/Support-Nuclear-Energy-Inches-New-High.aspx

Support for nuclear energy had been fairly steady in the mid-50% range since Gallup first asked about it in 1994, apart from a 46% reading in 2001. The percentage who say they strongly favor nuclear energy had also been fairly stable at around 20%, before increasing to 27% this year.

Gallup has always found consistent and large gender differences in Americans' views of nuclear power, and the same applies this year -- 71% of men favor the use of nuclear energy, compared with only 47% of women. Both groups show their highest level of support for nuclear power to date.

The push for a more intelligent grid

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13337902
Electrocrats have been plugging the "smart grid" for years. Now others have joined them. Barack Obama's stimulus package contains about $4.5 billion in grants for smart-grid investments and regional demonstrations. GE is promoting the smart grid with ads that show a scarecrow singing "If I only had a brain" from "The Wizard of Oz" while bouncing along an old power line. In January Mr Obama declared that a smart grid could "save us money, protect our power sources from blackout or attack, and deliver clean, alternative forms of energy to every corner of our nation"—grand goals indeed.

Christians to lead 'funeral march' over climate change

http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/8994

Christians from across the country will gather in Coventry today (Thursday), for a national Climate Change Day of Action, which will include a funeral procession through the City.

The day will begin with a midday service in Coventry Cathedral, followed by a march and rally in the city centre.

The Day of Action is being organised by Christian Aid in partnership with CAFOD, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and the World Development Movement. Campaigners are calling on the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and other world leaders to ensure that the plight of the world's poorest countries is central to crucial climate change talks taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

Unchecked population growth is a suicide bomb

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/337/story/64246.html

We are weapons of mass destruction. We are the suicide bombers hiding sure destruction under our clothing.

Collectively, we are the major terrorist threat that will destroy the American dream of an ever-better tomorrow even if we manage to not destroy the nation itself. The 60 million residents we will add during the next 21 years will certainly damage our quality of life and that damage will be lengthy and extensive.

***** France's nuke power poster child has a money melt-down

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2009/1732
The myth of a successful nuclear power industry in France has melted into financial chaos. With it dies the corporate-hyped poster child for a "nuclear renaissance" of new reactor construction that is drowning in red ink and radioactive waste. Areva, France's nationally-owned corporate atomic façade, has plunged into a deep financial crisis led by a devastating shortage of cash.

Europe 'living beyond its means' when it comes to water use

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/03/18/18climatewire-europe-described-as-living-beyond-its-means--10176.html
Don't expect the future to look much like the past, at least when it comes to the Earth's fresh water supplies. That's the message emerging from a major international meeting being held here this week. More than 27,000 people -- including government ministers from more than 120 countries -- have gathered for the 5th World Water Forum. But in this ancient city, where the thin ribbon of the Bosporus divides Europe and Asia and massive Roman waterworks still dot the landscape, it's the Earth's shifting climate that is on delegates' minds.

United States, 100 tons of coal are extracted every two seconds

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/418759

In the United States, 100 tons of coal are extracted every two seconds. Around 70 percent of that coal comes from strip mines, and over the last 20 years, an increasing amount comes from mountaintop-removal sites in Appalachia.

Mountaintop removal is one of the most egregious environmental and social justice disasters in America today. This extreme mining practice, taking place largely in the Appalachians, has destroyed at least 500 mountains (1.5 million acres of land) resulting in a huge amount of largely unreported ecological damage and countless ruined lives.

Honest accounting of pollution's true costs

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/inbox/story/954413.html

Twenty years ago the Exxon Valdez plowed onto Bligh Reef in a pristine Alaskan inlet and let loose 11 million gallons of crude oil while the captain slept and the Coast Guard ignored the ship's course. The deadly viscous goo that devastated fish, birds and other wildlife seared our consciousness as a symbol of environmental negligence and brought calls for greater safety measures to protect our fragile world.

Two decades later, our global climate is perilously warming, and our economy has run aground as its captains ignored the dangers in a binge of profiteering and risky economic shortcuts. Our poor treatment of the environment and neglectful stewardship of the economy share a genesis. Both result from a fixation on short-term financial results, our stubborn denial of consequences, and a refusal to prudently protect our future.