Climate change scepticism is likely to surge in 2010 and could exacerbate "hardship" for the planet's poorest people, one of the world's leading authorities on climate change has told the Guardian. Writing on environmentguardian.co.uk today, Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also dismisses suggestions that he is personally profiting from policies to tackle global warming. Climate sceptics gained media attention in the run up to the Copenhagen climate summit after alleging that hacked emails between senior climate scientists showed that an important temperature record was flawed -- a charge rejected by governments and scientific bodies. In Australia, sceptics within the party led to the ousting of the leader of the opposition over new climate laws.
Writing on environmentguardian.co.uk today, Rajendra Pachauri, the chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also dismisses suggestions that he is personally profiting from policies to tackle global warming.
Climate sceptics gained media attention in the run up to the Copenhagen climate summit after alleging that hacked emails between senior climate scientists showed that an important temperature record was flawed -- a charge rejected by governments and scientific bodies. In Australia, sceptics within the party led to the ousting of the leader of the opposition over new climate laws.
It is often said by perceptive observers that a disconnect is in evidence in many countries between a public that want stringent action to tackle climate change and what governments are actually doing. The United States, for example - which for many years has had no forward-looking policies in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) - is still encumbered with a large number of senators unwilling to act on account of partisanship or scepticism about the science of climate change. It is a well-known fact that powerful vested interests and those opposed to action on climate change are working overtime to see that they can stall action for as long as possible.
The United States, for example - which for many years has had no forward-looking policies in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) - is still encumbered with a large number of senators unwilling to act on account of partisanship or scepticism about the science of climate change.
It is a well-known fact that powerful vested interests and those opposed to action on climate change are working overtime to see that they can stall action for as long as possible.
S. Res. 98, 1997, 95:0, 5NV
(1) the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations in Kyoto in December 1997, or thereafter, which would-- (A) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex I Parties, unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties within the same compliance period, or (B) would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States; and (2) any such protocol or other agreement which would require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification should be accompanied by a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement the protocol or other agreement and should also be accompanied by an analysis of the detailed financial costs and other impacts on the economy of the United States which would be incurred by the implementation of the protocol or other agreement.
(2) any such protocol or other agreement which would require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification should be accompanied by a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement the protocol or other agreement and should also be accompanied by an analysis of the detailed financial costs and other impacts on the economy of the United States which would be incurred by the implementation of the protocol or other agreement.
A "large number of senators unwilling to act" unless they are guaranteed revenue.
Possibly related news:
Siebel's Stealth Carbon Startup C3 Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Democrats who voted with Johanns were: Max Baucus (Mont.), Evan Bayh (Ind.), Mark Begich (Alaska), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Herb Kohl (Wis.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Jim Webb (Va.).
On climate change, mind...
I hope that the procedure will continue to go through the EPA. Something useful might come out of that.
Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who has been leading the charge to keep cap-and-trade prospects alive, noted that when Republicans controlled Congress, they used the tactic of budget reconciliation to pass a number of contentious issues. A measure that Boxer and fellow cap-and-trade supporter Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) put forward today would have neutered the Johanns amendment, but it failed by a vote of 42-56.
A measure that Boxer and fellow cap-and-trade supporter Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) put forward today would have neutered the Johanns amendment, but it failed by a vote of 42-56.
douchebags Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
A spill of around 150,000 litres of diesel oil from a broken pipeline in northwestern China into a river has started reaching the Yellow River, but drinking water is safe for now, state media said on Monday. The leak, from a pipeline owned by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in Shaanxi province, was discovered on Wednesday. The company turned off the tap when the accident happened, according to state media, but not before some of the diesel ended up in the Weihe River, a tributary of the Yellow River, a major water source for millions of people.
The leak, from a pipeline owned by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in Shaanxi province, was discovered on Wednesday.
The company turned off the tap when the accident happened, according to state media, but not before some of the diesel ended up in the Weihe River, a tributary of the Yellow River, a major water source for millions of people.
A combination of frigid weather, expectations of an improving economy and new tensions between Russia and Belarus catapulted crude oil prices above $81 a barrel on Monday. But most energy analysts said it was too soon to predict that prices would go much higher or even remain at current levels. Energy markets are beginning the year with a string of reports that could help push prices higher. Traders took reports of increased manufacturing activity and passenger car sales in December as signs that the economy was on the mend. Meanwhile, India reported a substantial increase in oil imports.
But most energy analysts said it was too soon to predict that prices would go much higher or even remain at current levels.
Energy markets are beginning the year with a string of reports that could help push prices higher. Traders took reports of increased manufacturing activity and passenger car sales in December as signs that the economy was on the mend. Meanwhile, India reported a substantial increase in oil imports.
The United States experienced its coldest winter in nine years in December as snow storms swept across the country, private weather forecaster Planalytics said on Monday. Every region in the United States trended colder than normal, Planalytics said, which helped boost energy prices as consumers nationwide turned up their heating. "Following the warmest November since 2001, the month of December 2009 ended the coldest since 2000," Planalytics said on Monday.
Every region in the United States trended colder than normal, Planalytics said, which helped boost energy prices as consumers nationwide turned up their heating.
"Following the warmest November since 2001, the month of December 2009 ended the coldest since 2000," Planalytics said on Monday.
NASA's Kepler space telescope, designed to find Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, has discovered its first five new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system. Kepler's high sensitivity to both small and large planets enabled the discovery of the exoplanets, named Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b and 8b. The discoveries were announced Monday, Jan. 4, by the members of the Kepler science team during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington. "These observations contribute to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust disks that give rise to both the stars and their planets," said William Borucki of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Borucki is the mission's science principal investigator. "The discoveries also show that our science instrument is working well. Indications are that Kepler will meet all its science goals."
Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision. The policy was designed 33 years ago to protect trade secrets in a highly competitive industry. But critics -- including the Obama administration -- say the secrecy has grown out of control, making it impossible for regulators to control potential dangers or for consumers to know which toxic substances they might be exposed to. At a time of increasing public demand for more information about chemical exposure, pressure is building on lawmakers to make it more difficult for manufacturers to cloak their products in secrecy. Congress is set to rewrite chemical regulations this year for the first time in a generation.
Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision.
The policy was designed 33 years ago to protect trade secrets in a highly competitive industry. But critics -- including the Obama administration -- say the secrecy has grown out of control, making it impossible for regulators to control potential dangers or for consumers to know which toxic substances they might be exposed to.
At a time of increasing public demand for more information about chemical exposure, pressure is building on lawmakers to make it more difficult for manufacturers to cloak their products in secrecy. Congress is set to rewrite chemical regulations this year for the first time in a generation.
They said the company strongly supports keeping sensitive business information out of public view. "This is essential for ensuring the long-term competitiveness of U.S. industry," the officials said in the statement.
No mention whatsoever of REACH in that arrticle... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
The nation's top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government's intelligence assets -- including spy satellites and other classified sensors -- to assess the hidden complexities of environmental change. They seek insights from natural phenomena like clouds and glaciers, deserts and tropical forests. The collaboration restarts an effort the Bush administration shut down and has the strong backing of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In the last year, as part of the effort, the collaborators have scrutinized images of Arctic sea ice from reconnaissance satellites in an effort to distinguish things like summer melts from climate trends, and they have had images of the ice pack declassified to speed the scientific analysis. The trove of images is "really useful," said Norbert Untersteiner, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in polar ice and is a member of the team of spies and scientists behind the effort. Scientists, Dr. Untersteiner said, "have no way to send out 500 people" across the top of the world to match the intelligence gains, adding that the new understandings might one day result in ice forecasts.
The collaboration restarts an effort the Bush administration shut down and has the strong backing of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In the last year, as part of the effort, the collaborators have scrutinized images of Arctic sea ice from reconnaissance satellites in an effort to distinguish things like summer melts from climate trends, and they have had images of the ice pack declassified to speed the scientific analysis.
The trove of images is "really useful," said Norbert Untersteiner, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in polar ice and is a member of the team of spies and scientists behind the effort.
Scientists, Dr. Untersteiner said, "have no way to send out 500 people" across the top of the world to match the intelligence gains, adding that the new understandings might one day result in ice forecasts.
In seeking the historical designation, the Wampanoag tribes -- whose name translates to "people of the first light" -- said their view to the east across Nantucket Sound was integral to their identity and cultural traditions. "Here is where we still arrive to greet the new day, watch for celestial observations in the night sky and follow the migration of the sun and stars in change with the season," wrote Bettina Washington, historic preservation officer for the Aquinnah Wampanoag, in a letter to federal officials. "The sound is part of a larger, culturally significant landscape treasured by the Wampanoag tribes and inseparably associated with their history," wrote Janet Snyder Matthews, who was the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places until she left the park service in December. The tribes also argued that the wind turbines, which would be 440 feet tall, could destroy long-submerged tribal artifacts from thousands of years ago, when the sound was dry land. Such artifacts could "yield further confirmation of our cultural histories," Ms. Washington wrote.
In seeking the historical designation, the Wampanoag tribes -- whose name translates to "people of the first light" -- said their view to the east across Nantucket Sound was integral to their identity and cultural traditions.
"Here is where we still arrive to greet the new day, watch for celestial observations in the night sky and follow the migration of the sun and stars in change with the season," wrote Bettina Washington, historic preservation officer for the Aquinnah Wampanoag, in a letter to federal officials.
"The sound is part of a larger, culturally significant landscape treasured by the Wampanoag tribes and inseparably associated with their history," wrote Janet Snyder Matthews, who was the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places until she left the park service in December.
The tribes also argued that the wind turbines, which would be 440 feet tall, could destroy long-submerged tribal artifacts from thousands of years ago, when the sound was dry land. Such artifacts could "yield further confirmation of our cultural histories," Ms. Washington wrote.
you are the media you consume.
Canada's Industry Minister, Tony Clement, has given PetroChina the go-ahead for a 1.7 billion US dollars acquisition of two oil sand projects. The deal gives the Chinese company 60% control of Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation's MacKay and Dover oil sands deposits in Alberta province. The two are projected to yield five million barrels of oil, according to the company... Only in the past few years has the price of oil been high enough to make it worthwhile... Canada's industry minister, Tony Clement, said: "I am satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada." He said the Chinese company made a commitment to contribute more than 250 million to cover its share of developing the oil sand projects over the next three years, as well as boosting employment and managing a regional office in the area for a period of five years. The deal was originally agreed two months ago.
The deal gives the Chinese company 60% control of Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation's MacKay and Dover oil sands deposits in Alberta province. The two are projected to yield five million barrels of oil, according to the company...
Only in the past few years has the price of oil been high enough to make it worthwhile...
Canada's industry minister, Tony Clement, said: "I am satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada."
He said the Chinese company made a commitment to contribute more than 250 million to cover its share of developing the oil sand projects over the next three years, as well as boosting employment and managing a regional office in the area for a period of five years. The deal was originally agreed two months ago.
