Social Democrat Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel called on Merkel and Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg to give up their nuclear course in order to preserve "the security of German citizens." In an interview with Berlin's Tagesspiegel daily, Gabriel said "the recent incidents in Krümmel prove we cannot justify the protracted use of older power plants." Indeed the Kruemmel reactor in the northern state of Schleswig Holstein only roared back to life at the end of June after a fire in 2007 forced its closure for two full years. And in the few days since its reopening, the plant has twice been removed from the national grid. Action not investigation The plant's Swedish operators, Vattenfall, say the latest shutdown, which put out the majority of traffic lights across Hamburg and left thousands of homes in the region with a reduced electricity supply, was the result of a short-circuit. They say they are investigating the cause, and have not indicated when normal operations might resume.
Social Democrat Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel called on Merkel and Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg to give up their nuclear course in order to preserve "the security of German citizens."
In an interview with Berlin's Tagesspiegel daily, Gabriel said "the recent incidents in Krümmel prove we cannot justify the protracted use of older power plants."
Indeed the Kruemmel reactor in the northern state of Schleswig Holstein only roared back to life at the end of June after a fire in 2007 forced its closure for two full years. And in the few days since its reopening, the plant has twice been removed from the national grid.
Action not investigation
The plant's Swedish operators, Vattenfall, say the latest shutdown, which put out the majority of traffic lights across Hamburg and left thousands of homes in the region with a reduced electricity supply, was the result of a short-circuit. They say they are investigating the cause, and have not indicated when normal operations might resume.
France on Friday rejected a report by the European Union's food safety watchdog that said a controversial strain of genetically-modified corn was safe. In a joint statement, the French ecology and agriculture ministries said the Italy-based European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had failed to take into account requests to change the way it evaluated the risk. "The conclusions of the council of European environment ministers must be respected," the statement said, referring to a December 4, 2008 decision, approved unanimously, that had called on the agency to overhaul its assessment methods. France and five other EU members -- Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg -- have suspended sowing of Monsanto's MON810 maize, invoking safeguard clauses on the grounds of potential environmental hazard. On Tuesday, EFSA's GMO panel declared that the product was safe both for health and the environment. A gene inserted into the maize that makes it pest-resistant "does not raise any safety concern, and ... sufficient evidence for the stability of the genetic modification was provided," the panel said. The French statement noted that 12 EU states had written to EFSA less than two months earlier. On May 6, the 12 had called on the agency to ensure that safety assessments also cover any impact on other forms of wildlife and whether pests could develop resistance, as well as other criteria.
In a joint statement, the French ecology and agriculture ministries said the Italy-based European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had failed to take into account requests to change the way it evaluated the risk.
"The conclusions of the council of European environment ministers must be respected," the statement said, referring to a December 4, 2008 decision, approved unanimously, that had called on the agency to overhaul its assessment methods.
France and five other EU members -- Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg -- have suspended sowing of Monsanto's MON810 maize, invoking safeguard clauses on the grounds of potential environmental hazard.
On Tuesday, EFSA's GMO panel declared that the product was safe both for health and the environment.
A gene inserted into the maize that makes it pest-resistant "does not raise any safety concern, and ... sufficient evidence for the stability of the genetic modification was provided," the panel said.
The French statement noted that 12 EU states had written to EFSA less than two months earlier.
On May 6, the 12 had called on the agency to ensure that safety assessments also cover any impact on other forms of wildlife and whether pests could develop resistance, as well as other criteria.
Denmark's Minister for Climate Connie Hedegaard said here Friday there was no "Plan B" if negotiations broke down for an ambitious climate accord at a December world summit in Copenhagen. "It's clear, we are not working for a Plan B," Hedegaard said after a ministerial meeting of 29 countries from all continents to boost the talks that she said were going too slowly. "To seal a deal in Copenhagen is a political challenge, not a technical one," Hedegaard said at a press conference in this western Greenland town, adding that the Greenland Dialogue launched by Denmark in 2005 was providing "political guidance" to the negotiations. "On emission reductions, participants agreed that developed countries should explore how they can strengthen the ambition of their contribition and that developing countries' action must be strengthened -- all in order to meet the demands of science," the minister said.
"It's clear, we are not working for a Plan B," Hedegaard said after a ministerial meeting of 29 countries from all continents to boost the talks that she said were going too slowly.
"To seal a deal in Copenhagen is a political challenge, not a technical one," Hedegaard said at a press conference in this western Greenland town, adding that the Greenland Dialogue launched by Denmark in 2005 was providing "political guidance" to the negotiations.
"On emission reductions, participants agreed that developed countries should explore how they can strengthen the ambition of their contribition and that developing countries' action must be strengthened -- all in order to meet the demands of science," the minister said.
Energy Pool "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. -- 13 times the number who authored the U.N.'s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world's first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak "frankly" of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming "the worst scientific scandal in history." Norway's Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the "new religion." A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton's Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists' open letter.) The collapse of the "consensus" has been driven by reality. The inconvenient truth is that the earth's temperatures have flat-lined since 2001, despite growing concentrations of C02. Peer-reviewed research has debunked doomsday scenarios about the polar ice caps, hurricanes, malaria, extinctions, rising oceans. A global financial crisis has politicians taking a harder look at the science that would require them to hamstring their economies to rein in carbon.
The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. -- 13 times the number who authored the U.N.'s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world's first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak "frankly" of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming "the worst scientific scandal in history." Norway's Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the "new religion." A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton's Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists' open letter.)
The collapse of the "consensus" has been driven by reality. The inconvenient truth is that the earth's temperatures have flat-lined since 2001, despite growing concentrations of C02. Peer-reviewed research has debunked doomsday scenarios about the polar ice caps, hurricanes, malaria, extinctions, rising oceans. A global financial crisis has politicians taking a harder look at the science that would require them to hamstring their economies to rein in carbon.
Inhofe's Office claims "More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims." Yet the vast majority of those names are simply repeated from a 2007 list that was widely debunked, see Inhofe recycles unscientific attacks on global warming" and here and here and here. Let me repeat what I wrote at the time. "Padded" would be an extremely generous description of this list of "prominent scientists." Some would use the word "laughable." For instance, since when have economists, who are pervasive on this list, become scientists, and why should we care what they think about climate science?...Then we have the likes of this from Inhofe's list: CBS Chicago affiliate Chief Meteorologist Steve Baskerville expressed skepticism that there is a "consensus" about mankind's role in global warming. Wow, a TV weatherman expressed skepticism. If only the IPCC had been told of this in time, they could have scrapped their entire report.
Inhofe's Office claims "More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims."
Yet the vast majority of those names are simply repeated from a 2007 list that was widely debunked, see Inhofe recycles unscientific attacks on global warming" and here and here and here. Let me repeat what I wrote at the time.
"Padded" would be an extremely generous description of this list of "prominent scientists." Some would use the word "laughable." For instance, since when have economists, who are pervasive on this list, become scientists, and why should we care what they think about climate science?
...
Then we have the likes of this from Inhofe's list:
CBS Chicago affiliate Chief Meteorologist Steve Baskerville expressed skepticism that there is a "consensus" about mankind's role in global warming.
Wow, a TV weatherman expressed skepticism. If only the IPCC had been told of this in time, they could have scrapped their entire report.
