New Brunswick Climate Change Hub
News Monitoring | November 22 – 28, 2008
*old, but still relevant:
CNews | Vivian Song | November 15, 2008
Got a spare Earth anywhere?
We're using the planet's resources way faster than nature can possibly replace them
If the world continues to pillage and plunder Earth's natural resources at the rate we are now, by 2030 we
will need two planets to support us. If everyone on Earth consumed the equivalent resources of
Canadians, it would take three Earths to meet the demand. Since the late 1980s, we have been in
overshoot -- meaning our ecological footprint has exceeded Earth's biocapacity to sustain our rate of
consumption -- by about 30%. [more]
The Montreal Gazette | Dan Gardner | October 27, 2008
Don't believe in climate change? You still need a carbon tax
Whenever I write about the urgent need to act on climate change, I hear from folks who say there is no
such need. Climate change is bunk, they say. For today only, let's say they're right. Who knows? They
might be. Scientific conclusions are never absolutely certain. Maybe all those thousands of scientists are
wrong. Maybe the national science academies of the world screwed up when they issued a joint
statement declaring the problem to be real and urgent. Anything's possible. And it would be awfully nice if
the whole thing is nothing more than a colossal oopsy. [more]
The Ottawa Citizen | Tom Spears | July 15, 2008
Global warming may expand 'kidney stone belt'
OTTAWA - One of the first direct impacts that global warming has on our health may hit us where it hurts:
In the kidneys. People will develop more kidney stones in a hotter climate, because the heat tends to
make us dehydrated and that causes the stones to form, two Texas urologists say. [more]
http://www.marklynas.org/2008/11/21/world-saved-planet-doomed
November 22
TIME | Bryan Walsh | November 22, 2008
Is Obama's Energy Plan Enough?
With the possible exception of Barack Obama's puppy-anticipating daughters, no one is more eagerly
awaiting the incoming Administration than the leaders of the renewable-energy industries. President-elect
Obama campaigned on the promise to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to support alternative
energy, like wind and solar, as well as the green jobs that the sector has the potential to create. At
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate summit on Nov. 18, Obama, in taped remarks,
reaffirmed that he would hold fast to those campaign promises, starting with mandatory caps on
greenhouse gas emissions. "This is a crucial step forward," says Linda Church Ciocci, the executive
director of the National Hydropower Association. [more]
AlterNet | Herve Kempf | November 22, 2008
How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth
We've got to think about our choices for the future collectively, seeking cooperation rather than
competition. [more]
The Guardian | Tania Branigan | November 22, 2008
Soil erosion to cut harvests in China's breadbasket by 40%
Almost 100 million people in south-west China will lose the land they live on within 35 years if soil erosion
continues at its current rate, a nationwide survey has found. Crops and water supplies are suffering
serious damage as earth is washed and blown away across a third of the country, according to the largest
study for 60 years. Harvests in the north-east, known as China's breadbasket, will fall 40% within half a
century on current trends, even as the 1.3 billion population continues to grow. [more]
The Guardian | Alok Jha and Bobbie Johnson | November 22, 2008
San Francisco Bay to be electric car capital
• Plan predicts 1m petrol vehicles replaced by 2015
• Charging points to be on offer throughout cities
Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay area - home to 7.6
million people - into one of the world's leading centres for electric vehicles. [more]
The Guardian | Sue Branford | November 22, 2008
Food crisis leading to an unsustainable land grab
Private companies across the world are buying huge quantities of foreign land for the mass
production of food. Sue Branford wonders if this quick-fix solution risks creating an even bigger
environmental crisis
The world map is being redrawn. Over the past six months, China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and other nations have been buying and leasing huge quantities of foreign land for the production
of food or biofuels for domestic consumption. It's a modern day version of the 19th-century scramble for
Africa. This year's bubble in food prices – driven by financial speculators, biofuels and compounded when
some countries halted food exports to ensure their own supplies – led to pain for nations dependent on
imports. [more]
November 23
The Sunday Times | John-Paul Flintoff | November 23, 2008
Energy: How low can you go?
To take the heat out of global warming we must take radical action, learning to live on half the
energy we currently consume. John-Paul Flintoff tries the low-watt diet.
Somewhere upstairs, my wife is sitting in bright light beside a warm radiator, sipping tea, flicking through
glossy magazines as she blow-dries her hair, and consuming in 30 minutes about half the energy used by
the typical Bangladeshi all day. And I’m trying to make up for that. I’m sitting in the dark. The heating is
off. I’m wearing two jumpers, a hat and a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves I improvised out of old
socks that had gone at the ankle. I’m writing this on an ancient manual typewriter. It’s not easy. [more]
The Associated Press | Daniel Woolls | November 23, 2008
Solar panels on top of mausoleums helps give power to Spanish town
MADRID, Spain - A new kind of silent hero has joined the fight against climate change. Santa Coloma de
Gramenet, a gritty, working-class town outside Barcelona, has placed a sea of solar panels atop
mausoleums at its cemetery. The move has transformed a place of perpetual rest into one buzzing with
renewable energy. [more]
The Observer | Ed Pikington | November 23, 2008
The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air
Water, Water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink. The plight of the Ancient Mariner is about to be
alleviated thanks to a firm of eco-inventors from Canada who claim to have found the solution to the
world's worsening water shortages by drawing the liquid of life from an unlimited and untapped source the air. [more]
The Observer | John Vidal | November 23, 2008
Coal's return raises pollution threat
Rising prices are spurring plans for a big increase in mining despite a threat to climate change
goals
Britain is poised to expand its coal mining industry, despite fears that the move will lead to a rise in
climate change emissions and harm communities and the environment. Freedom of information requests
and council records show that in the past 18 months 14 companies have applied to dig nearly 60 million
tonnes of coal from 58 new or enlarged opencast mines. [more]
November 24
The Wall Street Journal | November 24, 2008
Rubber Duckies to Help Track Speed of Melting Glaciers
Challenged to probe under Greenland's glaciers, NASA robotics expert Alberto Behar wondered what
mechanism might endure sub-zero cold, the pressure of mile-thick ice and currents that sometimes
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exceed the flow rate of Niagara Falls. It was a daunting engineering proposition, even for someone
experienced in conceiving robot explorers suitable for Mars and the moons of Jupiter. [more]
The Guardian | Ben Willis | November 24, 2008
Listen to the children
Many older-generation Filipinos view the effects of climate change with resignation - but not so younger
people. [more]
Reuters | Olivia Rondonuwu | November 24, 2008
Trees for kids: Indonesia's way of beating global warming
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian city battling the effects of deforestation has come up with a novel
way of tackling the problem. Would-be families must plant a tree. "Everyone who wants to get married or
apply for a birth certificate must plant a tree," Syahrum Syah Setia, the head of Balikpapan city's
Environmental Impact Management Agency, said. [more]
The Guardian | Alok Jha | November 24, 2008
Forest protection plan could displace millions, say campaigners
Livelihoods of 60m indigenous people at risk from plans to tackle climate change by protecting
forests, says Friends of the Earth
International proposals to protect forests to tackle climate change could displace millions of indigenous
people and fail to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, according to environmentalists. Friends of
the Earth International (FoE) will argue in a report to be published on Thursday, that plans to slow the
decline of forests, which would see rich countries pay for the protection of forests in tropical regions, are
open to abuse by corrupt politicians or illegal logging companies. [more]
The Guardian |David Hencke| November 24, 2008
Environment Agency chairman urges government to launch 'green new deal'
Former culture secretary Lord Smith to call for a comprehensive long-term environmental strategy
Lord Smith, the former cabinet minister and chairman of the Environment Agency, will today call on the
government to follow US President-elect Barack Obama and launch a multi-billion pound "green new
deal" to boost clean energy and create jobs. [more]
November 25
Bloomberg | Alex Morales | November 25, 2008
Oceans Acidifying Faster Than Predicted, Threatening Shellfish
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Oceans are acidifying 10 times faster than predicted, threatening heightened
damage to coral reefs and shellfish, University of Chicago scientists said. Researchers took more than
24,000 pH measurements over eight years and found the rate at which the ocean is becoming more
acidic correlates with the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, or CO2, the university said in a
statement. When CO2, which helps cause global warming, dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid.
“The acidity increased more than 10 times faster than had been predicted by climate change models and
other studies,” University of Chicago ecology and evolution professor Timothy Wootton said in the
statement. “This increase will have a severe impact on marine food webs and suggests that ocean
acidification may be a more urgent issue than previously thought.” [more]
Discovery News | Michael Reilly | November 25, 2008
Tibetan glaciers rapidly melting
Glaciers high in the Himalayas are dwindling faster than anyone thought, putting nearly a billion people
living in South Asia in peril of losing their water supply. Throughout India, China, and Nepal, some 15,000
glaciers speckle the Tibetan Plateau. There, perched in thin, frigid air up to 7200 metres above sea level,
the ice might seem secluded from the effects of global warming. But just the opposite is proving true,
according to new research [more]
The Guardian | Terry Macalister | November 25, 2008
Duty on long-haul flights and funding for wind energy do not satisfy green
campaigners
Airline passenger duty (APD) on flights to destinations such as Thailand, South Africa and the Seychelles
will increase by 25% from next year and by will rise by half from that in 2010.
3
Alistair Darling said the move would benefit the environment, but his decision to have a more draconian
flight tax and to give only a small boost to a low-carbon economy angered the green movement. [more]
Bloomberg | Mathew Carr | November 25, 2008
Brazil, Mexico Lawmakers Back Poor-Nation CO2 Limits (Update1)
Brazilian and Mexican lawmakers backed a proposal to impose greenhouse-gas limits on some
developing countries after 2020 as long as the richest nations first curb their output of emissions blamed
for global warming. [more]
Bloomberg | Joe Schneider | November 25, 2008
Canadian Groups Appeal Dismissal of Kyoto Suits (Update1)
Canadian environmental groups appealed last month’s judge’s decision to throw out three lawsuits
accusing the federal government of failing to draft a plan to meet pollution-reduction goals.
“If the federal court’s decision was left unchallenged, Canada’s woeful inaction on the climate change
crisis would be allowed to continue despite domestic law that clearly states the government must act,”
Hugh Wilkins, a Canada Ecojustice lawyer, said today in a statement. “We simply cannot stand by while
the government picks and chooses which laws to enforce.” [more]
CNN.com | Matthew Knight | November 25, 2008
Carbon dioxide levels already a danger
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A team of international scientists led by Dr James Hansen, director of
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, say that carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels are already in the
danger zone. Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere currently stand at 385 parts per million (ppm) and
are rising at a rate of two ppm per year. This is enough, say the scientists, to encourage dangerous
changes to the Earth's climate. [more]
Bloomberg | Adam Satariano | November 25, 2008
World’s Greenhouse Gases Hit Record Ahead of Talks (Update1)
Heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming rose to their highest level last year, the United Nations
said in a report indicating efforts to curb emissions have failed without the participation of the world’s
biggest polluters. Carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas, climbed 0.5 percent in 2007
from a year earlier, the same growth rate as in 2006, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said
today in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin from Geneva. Greenhouse gases trap radiation within the
atmosphere, causing the Earth to warm. [more]
Bloomberg | Angela Macdonald-Smith | November 25, 2008
Geodynamics, Macquarie Generation Win Renewable Energy Funding
Geodynamics Ltd., the Australian company seeking to produce power from hot underground rocks, and
state-owned Macquarie Generation were among companies granted A$27 million ($17 million) of funds
for renewable energy plants. [more]
November 26
Civil Society | Janice Harvey | November 26, 2008
Consumption is killing us
It makes for an interesting juxtaposition of worldviews: Just five days before North America's "Buy Nothing
Day" (Nov. 28), Prime Minister Harper declared that to stem the economic downward spiral, Canadians
need to buy more stuff. That's because our economy is totally dependent on consumer spending, or
"consumer confidence." [more]
The Canadian Press | November 26, 2008
UN talks chance for Canada to restore climate-change cred: environmentalists
OTTAWA - A coalition of environmental groups says Canada can restore its credibility on the world stage
at the coming round of climate-change talks in Poland. [more]
The Daily Gleaner | Andrea Dimock | November 26, 2008
City merchants work toward a 'green' Christmas
Green is the colour of the holidays, from the trees that dominate the living room to the lights that adorn
our homes and businesses. Green is also fast becoming the colour of aware businesses in the
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Fredericton area. Green Shops is a new initiative springing from the city's Green Matters program.
Introduced in May and piloted throughout the summer, it was officially launched in October. [more]
chinadaily.com | Li Jing | November 26,2008
Warm winter 'major threat' to crops
Prolonged periods of drought resulting from China's 23rd consecutive "warm winter" will pose a serious
threat to the country's crop yields, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a report
published Tuesday. Some regions could experience droughts until the spring, the report said, adding that
the warm weather might even continue until summer. [more]
Planet Ark | Philip Pullella | November 26,2008
Vatican Set To Go Green With Huge Solar Panel Roof
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican was set to go green on Wednesday with the activation of a new solar
energy system to power several key buildings and a commitment to use renewable energy for 20 percent
of its needs by 2020. The massive roof of the Vatican's "Nervi Hall", where popes hold general audiences
and concerts are performed, has been covered with 2,400 photovoltaic panels -- but they will not be
visible from below, leaving the Vatican skyline unchanged. [more]
November 27
The Daily Gleaner | Michael Staples | November 27, 2008
City teen to discuss climate change with peers at conference in Poland
It's a chance to make a difference and Taryn McKenzie-Mohr intends to take full advantage of it. The 17year-old Grade 12 student at Fredericton High School is one of three people from the city selected to
attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set to run Dec. 1-12 in Poznan,
Poland. [more]
The Daily Gleaner | Heather McLaughlin | November 27, 2008
City waiting for verdict on climate change program
How much progress is Fredericton making with its Green Matters initiative? Fredericton officials are
hoping to soon hear back from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities - the auditor of the capital city's
figures - on whether the city is winning or losing the war to curb greenhouse gases. [more]
Physorg.com | November 27,2008
2008 saw record-breaking hurricane season: US agency
The record-breaking 2008 hurricane season, which officially ends on Sunday, has been one of the most
active since comprehensive reports began 64 years ago, a US government agency said Wednesday.
For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones -- Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and
Ike -- struck the US mainland and three major hurricanes -- Gustav, Ike and Paloma -- made landfall in
Cuba, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [more]
Bloomberg | Jonathan Stearns | November 27, 2008
Poland Accuses Germany, U.K. of Intransigence in Climate Talks
Poland pressed Germany, the U.K. and other rich European Union nations to scale back a plan for
tougher emission rules on electricity companies or risk deadlock over a climate-change package at an EU
summit next month.
The Polish government reiterated that forcing utilities to buy all their carbon-dioxide emission allowances
beginning in 2013 would increase electricity prices too much in Poland, which depends on coal for power
production. EU CO2 quotas on energy and manufacturing companies are made up of allowances now
granted largely for free. [more]
Fox News | Julhas Alam | November 27, 2008
Bangladeshis rally against climate change
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Some 500 women rallied in Bangladesh's capital on Thursday,
demanding richer nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions and compensate the impoverished
countries that experts believe will be hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.
The women, mostly rural poor, wore masks mocking leaders from wealthy nations such as France, Britain
and the United States, and marched through Dhaka University's campus carrying banners that read "Cut
emissions, save poor nations" and "Stop harming, start helping." [more]
5
Planet Ark | Benet Koleka | November 27, 2008
Europe bank aids Albania's waste paper recycling efforts
TIRANA - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will invest in Albania's only paper firm
to help it produce recycled paper and set up waste paper recycling networks, the EBRD said on
Wednesday. Dan Berg, the EBRD's Albania head, said the investment would create a precedent with
environmentally friendly production backed by an organized collection and recycling network. [more]
November 28
Planet Ark | Scott Anderson | November 28, 2008
Canada's Loblaw To Charge For Plastic Shopping Bags
TORONTO - Loblaw Co, Canada's biggest supermarket chain, said on Thursday that it will start charging
customers a fee for every plastic shopping bag they use. The company, with more than 1,000 grocery
stores across Canada, said it would begin charging customers 5 Canadian cents a bag on April 22, 2009,
which is Earth Day. [more]
Planet Ark | Alistair Thomson | November 28, 2008
Sahel Africans Face Hunger Despite Bumper Harvest
DAKAR - Poor people in Africa's arid Sahel region will go without food despite bumper harvests this year,
as wild price moves on world markets put staple cereals beyond many families' budgets, aid agencies
say. Prices of imported foods have ballooned in recent years, pushing up prices for locally grown crops
even though harvests are expected to be bigger than ever after abundant rains. [more]
LiveScience.com | Robert Roy Britt | November 28, 2008
Wind Farms Could Change Weather
A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and alter the weather if extensive fields
of turbines were built, according to a news report. It is not the first study to come to this conclusion. The
new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of large wind turbines would have to be taken
to the extreme to have the global effects portrayed. [more]
Bloomberg | Katarzyna Klimasinska | November 28, 2008
Poland May Build First Nuclear Power Plant by 2023 in Zarnowiec
Poland, which generates 93 percent of its electricity from coal, is considering building its first nuclear
plant by 2023 in the northern town of Zarnowiec, as it seeks to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from power
generation. [more]
*old, but still relevant:
CNews | Vivian Song | November 15, 2008
Got a spare Earth anywhere?
We're using the planet's resources way faster than nature can possibly replace them
If the world continues to pillage and plunder Earth's natural resources at the rate we are now, by 2030 we
will need two planets to support us.
If everyone on Earth consumed the equivalent resources of Canadians, it would take three Earths to meet
the demand.
Since the late 1980s, we have been in overshoot -- meaning our ecological footprint has exceeded
Earth's biocapacity to sustain our rate of consumption -- by about 30%.
These are just some of the stark warnings sounded in the WWF's latest Living Planet Report, released
last month and co-authored by the Zoological Society of London and The Global Footprint Network, and
published biannually.
"We are borrowing from our children to live beyond our means and our children will pay the price," said
Gerald Butts, president of WWF Canada.
What's happening is simple: Earth's regenerative capacity can no longer keep with demand, the report
says.
"People are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources."
In financial terms -- a language skeptics and laggards like to evoke when sounding off on the environment
-- humanity is no longer living off nature's interest, but drawing down its capital.
6
In 2005, the global ecological footprint was 17.5 billion global hectares (gha), or 2.7 gha per person -also described as the world-average ability to produce resources and absorb wastes. But on the supply
side, biocapacity was 13.6 billion gha, or 2.1 gha per person.
New this year is also a water footprint index, which measures the world's consumption of fresh water
resources. While water isn't considered a scarce resource globally, polluted waters, uneven distribution
and availability are contributing to water stresses experienced by 50 countries.
Not only are we "borrowing from our children," but humans are blatantly stealing resources from other
species who share this planet with us.
Since 1970, there's been a 30% decline in nearly 5,000 populations of 1,686 animal species, the report
found. Deforestation and land conversions in the tropics, dams, diversions, climate change, pollution and
over-fishing are killing species off, the reverberations of which are felt along the food chain.
In 2005, the single largest demand humanity put on the biosphere was -- no surprise here -- the carbon
footprint, which grew more than 10-fold from 1961.
Below are some other key points the report found:
- Canada has the seventh largest ecological footprint in the world.
- Roughly half of Canada's footprint is a result of its carbon footprint, which comes mostly from
transportation, heating and electricity consumption.
- Canada has the 12th largest water footprint. The average Canadian consumes more than two million
litres of water a year. That's like running the kitchen tap for more than 10 hours a day every day, or
flushing the toilet 1,000 times a day every day
- While Canada has large volumes of fresh water on a per capita basis, most of this water is inaccessible
to most Canadians. The result: Regional shortages both for humans and species.
- Canada's biocapacity is greater than its ecological footprint, making us an "ecological creditor country."
But the rest of the world also uses our resources as our exports dominate our economy.
- The U.S. and China have the largest national footprints, each consuming about 21% of the global
biocapacity. But in the U.S., each citizen requires an average of 9.4 gha, or nearly 4.5 planet Earths,
while the average Chinese citizen uses 2.1 gha per person, equal to one Earth.
--HOW CAN I SHOP RESPONSIBLY?
What are the "good" labels to look for? What can I trust?
It depends on where you live. Go to the website of your local WWF office, or any other environmental
organization that you trust and see what they say and recommend.
A trustworthy, reputable label found in many countries is Fairtrade.
There are also two global labels that aim to ameliorate the destruction of our forests and oceans. One is
the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and the other is the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council).
-WHERE DOES OVER-CONSUMPTION LEAD?
OVERCONSUMPTION
Let's take beef as an example. Globally we eat too much of it.
ECOLOGICAL DEBT
In fact our demand for cheap beef has meant that rainforests have been cleared and drylands (such as
savannahs) have been irrigated so that we can feed this consumption.
ECOLOGICAL DEGRADATION
But these converted lands are "marginal lands." They can only support so much before they start
degrading. So our demands have led in some areas to more cows than the land can support in the longterm.
ECOLOGICAL COLLAPSE
These lands eventually "collapse" ecologically. This means they stop giving us services. Services such as
the ability to stabilize soil, maintain its fertility and retain water, or maintain a balance between wild
species.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Environment/GreenPlanet/2008/11/15/7499501-sun.html
The Montreal Gazette | Dan Gardner | October 27, 2008
Don't believe in climate change? You still need a
carbon tax
Whenever I write about the urgent need to act on climate change, I hear from folks who say there is no
such need. Climate change is bunk, they say.
For today only, let's say they're right. Who knows? They might be. Scientific conclusions are never
absolutely certain. Maybe all those thousands of scientists are wrong. Maybe the national science
academies of the world screwed up when they issued a joint statement declaring the problem to be real
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and urgent. Anything's possible. And it would be awfully nice if the whole thing is nothing more than a
colossal oopsy.
So let's say that climate change really is bunk. Does that mean that we should forget about carbon taxes,
the development of alternative energy, and all the other steps proposed to fight climate change?
Not at all. In fact, there is only one such policy - carbon sequestration - that would be without value if
anthropogenic climate change is a mirage. In every other case, the policies proposed to fight climate
change are not only sensible, they are essential, even if climate change is dropped from the equation.
Here's a fundamental fact about modern life: We are addicted to oil. It is the lifeblood of Western
economies. If the flow of oil slows even slightly, the whole planet feels faint. If it were to slow to a trickle as it would if, for example, a war closed the Strait of Hormuz - we would fall to our knees.
It is hard to overstate how vulnerable this addiction makes us. For the sake of economic and political
security, the entire developed world must adopt policies in an effort to "destroy oil's strategic role."
That's not me I'm quoting. It's none other than James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence
Agency and national security adviser to Republican candidate John McCain.
In 1973, we were mugged by OPEC. The economic damage was profound. We took another hit when
revolution broke out in Iran - a development which put the continued flow of oil from the Persian Gulf in
doubt and forced the United States to become militarily involved in the region for the first time.
If, in the years that followed, the U.S. had spent as much on kicking its oil addiction as it did safeguarding
the supply of Persian Gulf oil, the West would be far more secure today. But it didn't. And we aren't.
And so, instead of walking away from the otherwise insignificant swamp that is the Middle East - after
telling the thugs and fanatics who rule the region to give us a call if they ever decide to straighten up and
join the modern world -the West is in the swamp up to its neck.
The recent crash in oil prices only underscores the point. Russia, Venezuela and Iran are all struggling to
balance their budgets while maintaining the military expansions, foreign adventures, and popularitybuying domestic subsidies they had previously funded with sky-high oil revenues.
Of course the petro-dictatorships' decline in fortunes is only temporary because oil prices are only falling
in tandem with the global economic slump. When slump ends, oil will rise again - taking the fortunes of
the petro-thugs with it.
And remember that peak oil is coming, if it hasn't already arrived. If we don't start the long shift away from
oil now, the vulnerability of the West will soar. Just imagine what someone like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
could do with oil at $300 a barrel.
So what do we have to do to break our addiction to oil? Pretty much exactly what we have to do to fight
climate change.
Subsidies and other incentives for conservation. The same and more for alternative energy. Heavy
investments in public transit.
And most importantly, we need to slap big taxes on oil and natural gas. That will give every business and
consumer incentives to conserve energy and demand alternatives. The free market will kick into gear and
nothing gets things done like a fully engaged free market.
Don't want to do all this? OK. But remember that every vote against carbon taxes is a vote for Hugo
Chavez; every voice raised against subsidies for alternative energy is a voice raised in favour of Iranian
theocrats; and every driver who demands cheap gas is a "useful idiot" of Vladimir Putin and the House of
Saud.
Now, personally, I think that alone clinches the case. But the benefits to be had go far beyond economic
and political security.
Remember that when we burn fossil fuels, carbon dioxide is only one of many emissions we produce.
Think of the haze that forms like a dome over cities on warm summer days. That smog is the
accumulated crap from our tailpipes and coal-fired generators and it does real harm, especially to old
people and children. The Ontario Medical Association estimated smog causes roughly 9,500 premature
deaths a year in that province alone.
If we burn less oil, gas and coal in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, we will also reduce the other
gunk in the air.
Higher taxes on gas will also encourage people to find alternatives to driving, which will reduce traffic
congestion and the accident rate.
Anything else? Well, the revenues raised from new taxes could be used to lower income and corporate
taxes. That would be nice, wouldn't it? And conservatives should be reminded that, for reasons of
economic efficiency, they have traditionally favoured shifting the tax burden to consumption taxes - which
is what a carbon tax is - instead of income taxes. It's a little odd that they recoil at making just such a shift
the moment they hear the words "climate change."
No matter. Let's not speak those words. Let's ignore climate change entirely.
Let's just do what needs to be done to fight that unmentionable phenomenon for reasons that have
absolutely nothing to do with it.
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=8048cff3-f611-47fb-a542d28c6e7ef303
The Ottawa Citizen | Tom Spears | July 15, 2008
Global warming may expand 'kidney stone belt'
OTTAWA - One of the first direct impacts that global warming has on our health may hit us where it hurts:
In the kidneys.
People will develop more kidney stones in a hotter climate, because the heat tends to make us
dehydrated and that causes the stones to form, two Texas urologists say.
Drs. Margaret Peale and Yair Lotan of the University of Texas say there's already a "kidney stone belt" in
the hot, humid U.S. southeast, stretching from Louisiana to Florida and north to Tennessee.
People in that belt run a higher risk of kidney stones than people in the rest of the United States.
Expect that belt to move north with the warmer climate, increasing kidney stone rates outside today's belt
by 30 per cent by 2050, they say in a paper published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
The study doesn't cover Canada, but it suggests changes coming close to our doorstep. Of two computer
models used in their study, one predicts most of the increase will come in central states such as Kentucky
and Kansas. But the other forecasts a greater increase in states bordering Canada such as Ohio and
Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Eastern seaboard generally.
Wherever the greatest effect happens, both models agree the kidney stone belt will expand northwards,
approaching Canada, in some way.
The study worked by comparing the rate of kidney stones reported in different geographic regions, and
comparing these with temperature records by region. From there the team looked at forecasts of how the
U.S. climate is likely to change by the year 2050.
Kidney stones are a common ailment. They affect roughly one in 10 men in North America over a lifetime,
though fewer women.
Normally, urine carries waste chemicals out of the body. But people who become dehydrated in hot
weather have trouble producing enough urine to do the job.
Mineral salts left behind can form solid crystals in the kidneys, and eventually these can develop into
painful "stones."
The link between temperature and kidney stones is well known, Peale said.
"When people relocate from areas of moderate temperature to areas with warmer climates, a rapid
increase in stone risk has been observed. This has been shown in military deployments to the Middle
East for instance."
It's the second recent piece of bad medical news for people in the U.S. Southeast.
In June, researchers reported that this area is also a "stroke belt," where the risk of stroke is about 10 per
cent higher than in other regions, and even visiting increases the risk of a fatal stroke.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/greenlife/story.html?id=5a1fc9b3-2c99-4083-abf97865dd4373a2
November 22
TIME | Bryan Walsh | November 22, 2008
Is Obama's Energy Plan Enough?
With the possible exception of Barack Obama's puppy-anticipating daughters, no one is more eagerly
awaiting the incoming Administration than the leaders of the renewable-energy industries. President-elect
Obama campaigned on the promise to spend $150 billion over the next 10 years to support alternative
energy, like wind and solar, as well as the green jobs that the sector has the potential to create. At
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's climate summit on Nov. 18, Obama, in taped remarks,
reaffirmed that he would hold fast to those campaign promises, starting with mandatory caps on
greenhouse gas emissions. "This is a crucial step forward," says Linda Church Ciocci, the executive
director of the National Hydropower Association.
The problem is, it won't be enough. As ambitious as Obama's campaign promises were — at least
compared to his predecessor's — the future state of global energy will demand government policies with
a much longer reach, according to alternative-energy leaders. The International Energy Agency's (IEA)
annual World Energy Outlook, released Nov. 12, projects that global energy demand will increase by 45%
between 2006 and 2030 — and that $26 trillion in power-supply investments will be necessary simply to
meet those needs. Barring radical changes in our energy policy — beyond what Obama has pledged —
9
greenhouse gas emissions will rise 45% by 2030, and extreme global warming would be virtually
unavoidable.
See TIME's special report on the environment.
The risks of unabated climate change are frightening: A detailed new study from the University of
California, Berkeley, predicts that severe warming could cost California alone up to $50 billion annually,
due chiefly to weather damage. "We have to have the foresight to avoid this crash," says David RolandHolst, a professor of economics at Berkeley and the author of the report. The question is: Do Obama —
and other world leaders — possess that foresight?
In a press conference last week the leaders of the solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower industries
called on Obama and the incoming Congress to look ahead. First, energy leaders asked Obama to
immediately adjust the alternative-energy production credit to provide green investors with a cash rebate,
rather than a tax reduction. With the economy tanking, simple tax credits — which Congress renewed in
October and without which the renewable-energy industry would not survive — aren't the lure they once
were for companies looking to invest in new energy projects.
Other items on the renewables industry's wish list: a national renewable-energy portfolio standard, which
would require a certain percentage of U.S. electricity to come from alternative sources. (More than 20
states already have similar standards, but a national one would be tricky, given that utility regulation in the
U.S. is localized.) Green energy leaders would also like to see an executive order that would greatly
expand the federal government's procurement of renewable energy — a smart idea, easily doable — plus
a major initiative to update and smarten the nation's aging, overworked electrical grid. That last item is a
necessity, if the country has any hope of scaling up alternatives. A report published Nov. 10 by the North
American Electric Reliability Corporation found that without drastic investment in a better grid, scaling up
intermittent renewables like wind and solar could lead to frequent blackouts. And there's no better way to
turn people off of renewable energy than to periodically plunge them into TV-less darkness.
"[The grid] is the single largest long-term issue facing wind and other renewables," says Randall Swisher,
the executive director of the American Wind Energy Association. "We can't solve the climate challenge
without the green electricity superhighways that we are calling for."
Indeed, pumping money into the renewable-energy sector while neglecting the antique electrical grid is
like building a fleet of cars without laying down roads, but it's far from clear that the government is ready
for that kind of investment. In any case, the grid is just one in a very long line of energy priorities that will
need to be addressed over the coming decades, as the IEA's report makes clear. Take oil consumption,
which the IEA predicts will rise from 86 million barrels a day to 106 million barrels by 2030 (one of the
main reasons why the days of triple-digit oil prices will return soon enough). Production at many top
oilfields is declining slowly, but that drop-off will accelerate over time. Just to make up for that decline,
we'll need to add 45 million barrels a day of capacity by 2030 — roughly four times the current capacity of
Saudi Arabia.
That's going to cost roughly $1 trillion a year for all energy investments. And if we want to increase the
share of renewables — and control the growth of greenhouse gas emissions — we'll need to spend an
additional $9.3 trillion, if we're aiming to stay below the 2 degree C warming max recommended by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (Of course, an increasing number of scientists argue that
we need to avoid even that level of warming.) "We would need concerted action from all major emitters,"
said Nabuo Tanaka, the head of the IEA.
Environmentalists point out that many actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — like improving
energy efficiency — can pay for themselves with long-term savings. But the sheer size of the figures
involved point to the need for intelligent policymaking now, before we install hundreds of new coal power
plants or begin ripping up the Rocky Mountains for oil shale.
That's why renewables-industry leaders say Obama's first priority has to be energy. If we get this wrong
now, we'll put ourselves in an enormous hole — and the consequences, as the Berkeley study makes
clear, are pretty scary themselves. "It's like guiding a supertanker to avoid a distant collision," says
Roland-Holst. It's time for all hands on deck.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1859040,00.html?imw=Y
AlterNet | Herve Kempf | November 22, 2008
How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth
We've got to think about our choices for the future collectively, seeking cooperation rather than
competition.
There is an emergency. In less than a decade we will have to change course -- assuming the collapse of
the U.S. economy or the explosion of the Middle East does not impose a change through chaos. To
confront the emergency, we must understand the objective: to achieve a sober society; to plot out the way
there; to accomplish this transformation equitably, by first making those with the most carry the burden
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within and between societies; to take inspiration from collective values ascribed to here in France by our
nation's motto: "Liberty, ecology, fraternity."
What are the main obstacles that block the way?
First of all, received wisdom -- prejudices really -- so loaded that they orient collective action without
anyone really thinking about them. The most powerful of these preconceived ideas is the belief in growth
as the sole means of resolving social problems. That position is powerfully defended even as it is
contradicted by the facts. And it is always defended by putting ecology aside because the zealots know
that growth is incapable of responding to the environmental issue.
The second of these ideas, less cocky although very broadly disseminated, proclaims that technological
progress will resolve environmental problems. This idea is propagated because it allows people to hope
we will be able to avoid any serious changes in our collective behaviors thanks to technological progress.
The development of technology, or rather of certain technical channels to the detriment of others,
reinforces the system and fosters solid profits.
The third piece of received wisdom is the inevitability of unemployment. This idea is closely linked to the
two previous ideas. Unemployment has become a given, largely manufactured by capitalism to assure
the docility of the populace and especially of the lowest level of workers. From a contrary position, the
transfer of the oligarchy's wealth for the purpose of public services, a system of taxation that weighed
more heavily on pollution and on capital than on employment, sustainable agricultural policies in the
countries of the South, and research into energy efficiency are immense sources of employment.
A fourth commonly associates Europe and North America in a community of fortune. But their paths have
diverged. Europe is still a standard-bearer for an ideal of universalism, the validity of which it
demonstrates by its ability to unite -- despite problems -- very different states and cultures. Energy
consumption, cultural values -- for example, the critical significance of food -- the rejection of the death
penalty and torture, less pronounced inequality and the maintenance of an ideal of social justice, respect
for international law, and support for the Kyoto Protocol on climate are some of the many traits that
distinguish Europe from the United States.
Europe must be separated from the obese power and draw closer to the South, unless the United States
shows it can really change.
The Oligarchy Could Be Divided
Then there are the forces at work.
The first, of course, is the power of the system itself. The failures that will occur will not in themselves be
sufficient to undo the system, since, as we have seen, they could offer the pretext to promote an
authoritarian system divested of any show of democracy.
The social movement has woken up, however, and may continue to gain power. But it alone will not be
able to carry the day in the face of the rise of repression: it will be necessary for the middle classes and
part of the oligarchy -- which is not monolithic -- to clearly take sides for public freedoms and the common
good. The mass media constitute a central challenge. Today they support capitalism because of their own
economic situation. They depend, for the most part, on advertising. That makes it difficult for them to
plead for a reduction in consumption.
On top of that, the development of free papers that depend solely on advertising further increases the
pressure on widely distributed paid newspapers, many of which have entered the stables of big industrial
groups. It's not certain that the information possibilities generated by the Internet, although immense -and for as long as these remain open -- will be adequate to counterbalance the weight of the mass media
should it wholly become the voice of the oligarchy.
Nevertheless, not all journalists are totally enthralled yet, and they could be galvanized around the ideal
of freedom.
The third, wobbly force is the left. Since its social-democratic component became its center of gravity, it
has abandoned any ambition of transforming the world. The compromise with free-market liberalism has
led the left to so totally adopt the values of free-market liberalism that it no longer dares -- except in the
most cautious terms -- to deplore social inequality. On top of that, the left displays an almost cartoonish
refusal to truly engross itself in environmental issues.
The left remains pickled in the idea of progress as it was conceived in the nineteenth century, still
believes that science is produced the same way it was in the time of Albert Einstein, and intones the
chant of economic growth without the slightest trace of critical thinking. Moreover, "social capitalism"
rather than "social democracy" is undoubtedly the more apposite term.
Nonetheless, can the challenges of the twenty-first century be addressed by the currents of tradition other
than the one that identified inequality as its primary motive for revolt?
This hiatus is at the heart of political life. The left will be reborn by uniting the causes of inequality and the
environment -- or, unfit, it will disappear in the general disorder that will sweep it and everything else
away. And yet, let us be optimistic. Optimistic, because there are ever more of us who understand -unlike all the conservatives -- the historical novelty of the situation: we are living out a new, never-seen11
before phase of the human species' history, the moment when, having conquered the Earth and reached
its limits, humanity must rethink its relationship to nature, to space, to its destiny.
We are optimistic to the extent that awareness of the importance of the current stakes becomes
pervasive, to the extent that the spirit of freedom and of solidarity is aroused. Since Seattle and the
protests against the World Trade Organization in 1999, the pendulum has begun to swing in the other
direction, toward a collective concern about the choices for the future, seeking cooperation rather than
competition.
The somewhat successful, although still incomplete, battle in Europe against GMOs, the international
community's continuance of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001 despite the United States' withdrawal, the refusal
by the peoples of Europe to participate in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the general recognition of the
urgency of climate-change challenge are signs that the wind of the future has begun to blow. Despite the
scale of the challenges that await us, solutions are emerging and -- faced with the sinister prospects the
oligarchs promote -- the desire to remake the world is being reborn.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/107988/how_the_rich_are_destroying_the_earth/
The Guardian | Tania Branigan | November 22, 2008
Soil erosion to cut harvests in China's breadbasket by
40%
Almost 100 million people in south-west China will lose the land they live on within 35 years if soil erosion
continues at its current rate, a nationwide survey has found.
Crops and water supplies are suffering serious damage as earth is washed and blown away across a
third of the country, according to the largest study for 60 years. Harvests in the north-east, known as
China's breadbasket, will fall 40% within half a century on current trends, even as the 1.3 billion
population continues to grow.
While experts said farming and forestry were the main causes of the problem in more than a third of the
area affected, the research team said erosion was damaging industrial areas and cities as well as remote
rural land.
About 4.5bn tonnes of soil are scoured away each year, at an estimated cost of 200bn yuan (£20bn) in
this decade alone.
The poor will be worst hit, warns the report from China's bio-environment security research team, with
almost three-quarters living in erosion-hit areas.
The country's 80,000 reservoirs are also affected, with sand and mud reducing their storage capacity
each year. Like soil deposits along rivers, that increases the risk of flooding.
"If we don't conduct effective measures, erosion will cause major damage to social and economic
development," Chen Lei, director of the ministry of water resources, told the official People's Daily.
Professor Mu Xingming of the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation told the Guardian that
overpopulation was largely to blame.
Story Date: 22/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/chinese-soil-erosion-farming-overpopulation
The Guardian | Alok Jha and Bobbie Johnson | November 22, 2008
San Francisco Bay to be electric car capital
• Plan predicts 1m petrol vehicles replaced by 2015
• Charging points to be on offer throughout cities
Officials in California have unveiled ambitious plans to turn the San Francisco Bay area - home to 7.6
million people - into one of the world's leading centres for electric vehicles.
If it succeeds, the strategy will see billions of dollars poured into a power infrastructure that will turn the
region away from fossil fuels and persuade millions of people to switch to green transport technology.
The plan, which will see the bay area become the first region of California to switch its transport systems
entirely away from traditional fuels, is being supported by local government as well as the state's
governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"California is already a world leader in fighting global warming and promoting renewable energy," he said.
"This partnership is proof that by working together we can achieve our goals of creating a healthier planet
while boosting our economy."
Globally, cars generate about 20% of the world's output of carbon dioxide and California's cars account
for 40% of the state's greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing around 1m petrol cars with electric cars by
2015, as is proposed under the new plans, will make a big difference.
12
At least $1bn is expected to be spent on improving green transport infrastructure to make the bay area encompassing the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, as well as Silicon Valley - the leading
centre for electric vehicles in America, and potentially around the world.
The electric transportation company Better Place will build a network of kerbside charging points across
cities in the area and create the equivalent of filling stations, where electric car owners will be able to
replace their flat batteries for fully charged ones. With a full charge on one of Better Place's batteries, a
typical car will be able to travel 100 miles, ideal for commuting around urban areas.
The local government will also work to harmonise standards across the region so that drivers of electric
vehicles can travel the length and breadth of the bay area without worrying about finding the right kind of
charging station.
Most users of the Better Place system would pay a monthly subscription for unlimited access to the
company's services. Visitors with electric cars could also use the charging points for a one-off fee.
"You can plug in any car," said Jason Wolf, the California business manager at Better Place. "In
California, everyone who's bought Teslas, everyone who has bought plug-in hybrids or electric cars that
are not in tight relationship with us, will be able to plug into our network."
Speaking at the launch yesterday, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, said: "If we're going to
get serious about advancing climate-action plans, we've got to get serious about getting into the business
of alternative transportation."
California, the world's eighth largest economy, has some of the most progressive climate-change
legislation. The state aims to reduce greenhouse gas levels to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
The plans will put California on a footing with other countries leading the attempt to introduce electric
cars, including Israel, Denmark and Australia. Last month, the Britain pledged £100m to speed the
commercial introduction of electric and low-carbon road transport to the country.
Wolf said the first cars in the California scheme would be deployed in 2010.
Story Date: 22/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/san-francisco-transport-alternative-energy-electriccar
The Guardian | Sue Branford | November 22, 2008
Food crisis leading to an unsustainable land grab
Private companies across the world are buying huge quantities of foreign land for the mass
production of food. Sue Branford wonders if this quick-fix solution risks creating an even bigger
environmental crisis
The world map is being redrawn. Over the past six months, China, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and other nations have been buying and leasing huge quantities of foreign land for the production
of food or biofuels for domestic consumption. It's a modern day version of the 19th-century scramble for
Africa.
This year's bubble in food prices – driven by financial speculators, biofuels and compounded when some
countries halted food exports to ensure their own supplies – led to pain for nations dependent on imports.
Alarm bells rang, with many governments alerted to what might lie ahead as climate change and soil
destruction reduce the supply of food on the world market. The result, a huge international land grab,
raises many troublesome issues.
Although governments are encouraging the trend, the acquisitions are generally made by the private
sector. Along with agribusiness, corporations and food traders, investment banks and private equity funds
have been jumping on board, seeing land as a safe haven from the financial storm.
Indeed, with the supply of the world's food under long-term threat, investment in land may prove a more
solid bet than earlier speculation in dotcoms and derivatives.
Yet from a global perspective, it is difficult to see how such investments can deliver long-term food
security. The investors will want a quick return. They will practise an industrial model of agriculture that in
many parts of the world has already produced poverty and environmental destruction, as well as farmchemical pollution.
Furthermore, many local communities will be evicted to make way for the foreign takeover. The
governments and investors will argue that jobs will be created and some of the food produced will be
made available for local communities, but this does not disguise what is essentially a process of
dispossession. Lands will be taken away from smallholders or forest dwellers and converted into large
industrial estates connected to distant markets.
Ironically, these very small communities may have a key role to play in helping the world confront the
interlinked climate and food crises. Many such communities have a profound knowledge of local
biodiversity and often cultivate little-known varieties of crops that can survive drought and other weather
extremes.
13
Scientific studies have shown that farming methods that are not based on fossil-fuel inputs and are under
the control of local farmers can be more productive than industrial farming and are almost always more
sustainable.
The reason why this year's food crisis had such a harsh impact, particularly in Asia and Africa, was that
many countries had been pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions to
produce food crops for external markets. They would have been far less vulnerable if they had
concentrated first and foremost on feeding their populations through local production.
Many of the countries that are rushing to outsource their food supplies should perhaps be looking first to
see if they can produce more of their food locally, even if it means carrying out difficult measures like land
reform.
By seeking a quick fix to their food shortage, they may well end up without a long-term sustainable
solution. And even if they succeed in generating a steady stream of food imports, they may simply be
exporting their food insecurity to other nations.
Story Date: 22/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/22/food-biofuels
November 23
The Sunday Times | John-Paul Flintoff | November 23, 2008
Energy: How low can you go?
To take the heat out of global warming we must take radical action, learning to live on half the
energy we currently consume. John-Paul Flintoff tries the low-watt diet.
Somewhere upstairs, my wife is sitting in bright light beside a warm radiator, sipping tea, flicking through
glossy magazines as she blow-dries her hair, and consuming in 30 minutes about half the energy used by
the typical Bangladeshi all day. And I’m trying to make up for that. I’m sitting in the dark. The heating is
off. I’m wearing two jumpers, a hat and a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves I improvised out of old
socks that had gone at the ankle. I’m writing this on an ancient manual typewriter. It’s not easy. Unlike a
computer, it doesn’t let you move blocks of text around, and there’s no word count. You can’t switch to
the internet to look something up. It’s also bone-shakingly hard work, a bit like a workout at the gym.
But I’m enjoying myself. There is no junk e-mail. And I’m extremely happy to think of all the electricity I’m
saving. Because recent calculations suggest that IT will very soon overtake aviation as a guzzler of
energy. All these videos on YouTube and unread blogs take up space on servers that suck everincreasing amounts from the grid. An avatar on the online game Second Life uses as much energy as the
average Brazilian.
Then there are all the gadgets we can’t seem to live without. All the batteries that need recharging. In
fact, it was the batteries going on my mouse that got me thinking about using this typewriter. Now I’m
planning to de-escalate my digital life altogether. Out with the computer unless strictly necessary, in with
the typewriter. Out with the Palm Pilot, in with the paper diary.
The planet is heating up, the weather turning ever more unpredictable. Forests are dying, and animal
species too – at such a rate that it’s been described as the sixth great extinction (or was it the fifth? If I
were online, I could look it up).
On top of that, it is now accepted that world oil production will peak in as little as three years, if it hasn’t
already, and go into terminal decline.
For both these reasons it is imperative to save as much energy as we can – reducing emissions and
preserving valuable fuels to help make the transition to a renewable energy infrastructure. And to do this
we need a target. James Hansen, the Nasa scientist who has done so much to raise the issue of global
warming, argues that we should focus on the safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere – 350 parts per million.
He may be right, but it doesn’t work for me. More helpful is research from the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology that identifies the energy use each of us must stick to if we’re to keep the planet hospitable:
precisely 2,000 watts.
As a rate of consumption, 2,000W would keep a two-bar electric fire running constantly, or 20 not-veryeco incandescent light bulbs. (Or, if you prefer, it’s the power you’d get from 22 humans trudging
endlessly on a treadmill.)
Watts are like the rate at which water flows out of a tap. The total energy used is measured by timing the
flow (how long the tap has been running at that rate). This gives the total amount of water in the bath, or
rather the watt-hours for which your utility company bills you. Thus, over 24 hours, consumption at a rate
of 2,000W totals 48,000 watt-hours (48 kilowatt-hours or kWh). In a year, as I’ve tried to explain rather
desperately to my wife, that comes to 17,520kWh.
14
Twenty light bulbs doesn’t sound much, considering that it must cover all our needs, in every part of our
lives: not only energy we consume at home but our individual share of infrastructure such as roadbuilding and sewage, and the energy that goes into everything we buy. So if you want to run the oven or
drive a car, you must turn off several light bulbs.
In theory, it shouldn’t be difficult, because 2,000W is what the average human uses already. But that’s an
average. In practice, consumption varies enormously. The typical Bangladeshi uses just 300W. Across
Europe the figure is about 5,400W. And in the US it’s a stonking 11,400W.
The Swiss have calculated that 2,000W is sustainable only as long as the whole world sticks to it. But the
disparity between nations is unsustainable, they say. It’s a basic issue of fairness. That said, increasing
energy use in developing countries beyond 2,000W would be catastrophic – so we must learn to use less.
The Swiss minister for the environment, transport, energy and communications, Moritz Leuenberger,
concedes that the target seems, initially, unrealistic. “But the necessary technology already exists.”
Indeed, the Swiss have taken the 2,000 Watt Society into the mainstream. A large pilot scheme involving
co-operation between industry, universities, research institutes and government bodies has been going
for seven years in Basel. Zurich joined the project in 2005 and Geneva declared its interest in 2008.
Roland Stulz, the project’s director, insists: “It’s not about starving; it’s not about having less comfort or
fun.” Indeed, he tells me one of his colleagues has already attained the 2,000W life. “It’s about a creative
approach to the future.”
The three big areas of energy use are food, transport and the home, accounting for roughly a third each.
On the first two I’ve made progress.
I get my food from local, seasonal suppliers (including my own allotment). I don’t eat a lot of meat, and I
often eat food raw. As for transport, I have an electric car but usually cycle or take the bus. (I work at
home, so don’t travel that much – just as well, because it’s hard to live the 2,000W life if you drive or fly
much, or even at all.)
Home is a leaky Victorian terraced house in north London. Hoping to make savings here, I recently got
my hands on several eco books. The most comprehensive is probably The Carbon-Free Home, by
Stephen and Rebekah Hren, which has much to say about saving energy, including the suggestion that
we install composting loos to save all the pumping and purification of water (to drinking standard) that we
then simply flush away.
The typical Briton uses 160 litres a day. But rather than install a composting loo yet, I fix two interruptible
flush kits from Interflush inside my cisterns. Now I can flush exactly what I need to clear the pan – a tiny
bit, a bit more, or the lot.
As to the heating, I turn it off when I’m on my own. There are statistics on the internet about how much
energy you save every degree you lower the thermostat. But turning the whole thing off is a lot more
effective than saving the odd degree.
To get to grips with my needs, I acquired an Electrisave monitor and wandered round the house turning
on lights and appliances to see how much they all used. After a day or so I felt that I had got all I needed
from it. Now it was just another pointless gadget, I felt responsible for all the “embodied” energy that had
gone into making it. I decided to give it away so that someone else could benefit. I had discovered by
myself the 2,000 Watt Society dictum that “using, rather than owning” is the way forward.
I didn’t really need the Electrisave anyway. With a tiny bit of physics – which I missed at school – I could
have conducted my own energy audit. If you know this already, forgive me: the consumption (in watts) of
any given item can be calculated by multiplying the volts by the amps, and both are usually to be found
on the plug. The Carbon-Free Home recommends making an inventory of every device in the house, then
recording every time you turn an appliance on and off: “You may be thinking, ‘Wow, that would take too
much time!’ If so, you’re probably using way too many appliances and your need for an energy diary is
that much greater.”
It recommends, unsurprisingly, that nothing be left on standby. The authors don’t much approve of
devices that merely amuse: “Is there ever such a thing as an efficient use of a video console, or does it
always represent a failure of imagination?” Clothes should be left to dry in the sun, or at least in the air,
because tumble dryers eat up to 6 kilowatts. Indeed, “Appliances that use electric resistance heat must
go.”
I see what they mean. The iron uses 3,250W. The kettle uses a relatively modest 2,300W, so I decide
henceforth to make tea using a Storm Kettle, designed for camping, which boils a whole litre using a few
scraps of newspaper and two small sticks. Alas, this is not fast, and with the heating off I’m in constant
need of hot drinks.
Then there’s my wife’s hairdryer. This uses 3,250W, like the iron. “Instead of using a hairdryer,” the
book’s authors suggest, “get a less maintenance-intensive haircut, shower in the evening, or dry hair with
a towel or in sunshine”.
They have obviously not met my wife, who has what she calls “bonkers” hair. If she doesn’t blow-dry it
straight, it goes weirdly frizzy, which is why she does that every morning. I’ve tried suggesting that she
15
grow it a bit longer, so that the hair’s weight pulls it into some order, but she refuses to believe it would
work. I’ve refrained, for now, from suggesting that she eliminate the problem altogether by shaving it all
off. Mercifully, we can make enormous savings without yet banning hairdryers. Scientists estimate that
roughly two-thirds of the primary energy used today is wasted, mostly in the form of heat that nobody
wants or uses. (Primary energy is the energy contained in a lump of coal, whereas “useful” energy is the
light emitted by a bulb once the coal has been burnt to make steam, the steam has powered a turbine,
and the resulting electricity has been transmitted over the grid.) With currently available technologies we
can reduce that waste significantly, according to the man who supplies electricity to my house.
In the early 1990s, Dave Vincent was a hippie living in an old military vehicle and surviving off-grid with
his own minimal energy arrangements, including a tiny windmill. It was this that gave him the idea of
dropping back into the mainstream, where he set up Ecotricity, the first wind-powered electricity company
in Britain. Today Vince lives in a house with all the usual fridges, freezers and so on, and he thinks it’s
impractical to give them all up. Instead, we should buy the most efficient models when upgrading and put
as much as possible of our domestic load into evenings and even the middle of the night.
The national grid has massive spikes in demand and must run at a big surplus; a lot of energy is also
wasted by running the grid down when demand is low. Some plants come on only to meet peaks –
generally the dirtiest ones. We could save a lot of energy if we flattened the peaks and troughs. “If we put
a chunk of electric demand into the night-time,” says Vince, “we could save the equivalent of all the
nuclear power, or about 20% of the entire grid.”
So just by setting the washing machine – or the oven when I’m baking bread – to work in the middle of
the night, I can significantly reduce my share of national energy use.
But is behavioural change, which Vince prescribes, really so simple? If I tell Harriet that she has left the
lights on, or left doors open, she reacts as if I have poked her in the eye.
Colin Mather, chair of North Yorkshire’s Esk Valley Community Energy Group, shares my experience of
people being unwilling to change behaviour. His group was set up three years ago to promote simple
things like insulation. “We did a survey of 600 homes and had a 50% response, which is extremely good.
Then we targeted people and told them about grants – it’s difficult to find out what’s available. And they
started to be taken up. But I still see people who say, ‘I know I should, but I haven’t got round to it yet.’
People are very hard to change.”
It might help if people knew how much they could save. This year the average domestic fuel bill reached
£1,000 for the first time. By reducing consumption to 2,000W per person, households could save more
than £600 a year.
The 2,000 Watt Society says that, as well as reducing consumption, it’s imperative that we move quickly
towards generating three-quarters of our energy renewably. But Mather’s group, like so many around the
country, is experiencing great frustration. Several sites in the Esk valley have been identified as suitable
for generating hydropower, but the Environment Agency is opposed, because the river is good for
salmon. “They’re not interested in energy, only fish.”
A community group nearer me is Transition Belsize, part of the nationwide Transition Town movement
preparing for life after cheap oil and amid climate chaos. One of the members I meet is Alexis Rowell, a
journalist turned Lib Dem eco champion on Camden council. He tells me that 890 people looked round
the Camden Eco Home, a show house, in a single weekend in September – “proof that people want to
see how a Victorian property can be refurbished to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills by 80%”.
I went to see the Camden Eco Home for myself. Builders had put thick insulation on the inside of exterior
walls, because the house is in a conservation area and its appearance can’t be changed. I couldn’t see
Harriet agreeing to that. We would have to move the ceiling mouldings and several bookcases, and lose a
hefty chunk of floor space. But alas, it makes a lot more sense to do the walls, roof and floor than double
glazing – about six times the energy saving at half the cost.
On my way home, I bought insulation to put round the doors and windows, and a brush to cut draughts
below the front door. I’m happy to report that the effect was perceptible at once, and without any hightech measuring device.
After that, I went to a dinner party in a part of London where everyone seems to drive a 4x4. I sat next to
a woman who listened politely as I described the steps I’d taken towards the 2,000W life. She wondered if
I’d hit the target. Honestly, I had no idea: the online tool for assessing this is available only in German.
Regardless, she said there was “no point”. I would be better off lobbying the UN or the government. Then
she admitted that climate change and energy issues leave her feeling hopeless. “Look at India and
China,” she said, meaning that they use more energy all the time.
This was demoralising. For some time people had received no replies to the e-mails they sent me, and
found my phone was usually turned off. Had I lost friends for nothing? No: her point was easy enough to
refute. If we do nothing, we are in real trouble, whereas we might make a difference by taking action. If
your car is heading for a cliff and the prospect of falling alarms you, you don’t say there’s no point
applying the brake – far less lobby the government to tell you to apply it.
16
Like many people, this woman was paralysed by the scale of the problem combined with the urgency. But
we can’t do everything at once. And the good news is that we don’t need to. The 2,000 Watt Society
points out that infrastructure needs replacing at a rate of 2% a year anyway, so we can make a great deal
of change incrementally.
As for India and China, we don’t need to go round the world to find people who make our task more
difficult. The person who does most to hold me up in my mission to save the world is Harriet, with her
crazy hairdryer habit.
But as I looked away from my miserable, paralysed neighbour, I glimpsed my wife talking animatedly, her
hair immaculately straight and shiny, and remembered that, though she may not like the idea of insulating
interior walls, or sticking polythene sheets over the windows as a budget alternative to double glazing,
she has put up with me talking about composting loos, turning the heating down, wagging my finger at her
about leaving the lights on, and making tea out of rainwater with a pair of damp sticks.
She’s my wife, she uses far too many kilowatts, but I love her and we’re in this together. Anyway, I rather
like the way she does her hair.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5188314.ece
The Associated Press | Daniel Woolls | November 23, 2008
Solar panels on top of mausoleums helps give power
to Spanish town
MADRID, Spain - A new kind of silent hero has joined the fight against climate change.
Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a gritty, working-class town outside Barcelona, has placed a sea of solar
panels atop mausoleums at its cemetery.
The move has transformed a place of perpetual rest into one buzzing with renewable energy.
Flat, open and sun-drenched land is so scarce in Santa Coloma that the graveyard was just about the
only viable spot to move ahead with its solar energy program.
The power produced by the 462 solar panels is equivalent to the yearly use of 60 homes.
It flows into the local energy grid for normal consumption - one community's odd nod to the fight against
global warming.
"The best tribute we can pay to our ancestors, whatever your religion may be, is to generate clean energy
for new generations. That is our leitmotif," said Esteve Serret, director Conste-Live Energy, a Spanish
company that runs the cemetery in Santa Coloma and also works in renewable energy.
In row after row of gleaming blue-grey, the panels rest on mausoleums holding five layers of coffins,
many of them marked with bouquets of fake flowers. The panels face almost due south, which is good for
soaking up sunshine, and started working on Wednesday - the culmination of a project that began three
years ago.
The concept emerged as a way to utilize an ideal stretch of land in a town that wants solar energy but is
so densely built-up - Santa Coloma's population of 124,000 is crammed into four square kilometers - it
had virtually no place to generate it.
At first, parking solar panels on coffins was a tough sell, said Antoni Fogue, a city council member who
was a driving force behind the plan.
"Let's say we heard things like, 'they're crazy. Who do they think they are? What a lack of respect!"'
Fogue said in a telephone interview.
But town hall and cemetery officials waged a public-awareness campaign to explain the worthiness of the
project, and the painstaking care with which it would be carried out. Eventually it worked, Fogue said.
The panels were erected at a low angle so as to be as unobtrusive as possible.
"There has not been any problem whatsoever because people who go to the cemetery see that nothing
has changed," Fogue said. "This installation is compatible with respect for the deceased and for the
families of the deceased."
The cemetery hold the remains of about 57,000 people and the solar panels cover less than five per cent
of the total surface area. They cost about C$1.1 million to install and each year will keep about 56 tonnes
of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, Serret said.
The community's leaders hope to erect more panels and triple the electricity output, Fogue said. Before
this, the town had four other solar parks - atop buildings and such - but the cemetery is by far the biggest.
He said he has heard of cemeteries elsewhere in Spain with solar panels on the roofs of their office
buildings, but not on above-ground graves.
http://www.canadaeast.com/search/article/489815
17
The Observer | Ed Pikington | November 23, 2008
The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air
Water, Water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink. The plight of the Ancient Mariner is about to be
alleviated thanks to a firm of eco-inventors from Canada who claim to have found the solution to the
world's worsening water shortages by drawing the liquid of life from an unlimited and untapped source the air.
The company, Element Four, has developed a machine that it hopes will become the first mainstream
household appliance to have been invented since the microwave. Their creation, the WaterMill, uses the
electricity of about three light bulbs to condense moisture from the air and purify it into clean drinking
water.
The machine went on display this weekend in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, hosted by Wired
magazine at its annual showcase of the latest gizmos its editors believe could change the world. From the
outside, the mill looks like a giant golf ball that has been chopped in half: it is about 3ft in diameter, made
of white plastic, and is attached to the wall.
It works by drawing air through filters to remove dust and particles, then cooling it to just below the
temperature at which dew forms. The condensed water is passed through a self-sterilising chamber that
uses microbe-busting UV light to eradicate any possibility of Legionnaires' disease or other infections.
Finally, it is filtered and passed through a pipe to the owner's fridge or kitchen tap.
The obvious question to the proposition that household water demands can be met by drawing it from the
air is: are you crazy? To which the machine's inventor and Element Four's founder, Jonathan Ritchey,
replies: 'Just wait and see. The demand for water is off the chart. People are looking for freedom from
water distribution systems that are shaky and increasingly unreliable.'
For the environmentally conscious consumer, the WaterMill has an obvious appeal. Bottled water is an
ecological catastrophe. In the US alone, about 30bn litres of bottled water is consumed every year at a
cost of about $11bn (£7.4bn).
According to the Earth Policy Institute, about 1.5m barrels of oil - enough to power 100,000 cars for a
year - is used just to make the plastic. The process also uses twice as much water as fits inside the
container, not to mention the 30m bottles that go into landfills every day in the US. But the mill also has
downsides, not least its $1,200 cost when it goes on sale in America, the UK, Italy, Australia and Japan in
the spring. In these credit crunch times that might dissuade many potential buyers, though Ritchey points
out that at $0.3 per litre, it is much cheaper than bottled water and would pay for itself in a couple of
years.
There is also the awkward fact that although there is eight times more atmospheric water than in all the
rivers of the world combined, it is unevenly distributed. Those areas of the US that are most desperate for
more water - such as the arid south-west where ground water levels are already dramatically depleted have the lowest levels of moisture in the air.
The mill ceases to be effective below about 30 per cent relative humidity levels, which are common later
in the day in states such as Arizona. To combat that problem, the machine has an intelligent computer
built into it that increases its output at dawn when humidity is highest, and reduces it from mid-afternoon
when a blazing sun dries the air.
Story Date: 23/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/water-mill-eco-invention
The Observer | John Vidal | November 23, 2008
Coal's return raises pollution threat
Rising prices are spurring plans for a big increase in mining despite a threat to climate change
goals
Britain is poised to expand its coal mining industry, despite fears that the move will lead to a rise in
climate change emissions and harm communities and the environment.
Freedom of information requests and council records show that in the past 18 months 14 companies have
applied to dig nearly 60 million tonnes of coal from 58 new or enlarged opencast mines. At least six coalfired power stations are planned. If all the applications are approved, the fastest expansion of UK coal
mining in 40 years could see southern Scotland and Northumberland become two of the most heavily
mined regions in Europe.
The demand for new mines is being driven by dramatic increases in the price of coal. This has
quadrupled in two years and has risen by 45 per cent since the start of this year. Opencast, or surface,
mines are much cheaper than deep mines, but those living nearby can suffer years of pollution.
The increase in mining will embarrass the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, who is
arguing that Britain must reduce carbon emissions. Ministers must soon decide whether to approve a
controversial new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent, the first in 30 years. 'Attention has been
18
focused on the decision at Kingsnorth, but over the past 18 months local authorities have approved more
than 24 new opencast mines and 16 expansions of existing mines,' said Richard Hawkins, of the Public
Interest Research Centre (Pirc), which conducted the study.
'There is a clear contradiction between the government's 80 per cent target for climate change emissions
cuts and investment in new coal. With industry and government saying carbon capture and storage is at
least 20 years away, this shows that the 160m tonnes of carbon dioxide released by burning this coal
would not be captured,' he said.
Research shows that Scotland will bear the brunt of the expansion. Currently 11 mines produce about 5m
tonnes of coal a year. A further 27 mines could extract a total of 22m tonnes of coal over just a few years.
Thirteen of the 27 have already been approved and the rest are awaiting planning decisions.
Northumberland is likely to become the centre of coal mining in England with plans to extract more than
20m tonnes of coal from some of the largest opencast mines in Europe. Wales, which has one of the
biggest surface mines in Europe at Ffos-y-Fran, could have five large new mines. The research also
suggests that power companies would like to build six new coal-fired power stations. These would replace
existing power stations if given the go-ahead but could lock Britain into coal for the next 50 years at a time
when it is trying to lead the world on reducing climate change emissions.
According to the research, based on information provided by energy companies, Scottish and Southern,
Scottish Power, Eon and RWE npower all have plans at different stages of development. Feasibility
studies have been carried out on new plants at Cockenzie and Longannet in Scotland, as well as new
stations at Tilbury in Essex, Blyth in Northumberland and Ferrybridge in Yorkshire. Only one application
to build, at Kingsnorth in Kent, has so far been put forward.
In the past six months 12 groups, made up of climate change activists and residents, have been set up to
object to the plans. There have been big protests in Wales, Derbyshire and Yorkshire and a coal train
heading for Britain's biggest power station at Drax in North Yorkshire was hijacked by protesters in June.
Nearly half of all British coal is mined using opencast methods against just 12 per cent 10 years ago, but
this is expected to increase significantly. In 2005, total UK production was 20m tonnes, with 9.6m tonnes
coming from deep-mined production and opencast accounting for 10.4m tonnes. Nearly 70 per cent of all
the coal burnt in UK power stations is imported from Russia, South Africa, Colombia and Australia.
But coal prices have risen far above official projections. 'Part [of the increase in applications] is certainly
due to the increase in the world coal price, which follows oil and gas,' said a spokesman for the Coal
Authority, the body which regulates the licensing of UK coal mines.\
Story Date: 23/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/fossil-fuels-pollution
November 24
The Wall Street Journal | November 24, 2008
Rubber Duckies to Help Track Speed of Melting
Glaciers
Challenged to probe under Greenland's glaciers, NASA robotics expert Alberto Behar wondered what
mechanism might endure sub-zero cold, the pressure of mile-thick ice and currents that sometimes
exceed the flow rate of Niagara Falls.
It was a daunting engineering proposition, even for someone experienced in conceiving robot explorers
suitable for Mars and the moons of Jupiter.
Worried about climate change, many researchers are eager to learn how rising temperatures may be
undermining Greenland's ice cap where, according to recent satellite measurements, glaciers are melting
much faster than expected.
Should Greenland's 2.17 million square miles of ice ever melt completely, the water could raise sea level
world-wide by 24 feet, swamping coastal cities that are home to millions of people.
As Dr. Behar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory soon discovered, though, there isn't much money for
global-warming experiments in Greenland.
Unfazed, he thought of one device that might survive such extremes at a cost his field expedition could
readily afford — a two-dollar rubber duck.
Consequently, Dr. Behar and his colleagues at the University of Colorado this past August released 90
yellow rubber ducks into the melt water flowing down a chasm in the largest of Greenland's 200 glaciers
— the Jakobshavn Isbrae — which has been thinning rapidly since 1997.
Each duck was imprinted with an e-mail address and, in three languages, the offer of a reward.
19
If all goes well, Dr. Behar hopes that one day they will emerge 30 miles or so away at the glacier's edge in
the open water of Disko Bay near Ilulissat, bobbing brightly amid the icebergs north of the Arctic Circle,
each one a significant clue to just how warming temperatures may speed the glacier's slide to the sea.
Story Date: 24/11/08
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,456164,00.html
The Guardian | Ben Willis | November 24, 2008
Listen to the children
Many older-generation Filipinos view the effects of climate change with resignation - but not so
younger people.
I saw roofing flying, rocks and mud flowing down the hill, and people didn't know what to do," recalls
Josephine Espinosa. "It was so fast, everything was like a dream. I saw children running like rats, looking
for a space to hide, but it was impossible to hide. The rocks just crushed them."
Eighteen-year-old Josephine is a bright and positive young woman, but when she remembers the events
of two years ago, her pain is plain to see. On February 17 2006, part of a mountain straddling the
geological fault line beneath the Philippines collapsed, sending millions of tons of mud and rock plunging
down on the village of Guinsaugon. Within minutes the landslide had overcome the village, killing 1,126
inhabitants, including 200 children. Rescuers tried desperately to find survivors, but only 20 were pulled
alive from the debris.
One of these was Josephine. She spent four hours buried in the wreckage of her home with barely
enough space to breathe before rescuers dug her out. Both her parents and brother were killed, but she
escaped with relatively minor injuries. She has spent the past two years rebuilding her life.
The landslide that wiped out Guinsaugon was the largest of a number of similar incidents that struck the
province of Southern Leyte in February 2006. In an area known for seismic activity, the spate of
landslides was blamed partly on a series of small earthquakes. But the Guinsaugon tragedy followed a
period of unseasonably heavy rain, during which 200cm fell in just 10 days, prompting environmentalists
and scientists to point the finger at the region's changing climate.
As a developing island state, the Philippines is regarded as a world climate change hotspot. A 2005
report by environmental group Greenpeace warned that global warming would leave the country open to
the full gamut of climate disasters: erratic rainfall, worsening typhoons, flooding, landslides and more.
Last year, international development body Germanwatch placed the Philippines at the top of its annual
climate risk index, which measures the impact of weather-related catastrophes on countries around the
world.
With a third of the Philippines' 90 million-strong population below the age of 15, children are expected to
be especially vulnerable to climate change. Baltz Tribunalo, disaster risk reduction coordinator for
children's charity Plan in the Philippines, says that climate change threatens to undermine all other
aspects of the country's development. "In terms of the millennium development goals, reducing risk from
climate disaster is fundamental, because it can wipe out everything else we do," he says.
The Guinsaugon tragedy impelled Plan to raise the priority of its efforts to protect vulnerable youngsters
such as Josephine from future climate-related disasters. Plan's disaster programme engages children in a
range of practical activities such as tree planting in areas at risk of flooding or typhoons. It also includes
extensive training for children to help them identify and map the potential local hazards of climate change,
how to respond to them should the worst happen, and, where necessary, how to take pre-emptive action
in areas where the risks are greatest.
Such action was deemed necessary in the village of Santa Paz. Only a few miles from Guinsaugon,
Santa Paz is also in an area prone to landslides. Using data from the local Mines and Geosciences
Bureau, pupils from Santa Paz high school produced a risk map of their area, which revealed that the
school was right in the path of a potential landslide.
Seventeen-year-old Honey, a former Santa Paz pupil, remembers how the risk map galvanised her and
others into action "We were warned that if ever it rained for several days, the mountain may collapse on
our school," Honey says. "We decided we had to relocate it; if we had stayed where we were, none of us
would have been able to concentrate on our studies."
A poll of students showed a majority in favour of the relocation. Honey and her peers began a letterwriting campaign to school and local government officials to win their backing for the transfer. Eventually
their request was rubber-stamped and the entire school relocated to a new site a few miles away.
The move drew fierce opposition from conservative locals resistant to the idea of the school relocating
because of vague warnings of future catastrophe. Even today, there is lingering resentment over the
move, which some feel was based on a false premise. Samson Sabandal, who runs the Santa Paz village
shop next to the site of the old school, encapsulates the view of many. "I'm not worried about climate
change," he says. "It's been raining here for a long time, and nothing has ever happened."
20
But it was precisely because of this mindset among older Filipinos that some felt the will of Santa Paz's
children had to be obeyed. Rosette Lerias was the provincial governor of Southern Leyte at the time and
was instrumental in pushing through the relocation. "The older generation had the idea that nothing has
happened to us, ergo nothing will happen to you, which has no logic at all, especially when all the signs
are telling us it will," Lerias says. "In Santa Paz, it was the children who were pressing to move because
they felt in danger."
This example of children taking a lead in adapting to a changing climate sends a powerful message to the
rest of the world as it gears up for the key round of climate negotiations in Copenhagen next year. The
aim of the Copenhagen talks is to agree an enhanced version of the legally binding UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, and Plan, which is part-funded by DFID, is lobbying to ensure it contains
an explicit recognition of the rights of children like Josephine Espinosa to a secure future.
Bernaditas Muller, a Filipino and the lead coordinator for the G77 and China group of developing
countries in the negotiations, believes children must be heard in the talks, not just because of their
vulnerability but because they have a strong vested interest in driving forward real action on climate
change.
"If you look at the Philippines, it is clear children are not just victims, but an active force for addressing
climate change," Muller says. "The kind of change in lifestyle we're asking for now is hard for adults who
have become used to a certain way of living. If we want to do something about it then children will be the
ones to do it. They are the future."
Story Date: 24/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/listen-children
Reuters | Olivia Rondonuwu | November 24, 2008
Trees for kids: Indonesia's way of beating global
warming
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian city battling the effects of deforestation has come up with a novel
way of tackling the problem. Would-be families must plant a tree.
"Everyone who wants to get married or apply for a birth certificate must plant a tree," Syahrum Syah
Setia, the head of Balikpapan city's Environmental Impact Management Agency, said.
"The city's condition is already worrying, and we must act to tackle global warming."
The areas around Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan province have lost some of their forest cover to
deforestation from the mining and timber sectors.
East Kalimantan loses 350,000-500,000 ha (865,000-1.24 million acres) of forest land a year and the
government can only replant 30,000 ha (74,000 acres) of that, local environmental group Walhi said.
Indonesia has lost an estimated 70 percent of its original forest land, although it still has a total forest area
of more than 91 million ha (225 million acres).
(Editing by Sugita Katyal and Jeremy Laurence)
Story Date:24/11/08
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AN2CO20081124?feedType=RSS&feedNam
e=environmentNews
The Guardian | Alok Jha | November 24, 2008
Forest protection plan could displace millions, say
campaigners
Livelihoods of 60m indigenous people at risk from plans to tackle climate change by protecting
forests, says Friends of the Earth
International proposals to protect forests to tackle climate change could displace millions of indigenous
people and fail to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, according to environmentalists.
Friends of the Earth International (FoE) will argue in a report to be published on Thursday, that plans to
slow the decline of forests, which would see rich countries pay for the protection of forests in tropical
regions, are open to abuse by corrupt politicians or illegal logging companies.
Forests store a significant amount of carbon and cutting them down is a major source of greenhouse gas
emissions — currently this accounts for around 20% of the world's total.
Deforestation also threatens biodiversity and puts the livelihoods of more than 60 million indigenous
people who are dependent upon forests at risk.
Working out a way to protect forests will be one of the key issues discussed next week in the United
Nations climate change summit in Poznan, Poland, which marks the start of global negotiations to replace
for the Kyoto protocol after 2012.
21
Government representatives at the meeting will consider the adoption of the Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (Redd) mechanismin which richer countries pay to maintain forests in
tropical regions to offset their own emissions.
The idea was based on Nicholas Stern's 2006 review of the economics of climate change. Stern said that
£2.5bn a year could be enough to prevent deforestation across the eight most important countries. But
Stern also argued that, for such a scheme to work, institutional and policy reforms would be required in
many of the countries that would end up with the protected forests, such as Indonesia, Cameroon or
Papua New Guinea.
FoE agrees that forests could be included in climate change targets but argues that, in its current form,
Redd is fraught with problems. In its report, the group says that the proposals seem to be aimed at setting
up a way to generate profits from forests rather than to stop climate change.
"It re-focuses us on the question, who do forests belong to? In the absence of secure land rights,
indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities have no guarantees that they'll benefit from
Redd," said Joseph Zacune, a climate and energy coordinator at Friends of the Earth International.
"There's increased likelihood of state and corporate control of their land especially if the value of forests
rises."
During the climate talks next week, Zacune said FoE will lobby for forests to be kept out of carbon
markets and that land rights are enforced as the basis of any future forest policy. "We want some kind of
mechanism to stop deforestation," said Zacune. "If there was to be any agreement, it would have to be
developed through a joint process with other relevant forest conventions and human-rights instruments
like the UN declaration on the rights on indigenous peoples."
Redd also has no clear definition for what a forest is — the FoE report highlights that the UN includes
single-species plantations, such as those grown for palm oil or other agriculture agriculture, which are
often grown in areas that have been cleared of virgin rainforests.
"Even at their very best, they store only 20% of the carbon that intact forests do. In Brazil, they're now
talking about 'net deforestation', and this probably means designing Redd and forest policies to match the
amount of trees being cut down due to the expansion of plantations," said Zacune.
FoE's conclusions echo those of the Rights and Resources Initiative, an international coalition of global
NGOs which has argued that the rush to protect forests could have unintended consequences. In two
reports published in July, the Rights and Resources Initiative said that the money aimed at protecting
trees might end up in the hands of central government officials in areas of the world where they were
closely tied to illegal logging and mining activities.
"It is widely acknowledged that poor governance and corruption also need to be addressed if
deforestation is to be stopped," said the FoE report. "The question is whether Redd can address these
issues and how it links to existing established processes intended to deal with illegal deforestation (which
includes illegal logging and illegal forest conversion to agriculture). Furthermore, would the use of a Redd
fund rather than carbon markets improve governments' ability to reign in such illegal activities?"
Zacune said that the best way to manage forests was to devolve the responsibility to localm people — an
idea proposed by Tuvalu. "The idea is that they would provide incentives for protecting and retaining their
forests. It's the communities and indigenous people who have managed the forests for generations that
should be in control of the forest."
The FoE report also argues that protecting forests should not become a way for rich countries to pay their
way out of reducing their emissions. "If governments are serious about tackling climate change,
deforestation must be stopped once and for all," said Zacune. "To do this we need to tackle the
consumption of agrofuels, meat and timber products which is driving deforestation and support good
governance of forest resources."
Tony Juniper, a sustainability adviser to the Prince's Rainforests Project, a group set up by the Prince of
Wales to work out way to fund forest protection, said there was no single solution to the complex
challenge posed by tropical deforestation. "There are clearly dangers in raising finance via a tradable
commodity from forest carbon, but there are also dangers in closing off options that could make a positive
difference assuming adequate safeguards are put in place. It is also important to remember that the
market is one approach among several possible funding mechanisms. For example, major finance could
be mobilised via the auctioning of pollution credits under the European Union's Emissions Trading
Scheme, or through taxes on aviation fuel for example."
Story Date: 24/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/24/forests-climatechange
22
The Guardian | David Hencke | November 24, 2008
Environment Agency chairman urges government to
launch 'green new deal'
Former culture secretary Lord Smith to call for a comprehensive long-term
environmental strategy
Lord Smith, the former cabinet minister and chairman of the Environment Agency, will today call on the
government to follow US President-elect Barack Obama and launch a multi-billion pound "green new
deal" to boost clean energy and create jobs.
Speaking at the annual conference of the agency only hours before Alistair Darling, the chancellor,
announces his tax cutting and public spending package, the former culture secretary will call for a
comprehensive long-term strategy to cover investments in renewable energy, green technology, energy
efficiency and developing new technologies liked carbon capture and storage.
His speech comes as Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary and Hilary Benn, the environment
secretary, have been pressing Gordon Brown and the Treasury, for a big boost for green policies in the
pre-budget statement today.
The signs are that they have only been partially successful. Today's announcement is set to include a
boost for job-intensive home insulation programmes which could create 10,000 or more jobs through
lagging lofts and installing other energy saving measures.
It will also include upgrading of council and housing association homes. Some extra money is expected
for flood protection measures.
What appears to be missing is the implementation of an overall coordinated strategy across Whitehall,
beyond pressure from the Cabinet Office for more green procurement orders by government.
This is despite pressure from Miliband for a coordinated approach from developing hybrid cars to
boosting renewable energy from wind farms to solar power.
Two major oil companies with interests in developing renewable energy - BP and Shell - have recently
pulled out of major wind farm and solar projects in the UK - to develop renewable energy schemes in the
United States, where big subsidies were made available by George Bush and are to be extended by
Barack Obama. Both comapnies have complained about the difficulties of obtaining planning permission
and lack of tax incentives for renewable energy.
Lord Smith will say today that the government should go ahead with major wind farms, solar power, tidal
barrages and coal fired power stations with carbon capture equipment as part of a massive renewable
energy programme.
He wants more incentives for energy efficiency homes and businesses, greater use of combined heart
and power programmes and new feed-in tariffs to help householders develop sustainable energy which
can be fed into the national grid.
Lord Smith said: "We must hold our nerve and invest in green technology despite the current pressures
on the economy. We should take the lead on developing carbon capture so we can develop new
industries that create new jobs."
Story Date: 24/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/24/climatechange-pre-budget-report
November 25
Bloomberg | Alex Morales | November 25, 2008
Oceans Acidifying Faster Than Predicted, Threatening
Shellfish
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Oceans are acidifying 10 times faster than predicted, threatening heightened
damage to coral reefs and shellfish, University of Chicago scientists said.
Researchers took more than 24,000 pH measurements over eight years and found the rate at which the
ocean is becoming more acidic correlates with the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, or CO2,
the university said in a statement. When CO2, which helps cause global warming, dissolves in water, it
forms carbonic acid.
“The acidity increased more than 10 times faster than had been predicted by climate change models and
other studies,” University of Chicago ecology and evolution professor Timothy Wootton said in the
23
statement. “This increase will have a severe impact on marine food webs and suggests that ocean
acidification may be a more urgent issue than previously thought.”
The study adds to a body of evidence pointing to the degradation of the world’s oceans. More than twofifths of the world’s maritime environment have had at least “medium-high” damage as a result of fishing,
pollution and climate change, University of California-led researchers said in February. More acidic
oceans are already affecting marine life, the latest study, carried out at Tattosh Island off Washington
state, found.
“The study documented that the number of mussels and stalked barnacles fell as acidity increased,” the
University of Chicago said. Populations of smaller shelled species and some algae increased, it said. The
findings appeared in yesterday’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
journal.
Reefs First Victims?
Earlier this month, Oceana, a Washington-based conservation group, said coral reefs in the cold deep
seas off Alaska may now be among the first victims of global warming in a marine environment that’s
home to half of the U.S.’s commercial fishing.
The resulting acidification prevents marine life such as coral, crabs, lobsters and oysters from building
calcium carbonate skeletons and shells, impairing their ability to survive and reproduce.
The loss of Alaska’s cold-water reefs may be a precursor to the extinction of reefs worldwide because of
acidification, which occurs when oceans absorb carbon dioxide, according to an analysis by Ocean.
Cold water absorbs more carbon dioxide that’s blamed for warming weather globally from such modernday sources as coal-fired power plants than tropical waters.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aybjnXJtOihg
Discovery News | Michael Reilly | November 25, 2008
Tibetan glaciers rapidly melting
Glaciers high in the Himalayas are dwindling faster than anyone thought, putting nearly a billion people
living in South Asia in peril of losing their water supply.
Throughout India, China, and Nepal, some 15,000 glaciers speckle the Tibetan Plateau. There, perched
in thin, frigid air up to 7200 metres above sea level, the ice might seem secluded from the effects of
global warming.
But just the opposite is proving true, according to new research published in the journal Geophysical
Research Letters.
Professor Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University and a team of researchers travelled to central
Himalayas in 2006 to study the Naimona'nyi glacier, expecting to find some melting.
Mountain glaciers have been receding all over the world since the 1990s and there was no reason this
one, which provides water to the mighty, Indus, and Brahmaputra Rivers, should be any different.
But when the team analysed samples of glacier, what they found stunned them.
Radioactive signals
Glaciers can be dated by looking for traces of radioactivity buried in the ice. These are the leftovers from
US and Soviet atomic bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the Naimona'nyi samples, there was no sign of the tests. In fact, the glacier had melted so much that
the exposed surface of the glacier dated to 1944.
"We were very surprised not to find the 1962-1963 horizon, and even more surprised not to find the 19511952 signal," says Thompson.
In more than twenty years of sampling glaciers all over the world, this was the first time both markers
were missing.
He suspects the reason for this is that high-altitude glaciers, despite residing in colder temperatures, are
more sensitive to climate change.
As more heat is trapped in the atmosphere, he said, it holds more water vapour. And when the water
vapour rises to high altitudes it condenses, releasing the heat into the upper atmosphere, where high
mountain landscapes feel the brunt of warming.
"At the highest elevations, we're seeing something like an average of 0.3°C warming per decade," says
Thompson. "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects 3°C of warming by 2100. But
that's at the surface; up at the elevations where these glaciers are there could be almost twice as much,
almost 6°C."
"I have not seen much as compelling as this to demonstrate how some glaciers are just being
decapitated," says Associate Professor Shawn Marshall of the University of Calgary.
Marshall, who studies glaciers in North America, says it's striking how much worse glaciers near the
equator are than those in the Canadian Rocky and Cascade mountain ranges.
Water supply
24
The finding has ominous implications for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on the waters of
the Naimona'nyi and other glaciers for their livelihoods. Across the region, no one know just how much
water the Himalayas have left, but Thompson says it's dwindling fast.
"You can think of glaciers kind of like water towers," he says. "They collect water from the monsoon in the
wet season, and release it in the dry season. But how effective they are depends on how much water is in
the towers."
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/25/2428885.htm?site=science&topic=latest
The Guardian | Terry Macalister | November 25,2008
Duty on long-haul flights and funding for wind energy
do not satisfy green campaigners
Airline passenger duty (APD) on flights to destinations such as Thailand, South Africa and the Seychelles
will increase by 25% from next year and by will rise by half from that in 2010.
Alistair Darling said the move would benefit the environment, but his decision to have a more draconian
flight tax and to give only a small boost to a low-carbon economy angered the green movement.
The APD is presently levied at £10 on an economy-class flight to European destinations and £40 for longhaul flights.
The chancellor has introduced four new bands with a starting level of £11 on tickets for destinations within
2,000 miles of London; £45 for flights of up to 4,000 miles; £50 for 4,000-6,000 miles and £55 for flights
over 6,000. The changes do not come into effect until next November.
The duty will rise again the following year so by 2010-11, the tax on the lowest band will be £12; band B
will be £60; a band C flight to Bangkok or Johannesburg will be £75, and the top band will be £85.
"I have decided to reform APD into a four-band system ensuring that those who travel further and have a
larger environmental impact meet that cost," Darling explained.
His decision to drop a previously proposed airline duty worried airlines but delighted the Airport Operators
Association, which said it had "won the battle". The World Development Movement argued that the end of
a possible airline duty was "bad news for the UK taxpayer, the environment and the world's poor".
The government did give a significant boost to the wind power industry by extending the Renewables
Obligation (RO) of financial support until 2037.
Darling also brought forward what he said was more than £500m worth of spending to be used on
insulating homes and other energy-efficiency initiatives.
But there was no wider green New Deal, whereby large amounts of public money would be poured into
creating a low-carbon future, as had been called for by environmentalists.
The chancellor said the RO, which legally requires electricity suppliers in Britain to source a growing
percentage of their power from green sources, would run for a further 10 years to 2037. This would
ensure "investors can plan with confidence for the future", he said.
The British Wind Energy Association said it was "really encouraging" and would stimulate those
companies looking at plans to build expensive projects far out in the North Sea. "Under the old regime,
many companies were worried that the current RO was going to run out half way through their schemes,"
said a spokesman.
Darling also said that £535m of capital spending to promote government environmental objectives would
be brought forward to sustain 350,000 jobs in the low-carbon sector. About £100m of new money would
be spent on helping 60,000 low-income homes cut their energy bills through insulation.
Despite these measures, John Sauven, Greenpeace executive director, said he was disappointed. "This
was an historic opportunity to invest billions in a low-carbon, high-technology future but the chancellor
blew it. We can only hope that by the time he formulates the budget itself, he will have grasped the
potential of hi-tech climate solutions to get us out of this recession.
"Once again the aviation industry has been given a free pass at a time when its contribution to climate
change is rising."
The government also highlighted expected changes to the North Sea tax regime that are likely to please
the oil and gas industry, which feared a windfall tax.
Story Date: 25/11/08
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/25/pre-budget-report-economics1
Bloomberg | Mathew Carr | November 25,2008
25
Brazil, Mexico Lawmakers Back Poor-Nation CO2
Limits (Update1)
Brazilian and Mexican lawmakers backed a proposal to impose greenhouse-gas limits on some
developing countries after 2020 as long as the richest nations first curb their output of emissions blamed
for global warming.
The plan represents a departure from the traditional negotiating stance of most poor nations to reject any
binding targets. The proposal was formed during a meeting of legislators from North and South American
countries in Mexico City to address ways to stem carbon-dioxide emissions that contribute to climate
change.
The group, known as Globe, aimed to boost communication between rich and poor nations ahead of
United Nations-sponsored climate talks starting Dec. 1 in Poznan, Poland. The new proposal, which is not
binding on their governments, hinges on developed countries acting first.
“The most advanced developing countries should aim to reduce the rate of increase of their own
greenhouse-gas emissions between now and 2020, with a view to taking on binding absolute emissions
reductions thereafter,” the Globe Americas Legislators Forum said in a statement posted on the Web site
of Carbon International, a London-based consultant.
Any agreement must require that industrialized countries “deliver on their commitments” to trim emissions,
and aid the transfer of technology that reduces CO2 emissions, the note said.
Globe, a London-based group of lawmakers founded in 1989 to protect the climate and provide energy
security, didn’t immediately provide a list of nations that backed the proposal.
‘Reduce Intensity’
“In the period up to 2020, major developing countries should take on nationally appropriate commitments
that reduce the carbon intensity of their development,” supported by richer nations, the lawmakers
agreed. Carbon International provides communications services for Globe.
Developed nations need to slash their production of greenhouse gases at least 25 percent by 2020,
compared with 1990 levels, according to Globe, a target that matches proposals to the UN from at least
36 countries, including European Union members and China.
An alternative, supported by at least 49 poorer nations, advocates more lenient reductions, of least 10
percent, by 2020, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said last week on its
Web site. That document summarizes proposals for the two weeks of talks beginning next month.
The U.S. opposed inclusion of targets last year in an agreement drafted in Bali, Indonesia, to guide two
years of international climate talks that are scheduled to end with a global deal in Copenhagen late next
year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net
Story Date: 25/11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=apFa_y8GcYDs
Bloomberg | Joe Schneider | November 25,2008
Canadian Groups Appeal Dismissal of Kyoto Suits
(Update1)
Canadian environmental groups appealed last month’s judge’s decision to throw out three lawsuits
accusing the federal government of failing to draft a plan to meet pollution-reduction goals.
“If the federal court’s decision was left unchallenged, Canada’s woeful inaction on the climate change
crisis would be allowed to continue despite domestic law that clearly states the government must act,”
Hugh Wilkins, a Canada Ecojustice lawyer, said today in a statement. “We simply cannot stand by while
the government picks and chooses which laws to enforce.”
Ecojustice and Friends of the Earth sued the government in 2007 and asked a judge to order Prime
Minister Stephen Harper to comply with a June law requiring it to prepare a plan to meet the emissions
targets of the Kyoto Protocol. The law passed with the support of opposition parties, which held a majority
of the votes in Parliament.
John Baird, then environment minister, said in April 2007 that Canada couldn’t meet its commitments
under the Kyoto Protocol without causing a recession. According to an economic- impact report
presented by Baird, implementing the Kyoto plan would result in 275,000 job losses in 2009 while the cost
of electricity would rise 50 percent after 2010 and gas prices would increase 60 percent.
Friends of the Earth and Ecojustice sued the government in May 2007, alleging it had contravened the
Canadian Environmental Protection Act by not meeting international commitments to reduce polluting
26
emissions. The groups withdrew that suit after the June law was passed and filed three new complaints in
September 2007.
‘Meaningless’ Order
Federal Judge Robert Barnes in Vancouver dismissed the lawsuits Oct. 20, saying an order would be
“meaningless” because the government can’t be forced to implement the policy. Barnes also said he
doesn’t believe the court has a role to play in reviewing the reasonableness of the government’s response
to Canada’s Kyoto commitments.
Canada is required by 2012 to reduce polluting emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels under the Kyoto
Protocol, the 1997 international agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that most scientists
say contribute to global warming.
Under the government’s plan, emissions would be reduced to a level 30 percent higher than the Kyoto
targets. Baird said the proposal would put the country on track for further reductions later.
The case is Between Friends of the Earth and Her Majesty the Queen, T-1683-07, Federal Court of
Canada (Vancouver).
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Toronto at jschneider5@bloomberg.net.
Story Date: 25/11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZJV5QQpAq6Y
CNN.com | Matthew Knight | November 25,2008
Carbon dioxide levels already a danger
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A team of international scientists led by Dr James Hansen, director of
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, say that carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels are already in the
danger zone.
Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere currently stand at 385 parts per million (ppm) and are rising at a
rate of two ppm per year. This is enough, say the scientists, to encourage dangerous changes to the
Earth's climate.
As a result we risk expanding desertification, food shortages, increased storm intensities, loss of coral
reefs and the disappearance of mountain glaciers that supply water to hundreds of millions of people.
The report, "Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?" appears in the latest edition of the
Open Atmosphere Science Journal and brings together the expertise of ten scientists from the United
States, the UK and France.
It is a departure from the previous climate estimates which predict that perilous CO 2 levels will be reached
later in the century.
Drawing on improved paleoclimate records and current global observations has prompted the authors to
reach new conclusions about what constitutes a safe level of CO 2.
Dr Hansen told CNN: "In the paleoclimate data, the Cenozoic data is the most alarming -- burning all the
fossil fuels clearly would send the planet back to the ice-free state with sea level about 250 feet higher."
Hansen thinks these sorts of changes would take several centuries, but he said we would have to deal
with a "holy mess...as ice sheet disintegration unfolded out of our control".
As far as current global observations are concerned, Hansen cites both the decline of Arctic sea ice and
the worldwide retreat of mountain glaciers as causes for major concern.
"Once they are gone," he said, "the fresh water supplies for hundreds of millions of people dependent on
rivers originating in the Himalayas, Andes and Rocky mountains will be severely reduced in summer and
fall."
In light of the new data the authors believe that merely stabilizing CO 2 emissions might not be enough to
avoid catastrophic changes. "Humanity must aim for an even lower level of greenhouse gases", the report
concludes.
To achieve these reductions they propose phasing out coal-fired power stations by 2030 and scaling
down the use of unconventional fossil fuels like tar sands.
Reforestation programs on degraded land and instigating the widespread use of natural fertilizers could
also help to draw down CO2 by around 50 ppm.
Dr Hansen says it's impossible to say when we will reach the point of no return.
"It's like the economy, it's a non-linear problem," he said. "You knew, given the continued input of big
deficit spending that things would go to pot, but nobody could predict the time of collapse with any
confidence. We had better start reducing emissions soon and get back below 350 ppm within several
decades -- otherwise I doubt that the ice sheets can stand such a long strong pressure."
Story Date: 25/11/08
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/21/climate.danger.zone/index.html?section=cnn_latest
27
Bloomberg | Adam Satariano | November 25, 2008
World’s Greenhouse Gases Hit Record Ahead of Talks
(Update1)
Heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming rose to their highest level last year, the United Nations
said in a report indicating efforts to curb emissions have failed without the participation of the world’s
biggest polluters.
Carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas, climbed 0.5 percent in 2007 from a year earlier,
the same growth rate as in 2006, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said today in its annual
Greenhouse Gas Bulletin from Geneva. Greenhouse gases trap radiation within the atmosphere, causing
the Earth to warm.
Negotiators from 190 countries will gather starting Dec. 1 in Poznan, Poland, to craft a new climate
change treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UN report suggests the previous treaty, the
Kyoto Protocol expiring in 2012, hasn’t curbed output because the U.S. refused to join the effort and
developing nations expanded their economies, said Stephen Schneider, a climatologist at Stanford
University.
“Countries like the U.S. have continued to go up, especially because we did nothing about big new cars
and coal plants,” said Schneider, co-director of the Palo Alto-based university’s Center for Environmental
Science and Policy and member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “But the big
reason for this large jump is China and India playing catch-up.”
CO2 Concentration
The concentration of CO2 gas has increased 37 percent since the Industrial Revolution to 383.1 parts for
every million parts of air, the WMO said. Before the use of coal, oil and natural gas in the mid-18th
century, that figure was about 280 parts per million.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged last week the country will “engage vigorously” in the
international climate change negotiations scheduled to conclude in December 2009 in Copenhagen. He
said the U.S. would attempt to cut greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020, and another 80 percent by
2050.
“We have no time at all to get started,” said Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the National
Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the UN intergovernmental
panel. Emissions-reduction efforts in many parts of the world are being “overwhelmed” by the growth of
India and China, he said.
“This is a global problem -- it can’t be solved by one country,” he said. “It doesn’t help much if just
California is doing something in the U.S. or just Europe does it.”
World Pace
Schneider said the world at its current pace will triple the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by
the end of the century, an amount that exceeds the UN panel’s worst-case scenario and may trigger
temperature increases of 3 degrees to 7 degree Celsius. That would cause sea-level rise, melting of polar
ice caps, and increased fire and hurricane intensity, he said.
The Harvard Project on International Climate Change Agreements issued a report yesterday arguing the
international agreement ratified in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan is flawed because it doesn’t require large
polluters such as China and India to make emissions cuts. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation that
refused to ratify the accord.
China and India have maintained that cutting emissions would hamper economic growth as they attempt
to pull their people out of poverty. Developed nations such as the U.S., which are responsible for a
majority of the rise in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution, should be the first to make cuts,
representatives from the two countries said last week at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit in
California.
According to reports by individual countries, 20 nations, including Japan, Italy and Australia, may not be
able to meet their Kyoto pledges to reduce emissions.
‘Global Consensus’
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin is published each year by the UN as the “global consensus” on the latest
trends on greenhouse gases. In addition to carbon dioxide, other emissions reaching new highs include
methane, which climbed 156 percent from pre- industrial levels, and nitrous oxide, which increased 19
percent, according to the report.
The most abundant ozone-depleting gases, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are decreasing slowly as a
result of the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement adopted in 1987 to protect the world’s ozone
layer, the report also said.
The WMO said its measurements came from a network of observatories in more than 65 countries.
28
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
Story Date: 25/ 11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aNfa8yi6HI0c
Bloomberg | Angela Macdonald-Smith | November 25, 2008
Geodynamics, Macquarie Generation Win Renewable
Energy Funding
Geodynamics Ltd., the Australian company seeking to produce power from hot underground rocks, and
state-owned Macquarie Generation were among companies granted A$27 million ($17 million) of funds
for renewable energy plants.
Geodynamics secured A$10 million of the funds granted by the New South Wales government to develop
a geothermal project in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, the Brisbane-based company said today in a
statement. The grant will enable exploration to be accelerated, with a well to be drilled in early 2009, it
said.
The grants, from the state’s climate change and renewable energy development program, will support
seven projects including solar-thermal and biogas generation, and will lead to investment of about A$200
million, New South Wales Environment and Climate Change Minister Carmel Tebbutt said yesterday.
The funding for the Hunter Valley geothermal project will be phased over the life of the project, with the
full amount to be received once a small power plant starts up in 2012, said Geodynamics, whose
shareholders include Origin Energy Ltd. and India’s Tata Power Co.
Macquarie Generation owns and operates the Liddell and Bayswater power stations in the Hunter Valley.
Story Date: 25/ 11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=agAXwjD6q4wc
November 26
Civil Society | Janice Harvey | November 26, 2008
Consumption is killing us
It makes for an interesting juxtaposition of worldviews: Just five days before North America's "Buy Nothing
Day" (Nov. 28), Prime Minister Harper declared that to stem the economic downward spiral, Canadians
need to buy more stuff.
That's because our economy is totally dependent on consumer spending, or "consumer confidence."
Camera shots of either full or empty stores in Toronto's Eaton Centre generally accompany television
news stories on the state of the economy. When people stop spending money - no matter what on or
what for - the economy slows down and goes into recession.
In order to keep people spending, a vast array of unnecessary and short-lived products and services are
invented while a multi-billion dollar advertising industry convinces us we can't live without them.
Consumption for the sake of consumption is the name of the game.
Between 1980 and 2001, the average home size in the United States grew by more than 30 per cent,
probably because people need more space to house all the stuff they buy. Who among us doesn't
undertake the annual ritual of cleaning out shelves, cupboards, closets and toy boxes in anticipation of
the new influx at Christmas? Boxes and bags full of stuff are hauled off to various goodwill operations or
yard sales. Most discarded items are hardly used, perhaps useless, and most certainly unnecessary. If it
were a necessary item, it would have been worn out by use and thus unfit for passing on to someone
else.
Then there's the equally large volume of stuff that has broken down, is unrepairable, or never worked
properly and didn't get returned, or has become 'obsolete' (a computer that can't handle YouTube, a
television that isn't a flat screen HD version, or a cell phone that doesn't order pizza). This stuff ends up in
the landfill, or as we saw recently in a sobering CBC documentary, in horrific toxic electronic dumping
grounds in China.
In the 1970s, the issue of planned obsolescence was hotly debated as corporations began designing and
building products for short rather than long lifespans, ensuring a quick turnover of our money into their
profits. A Future Shop brochure describes their program to replace rather than repair failed electronics.
No fuss, no muss, no questions asked - all you have to do is buy into the plan.
This craziness is what makes the Canadian economy tick. Unless we continue to buy ever more stuff
(how about those leaf blowers?), build more and bigger houses, trade in the two-year old car, or put apple
sauce packaged in the new squeezable plastic tubes in the kids' lunch boxes, everything tanks. Growth in
29
GDP slows, then stalls, then goes into negative numbers. Everyone watches the numbers like hawks,
stepping in with massive infusions of public money, tax and interest rate cuts, to prime the consumption
pump again.
Meanwhile, other related indicators and their implications are ignored completely. It might do to reflect a
moment on another meaning of consumption: a disease causing wasting of tissues, according to Oxford,
especially pulmonary tuberculosis. Rampant consumerism, while building a shiny lifestyle facade, has
eaten away the foundation of family, community and planetary security with both personal and ecological
debt.
Most consumer spending has been financed by debt. Canadians' personal indebtedness has reached a
record high, even higher per capita than in the United States. Personal debt is eating away at the stability
of families and, therefore, communities. Urging more consumer spending (which by definition means
more borrowing, as opposed to saving, paying down debt and building a financial buffer against hard
times) is irresponsible in the extreme.
The other indicator of consumption is the wasting away of the earth's superstructure and infrastructure
that supports all life. All the stuff we consume comes from the earth's limited supply of air, water, land and
resources, and all the waste and pollution associated with its production, use and disposal is injected
back into it. According to the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the World Wildlife Fund's latest
prognosis on the fate of the world's mammals, and the reports of International Panel on Climate Change,
our consumption-dependent economy is destroying the stuff we really can't live without.
Recycling is OK for things you need to buy, but it sits at the bottom of the waste hierarchy. At the top is,
buy less stuff. Reduce both personal and ecological debt. Start to break the addiction to consumption by
participating in Buy Nothing Day coming up this Friday (see www.adbusters.org for more information).
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/492616
The Canadian Press | November 26, 2008
UN talks chance for Canada to restore climate-change
cred: environmentalists
OTTAWA - A coalition of environmental groups says Canada can restore its credibility on the world stage
at the coming round of climate-change talks in Poland.
The Climate Action Network says Canada has an opportunity to shed its image as a laggard on climate
change with a new, less bellicose environment minister at the helm.
The environmental groups say Canada must be less rigid in its rejection of any global climate-change
pact that doesn't include targets for big polluters like China and India.
The environmentalists say that while these emerging economies must curb their greenhouse-gas
emissions, they cannot be expected to take on the same measures as developed countries.
The meetings in Poland follow last year's climate-change talks in Bali, Indonesia, and are seen as a
stepping stone to next year's major climate-change conference in Copenhagen.
The Copenhagen conference aims to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, an international
agreement that sets targets for lowering greenhouse gases which expires in 2012.
http://www.canadaeast.com/search/article/493137
The Daily Gleaner | Andrea Dimock | November 26, 2008
City merchants work toward a 'green' Christmas
Green is the colour of the holidays, from the trees that dominate the living room to the lights that adorn
our homes and businesses. Green is also fast becoming the colour of aware businesses in the
Fredericton area.
Green Shops is a new initiative springing from the city's Green Matters program. Introduced in May and
piloted throughout the summer, it was officially launched in October.
"Green Matters was introduced to get the community engaged in dealing with greenhouse gases and
environmental issues," said Alycia Morehouse, climate change co-ordinator for the city. "Green Shops is
the natural next step in involving the business community."
To date, the initiative has garnered 20 members who go through an audit that has 30 components. The
audit takes about an hour.
"Each component has a different credit value. Using a grey water system earns five credits while stopping
the use of chemical pesticides is worth two credits," she said. "There are guidelines to follow and levels to
reach.
"We have a mixture of bronze, silver and gold members. We are encouraging the members to continue to
keep improving their green practices."
30
The companies can take baby steps or undertake more substantial measures. Examples include such
actions as installing programmable thermostats, upgrading the installation, and reducing the amount of
packaging.
"We are fortunate that business associations, such as Business Fredericton North, Downtown Fredericton
Inc. and the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, have taken an active interest in the Green Shops
initiatives and are encouraging their members to become involved," said Morehouse.
"This will definitely get the message across to consumers. We do provide each business with a decal to
display their membership in Green Shops."
One member has taken the decal to another level by painting it on the storefront window. Radical Edge, a
business operating for almost 20 years in the city, is a bronze member.
"We try to keep up with what the city is doing in many areas, especially when it concerns the
environment. That is an important issue to us," said Mike Davis, co-owner along with his wife, Mary.
Radical Edge became involved with Green Shops during the summer. The business worked closely with
Morehouse.
"There was some tweaking done to the program during that time and some specifications were changed,"
said Davis. "But given the nature of our business, it only made sense to be involved.
"Our client base is very aware of environmental concerns and I would classify the majority as thinking
people. They are devoted to the outdoors as much as we are."
The business had a leg up when the auditing process began - all staff members were already riding bikes
or walking to work. There was, however, a significant drawback to the store's location.
"We rent the premises in an older building on Queen Street, so that was a negative. We have done some
work to reduce heat loss from the store," he said. "We have replaced light bulbs with more efficient types
and installed a low-flow toilet.
"It's difficult to be green in this economy. It costs more to incorporate green practices and that needs to
change."
Another change Davis would like to see is more recycling facilities close to businesses. As it stands now,
a lot of packaging is just being thrown out.
"I can say the city is aware of how difficult it is for some companies to recycle more rather than less and is
working on the problem," said Davis. "I know one retailer who breaks down all his boxes, stores them and
then makes a weekly trip to dispose of them.
"We don't have that option at our location but would like to have the opportunity to decrease what we
throw away."
To Davis, it is simply a matter of being conscience of what needs to be done to protect the environment
today and tomorrow.
"We make the effort to sell quality merchandise that will last. The 70s and 80s were all about
consumption," he said.
"I know it doesn't make sense from a retailer's point of view but we want our customers to wear out what
they bought from us before they purchase something new."
And, in the long term, being green benefits the city, businesses, consumers and, most importantly, the
environment.
"It's the smart choice and saves money over the long term," Morehouse said. "The types of the
businesses embracing the Green Shops initiative range from Avalon SalonSpa to Carmen Creek Golf
Course.
"The response has been extraordinary and we encourage more companies to become involved. They can
go to greenmattersfredericton.com and get more information."
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/492765
chinadaily.com | Li Jing | November 26, 2008
Warm winter 'major threat' to crops
Prolonged periods of drought resulting from China's 23rd consecutive "warm winter" will pose a serious
threat to the country's crop yields, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said in a report
published Tuesday.
Some regions could experience droughts until the spring, the report said, adding that the warm weather
might even continue until summer.
In contrast, extreme falls in temperature are forecast for the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, where
"natural disasters such as snowstorms and freezing rains are likely to hit Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and
Guizhou provinces", the report said.
The CMA forecasts come just days ahead of the United Nations summit on climate change in Poznan,
Poland, which opens on Monday.
31
In its report, the CMA urged the Ministry of Agriculture to take steps to avoid agricultural losses caused by
the warmer weather.
"Over the next three months, the average temperature in most parts of the country will be slightly higher
than normal for the time of year," the report said.
"This winter will be warmer than last year," it said.
Spring and summer temperatures will also be higher than normal, it said.
Although last year's average winter temperature was the lowest since the mid-1980s, the season was still
officially classed as "warm", the CMA said.
Experts have said the effects of global warming are becoming increasingly clear to see, and the threat to
crop yields should not be understated.
Xiong Wei, an expert on the correlation between climate change and agriculture with the Chinese
Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told China Daily Tuesday that prolonged periods of warm weather and
drought are clear signs of climate change, and will have a huge impact on the country's agricultural
output.
"Warm winters create an environment in which plant diseases and pests thrive, and these pose a serious
threat to crops," he said.
Also, after decades of warm winters, some wheat varieties grown in the north of China have become less
resistant to cold.
So if a spring freeze does occur, the crop is at risk and harvests are hit, Xiong said.
The CMA report also said that from next month until February, rainfall in western Liaoning, northeastern
Hebei and northeastern Shandong provinces is forecast to be down by 20 to 50 percent on the seasonal
average.
Some areas of the country, including the Northeast, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and south of
the Yangtze could experience droughts throughout the whole of the winter and into next spring, the report
said.
Droughts in the south will have a huge impact on the nation's agricultural output, Xiong said.
"I am very concerned the dry weather will seriously affect grain yields," he said.
Story Date: 26/11/08
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-11/26/content_7240372.htm
Planet Ark | Philip Pullella | November 26, 2008
Vatican Set To Go Green With Huge Solar Panel Roof
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican was set to go green on Wednesday with the activation of a new solar
energy system to power several key buildings and a commitment to use renewable energy for 20 percent
of its needs by 2020.
The massive roof of the Vatican's "Nervi Hall", where popes hold general audiences and concerts are
performed, has been covered with 2,400 photovoltaic panels -- but they will not be visible from below,
leaving the Vatican skyline unchanged.
The new system on the 5,000 square metre roof will provide for all the year-round energy needs of the
hall and several surrounding buildings, producing 300 kilowatt hours (MWh) of clean energy a year.
The system, devised by the German company SolarWorld, will allow the 108-acre city-state to cut its
carbon dioxide emissions by about 225,000 kilograms (225 tonnes) and save the equivalent of 80 tonnes
of oil each year.
The Holy See's newspaper said on Tuesday that the Vatican planned to install enough renewable energy
sources to provide 20 percent of its needs by 2020, broadly in line with a proposal by the European
Union.
The 1971 Nervi Hall is named after the renowned architect who designed it, Pier Paolo Nervi, and is one
of the most modern buildings in the Vatican, where most structures are several centuries old. The hall can
hold up to 10,000 people.
It has a sweeping, wavy roof which made the project feasible and the solar panels virtually invisible from
the ground. Church officials have said the Vatican's famous skyline, particularly St Peter's Basilica, would
remain untouched.
An editorial in Tuesday's newspaper appealed for greater use of renewable energy.
"The gradual exhaustion of the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect have reached critical dimensions,"
the newspaper said.
By producing its own energy the Vatican will become more autonomous from Italy, from where it currently
buys all its energy. The Vatican is surrounded by Rome.
Pope Benedict and his predecessor John Paul put the Vatican firmly on an environmentalist footing.
32
Benedict has made numerous appeals for the protection of the environment. The Vatican has hosted a
scientific conference to discuss the ramifications of global warming and climate change, widely blamed on
human use of fossil fuels.
Environmentalists praised the pope last year after he made a speech saying the human race must listen
to "the voice of the earth" or risk destroying the planet.
Story Date: 26/11/08
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50675
November 27
The Daily Gleaner | Michael Staples | November 27, 2008
City teen to discuss climate change with peers at
conference in Poland
It's a chance to make a difference and Taryn McKenzie-Mohr intends to take full advantage of it.
The 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Fredericton High School is one of three people from the city
selected to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change set to run Dec. 1-12 in
Poznan, Poland.
"Last year, the youth at the conference had an amazing impact on influencing leaders, co-operating with
other countries and making connections that previously had not been available until youth were attending
the conference," said McKenzie-Mohr, who is being sponsored by British Council Canada.
"As a youth delegate, I have a unique opportunity to communicate with the media and Canadian youth so
that they understand and know what sort of decisions our government is making."
Joining McKenzie-Mohr are fellow Frederictonians Nicolas Nadeau, 24, and Caroline Lee, 24. All are part
of the Canadian Youth Delegation, a group of 26 young leaders from across Canada.
Nadeau, an Ecole Sainte-Anne graduate, recently moved to Montreal to work on environmental education
projects at a non-profit organization, ENvironnement JEUnesse.
He attended last year's climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia.
Lee, an organizer of UNB's first comprehensive waste audit, co-organized the university's Youth
Environmental Symposium before heading off to Simon Fraser University in Vancouver to pursue her
master's in global climate change policy.
The high-profile UN conference sets the agenda for international efforts to tackle the challenges posed by
climate change.
"I am really excited and looking forward to meeting the international youth who will be attending the
conference," said McKenzie-Mohr, who will be one of the youngest delegates.
"It's really unique because you don't often see such a wide variety of nations represented and youth
coming together to work to try and fight climate change."
McKenzie-Mohr was trained last April by Al Gore and Climate Project Canada to be a presenter of Gore's
documentary about the environment An Inconvenient Truth. She said she's concerned about climate
change and believes the federal government is taking a backseat with regard to tackling the issue.
McKenzie-Mohr said she is also concerned the environment will get lost in the economic crisis. She said
there's a misconception that people can't be both environmentalists and economists.
McKenzie-Mohr said there will be huge opportunities coming out of the recession that will help the
environment, such as creating jobs in renewable energy.
She will be sharing her experiences with classmates after she returns from Poland.
McKenzie-Mohr's progress at the conference can be monitored on her blog at
http://capefarewellcanada.ca/news-events-blogs.php.
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/494065
The Daily Gleaner | Heather McLaughlin | November 27, 2008
City waiting for verdict on climate change program
How much progress is Fredericton making with its Green Matters initiative?
Fredericton officials are hoping to soon hear back from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities - the
auditor of the capital city's figures - on whether the city is winning or losing the war to curb greenhouse
gases.
"We're waiting, rather impatiently, for them to get back to us," said Alycia Morehouse, the city's climate
change co-ordinator. "They know that we'd like that number."
Fredericton is a member in the federation's partners for climate change program.
33
A number of communities from every province have signed up for the program. They're trying to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent and community emissions by six per cent by 2010, in line with
the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol.
Of the 15 New Brunswick communities in the program, only Fredericton has met four of five milestones
after joining in June 2001.
Those milestones - both as a corporate government body and as a community - include creating a
greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast, setting emissions reductions goals, writing a local
action plan and implementing it, and measuring results.
"We are in pretty good standing nationally. In the Top 10 per cent," Morehouse said. "Since we have
submitted our community action plan, we are just waiting for them to verify our numbers through their
independent testing and quality control ... to ensure we're as accurate as possible."
But despite meeting most of the program's set-up criteria, Fredericton actually saw an increase in
corporate greenhouse gas levels between 2000 and 2004, when municipal emissions rose 1.96 per cent.
Since 2004, the city has had record growth and millions of dollars worth of construction is now on the
power grid, so it's a tough battle to curb pollution in a growing economy.
To create its first batch of figures, which include not just corporate calculations, but community emission
levels, the city has had to gather and submit to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities data from NB
Power, Enbridge Gas New Brunswick, propane suppliers and oil companies.
"You're looking at water, waste, street lights. It's quite onerous and we need to get all that information,"
Morehouse said. "There's a lot of variables in there.
"Our corporation (the city) is measured differently. We would look at our buildings, at the facilities we
have, our fleet, that type of thing.
Fredericton set 2000 as its base year. The results it expects to have verified by the federation are
between from 2000-04.
Those figures won't reflect what's been happening at the community level since 2007 when the city
unveiled its plan to invite community support to curb energy use.
"The feedback we've received with Green Matters, and that only launched in 2007, has far exceeded our
expectations. The buy-in we've gotten from the community, has been extraordinary," she said.
Neither Moncton, which joined in November of 2001, nor Saint John, which joined in May 2006, has met
any of the program milestones.
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/494056
Physorg.com | November 27,2008
2008 saw record-breaking hurricane season: US
agency
The record-breaking 2008 hurricane season, which officially ends on Sunday, has been one of the most
active since comprehensive reports began 64 years ago, a US government agency said Wednesday.
For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones -- Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and
Ike -- struck the US mainland and three major hurricanes -- Gustav, Ike and Paloma -- made landfall in
Cuba, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
And for the first time the North Atlantic region witnessed major hurricanes for five consecutive months,
reaching between category 3 and category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the agency added.
Hurricanes Bertha in July, Gustav in August, Ike in September, Omar in October and Paloma in
November were all intense storms, resulting in serious damage in the US and the Caribbean.
"The information we'll gain by assessing the events from the 2008 hurricane season will help us do an
even better job in the future," said National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read.
"With this season behind us, it's time to prepare for the one that lies ahead," he warned.
A total of 16 named storms formed during the season, which runs for six months between June 1 and
November 30 in the North Atlantic, according to the agency's Miami-based National Hurricane Center.
Eight of those tropical storms became hurricanes, five of which were major hurricanes with a Category 3
strength or higher -- numbers well above normal. A season has an average of 11 storms, six hurricanes
34
and two major hurricanes.
Story Date: 27/11/08
http://www.physorg.com/news146933748.html
Bloomberg | Jonathan Stearns | November 27, 2008
Poland Accuses Germany, U.K. of Intransigence in
Climate Talks
Poland pressed Germany, the U.K. and other rich European Union nations to scale back a plan for
tougher emission rules on electricity companies or risk deadlock over a climate-change package at an EU
summit next month.
The Polish government reiterated that forcing utilities to buy all their carbon-dioxide emission allowances
beginning in 2013 would increase electricity prices too much in Poland, which depends on coal for power
production. EU CO2 quotas on energy and manufacturing companies are made up of allowances now
granted largely for free.
“I can only appeal for more flexibility and solidarity,” Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland’s minister for European
affairs, told reporters today in Brussels. “We want to limit the damage that this package will do for our
economy.” Along with Germany and the U.K., he accused the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries of
being uncompromising.
Poland heads a group of eight ex-communist countries that are threatening to try to block tougher
European emissions legislation unless they are given special treatment. EU leaders are due to discuss
the proposals aimed at fighting climate change on Dec. 11- 12.
The EU aims for a deal by year-end, saying an accord among rich and poorer European nations would
encourage the U.S. and China to sign up to a new United Nations treaty. Governments worldwide are due
to gather in the Polish city of Poznan in December to seek a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which
expires in 2012.
Emission Caps
The draft EU legislation would tighten emission caps on European power plants and factories in 20132020. In reducing annual quotas on installations currently in the EU emissions- trading system by 11
percent on average, the draft law would also allocate fewer allowances that make up those quotas for
free.
Auctions would be used to allocate all allowances for electricity companies as of 2013 under the January
proposal by the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm. Manufacturing companies such as steel,
cement and paper would face 100 percent auctioning in 2020 after a phase-in starting at 20 percent in
2013 under the commission proposal.
France, current holder of the 27-nation EU’s rotating presidency, proposes a compromise that would
allow a three-year exemption until 2016 from full auctioning for power plants in coal-dependent nations
like Poland. Poland gets 95 percent of its electricity from coal, which emits more than twice as much CO2
as natural gas when used by power plants.
The Polish government prefers a proposal of its own under which the number of free allowances to
utilities would be based on efficiency standards, or “benchmarks,” with innovative power plants being
entitled to more than higher-polluting competitors, said Dowgielewicz.
Greenhouse Gases
The EU measures to tighten the emissions-trading system, which requires companies that exceed their
CO2 quotas to buy permits from businesses that emit less, underpin the bloc’s goal to reduce greenhouse
gases by a fifth in 2020 compared with 1990 levels. The price of EU emission allowances for 2013 on the
European Climate Exchange in London are higher than the prices of 2008 permits because of the EU
plan to reduce quotas.
Poland also proposes to establish a “corridor” for market prices that would allow for special measures
such as earlier allowance auctioning in the event of volatility.
The “accepted fluctuations” should be within a limit of 15 euros ($19), based on an assumption that EU
allowance prices will be 24 euros a metric ton in 2013 and 39 euros a ton in 2020, according to the Polish
proposal described in a statement distributed by Poland’s mission to the EU in Brussels.
Dowgielewicz said “some progress” had been made on this idea with French-government support while
saying the U.K. position on the matter was unsupportive.
The EU climate-change proposals need the support of a majority of national governments and the
European Parliament to become law. Government and Parliament representatives are negotiating over
the details and may leave the most politically contentious aspects such as allowance auctioning for EU
leaders to settle.
35
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at
Story Date: 27/11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=arva1lxTAd3M
Fox News | Julhas Alam | November 27, 2008
Bangladeshis rally against climate change
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Some 500 women rallied in Bangladesh's capital on Thursday,
demanding richer nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions and compensate the impoverished
countries that experts believe will be hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.
The women, mostly rural poor, wore masks mocking leaders from wealthy nations such as France, Britain
and the United States, and marched through Dhaka University's campus carrying banners that read "Cut
emissions, save poor nations" and "Stop harming, start helping."
Organizers from the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood, an Oxfam-funded network of domestic
labor and rights groups, said the rally was timed to send a message to delegates who will gather Dec. 1 in
Poznan, Poland for a United Nations conference on climate change.
"We are here with a message that we are suffering, and our sufferings will increase manifold if rich
countries do not act aggressively," said Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, a Bangladeshi expert on climate change.
"Rich nations like the U.S. and emerging countries such as China and India must act properly," he said.
"We need development but not at the cost of our future."
Bangladesh, a densely populated nation of 150 million people, suffers annual floods, frequent cyclones
and increasing salinity in its coastal regions
Experts say more frequent flooding due to global warming could eventually put as much as one-third of
Bangladesh's land mass permanently under water.
Story Date: 27/11/08
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Nov27/0,4670,ASBangladeshClimateChange,00.html
Planet Ark | Benet Koleka | November 27, 2008
Europe bank aids Albania's waste paper recycling
efforts
TIRANA - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will invest in Albania's only paper firm
to help it produce recycled paper and set up waste paper recycling networks, the EBRD said on
Wednesday.
Dan Berg, the EBRD's Albania head, said the investment would create a precedent with environmentally
friendly production backed by an organized collection and recycling network.
"Not only is this investment good for business, but we hope it will help change attitudes toward recycling
in Albania," Berg said. "The investment...should stimulate other companies to look for opportunities to
recycle waste into profits."
The EBRD will make an equity investment of two million euros (US$2.59 million) in Edipack Sh.a. to
support its plans to install a recycled paper production line and establish waste paper recycling networks
throughout Albania, Europe's second poorest state.
Edipack, based in the port town of Durres, will use the funds to diversify and expand its products range
and services, including the packaging and shipment of agricultural produce.
The company will install waste-paper bins in much-frequented areas, such as shopping malls,
warehouses of importers, especially of vegetables and fruits, ministries, municipalities, universities and
printing houses.
Story Date: 27/11/08
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50684
November 28
36
Planet Ark | Scott Anderson | November 28, 2008
Canada's Loblaw To Charge For Plastic Shopping
Bags
TORONTO - Loblaw Co, Canada's biggest supermarket chain, said on Thursday that it will start charging
customers a fee for every plastic shopping bag they use.
The company, with more than 1,000 grocery stores across Canada, said it would begin charging
customers 5 Canadian cents a bag on April 22, 2009, which is Earth Day.
The company said it would also encourage customers to use alternatives to plastic bags and enhance its
offer of affordable reusable bag options. Loblaw currently offers reusable fabric bags to its customers for
a small fee.
"We believe this ... represents the next natural step forward as we continue to acknowledge and respond
to Canadians' desire to support environmental initiatives," Galen Weston, Loblaw executive chairman,
said in a release.
Loblaw's move comes just days before city council in Toronto, Canada's biggest city, debates passing a
controversial bylaw to put a surcharge of 5 Canadian cents on all plastic shopping bags used in the city.
Loblaw competitor Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Company, said on Thursday it plans to redirect the
money it receives from the Toronto plan into environmental and sustainability initiatives in the city.
Sobeys operates 16 stores in Toronto.
"This is about reducing bags from the waste stream and doing the right thing for the environment," said
Tracy Chisholm, a spokeswoman for Sobeys' Ontario division.
"We believe that the money generated from that needs to go back into the cause that is in the spirit of the
bylaw and goes toward environmental initiatives in supporting the environment."
Chisholm said it was too early to say whether the company would match Loblaw and charge for plastic
shopping bags nationwide.
San Francisco became the first North American city to ban nonrecyclable plastic bags made from
petroleum products in 2007, while the tiny town of Leaf Rapids in northern Manitoba last year became the
first Canadian municipality to prohibit plastic shopping bags.
Countries including China, South Africa, Ireland and Taiwan have placed fees, taxes or outright bans on
plastic shopping bags.
(US$1=$1.23 Canadian)
( editing by Peter Galloway)
Story Date: 28/11/08
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50701
Planet Ark | Alistair Thomson | November 28,2008
Sahel Africans Face Hunger Despite Bumper Harvest
DAKAR - Poor people in Africa's arid Sahel region will go without food despite bumper harvests this year,
as wild price moves on world markets put staple cereals beyond many families' budgets, aid agencies
say. Prices of imported foods have ballooned in recent years, pushing up prices for locally grown crops
even though harvests are expected to be bigger than ever after abundant rains.
"The nature of food insecurity has changed in West Africa," Alexander Woollcombe, Food Security
Advocacy Advisor at Oxfam GB told Reuters. "It's not a problem of production. The problem is, poor
people can't afford to buy it."
Oxfam expects cereal production across five countries in the dry Sahel belt south of the Sahara -- Burkina
Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal -- will be a record 18.5 million tonnes this year, but the food on
sale will be beyond the budget of many in these, some of the world's poorest countries.
Launching a study in partnership with Save the Children in the Senegalese capital on Wednesday, Oxfam
said food prices in general rose by 83 percent between 2005 and 2008. This has been felt in poor
households whose major expense is food.
"The rise in price of food commodities has severely hit the poorest people, who allocate up to 80 percent
of their income to food," Aboubacry Tall, regional director for Save the Children UK, said in a statement.
FOOD CRISIS, FINANCIAL CRISIS
African countries have come to rely on imported food.
Prices were so cheap at the start of the decade that buying from international markets took the place of
growing locally. But now those prices are much higher, Sahelians are struggling to afford foreign rice and
other cereals.
"An important structural effect is dependence on imports," said Eric Hazard, Oxfam's regional campaign
manager for economic justice in West Africa.
37
"In Mauritania, 75 percent depend on imported food and food aid, and in such a context the situation is
difficult."
Neighbouring Senegal is a major importer of rice from Asia, high prices of which were in part behind a
government campaign launched earlier this year to boost agricultural production.
The benchmark Thai rice contract closed on Wednesday at $580/tonne, well down from the peak of
$1,080 it hit in April but still around double its price in November 2005.
In the long term, African government policy should permit local farmers to profit from high food prices, the
agencies' report said.
"The putting in place of a protective common external tariff, and safeguard mechanisms appropriate for
farmers and agro-industries of (West African economic bloc) ECOWAS has become a priority," it said.
For the time being, wild price fluctuations are likely to continue as a result of the state of the world
economy, according to a European Commission draft paper this week.
Though isolated to a degree from the international banking system, Africa may suffer knock-on effects
from the global financial crisis if remittances to family members from Africans working in the West, a
crucial part of local economies, shrink as more people in Europe and United States lose their jobs.
Rich nations pledged billions to tackle hunger at a United Nations summit in Rome earlier this year, but
those sums have since been dwarfed by the money spent on saving failing financial institutions. Aid
agencies worry that with banking meltdowns and the effects of recession hogging the headlines and the
political priorities of rich countries, food shortages in Africa will slip down the world's agenda, Woollcombe
said.
"We are concerned that the financial crisis will mean less attention on the food crisis, which
disproportionately affects the world's poorest," he said.
Story Date: 28/11/08
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50707
LiveScience.com| Robert Roy Britt | November 28,2008
Wind Farms Could Change Weather
A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and alter the weather if extensive fields
of turbines were built, according to a news report.
It is not the first study to come to this conclusion.
The new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of large wind turbines would have to be
taken to the extreme to have the global effects portrayed.
The scientists, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the University of Maryland, calculated "what
might happen if all the land from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky
Mountains, were covered in one massive wind farm," according to Discovery News. The result of such an
unlikely installation: a real serious Butterfly Effect.
Such massive wind farming would slow wind speeds by 5 or 6 mph as the turbines literally stole wind from
the air. A ripple effect would occur in the form of waves radiating across the Northern Hemisphere that
could, days later, run into storms and alter their courses by hundreds of miles.
The researchers "acknowledged the hypothetical wind farm was far larger than anything humans are
likely to build," according to the Web site, but if Department of Energy projections for wind farming are
met by 2030 (for the country to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind), "it could probably have an
effect," James McCaa of 3Tier, Inc., a renewable energy forecasting company based in Seattle, is quoted
as saying.
In 2004, two separate groups of scientists did similar calculations.
One group found the opposite effect.
Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University and colleagues simulated the effect of extensive wind farms
on local weather. They found a drying and warming effect in the morning that would warm the air across
moist and cool overnight soil, causing the local wind speed to increase slightly.
Also in 2004, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his colleagues estimated the drag from wind
farms if they covered 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. They concluded that global cooling would
occur in polar regions and global warming would result in temperate regions such as North America at
about 30 degrees North latitude.
When that study was released, Keith had an interesting take on the possibility: "The message here is
climate change, but that doesn't equal global warming," Keith said. "It's possible this would have
benefits," by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption on global climate, he said.
Story Date: 28/11/08
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20081127/sc_livescience/windfarmscouldchangeweather
38
Bloomberg| Katarzyna Klimasinska | November 28,2008
Poland May Build First Nuclear Power Plant by 2023 in
Zarnowiec
Poland, which generates 93 percent of its electricity from coal, is considering building its first nuclear
plant by 2023 in the northern town of Zarnowiec, as it seeks to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from power
generation.
“We will need nuclear energy if it turns out that renewable sources aren’t efficient enough, or if it’s too
difficult to lower emissions from technologies based on coal,” Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak said
today at a press briefing in Warsaw. The country may build an atomic plant in 10 to 15 years, he said.
Poland is set to host a meeting of more than 190 nations in the western city of Poznan over the next two
weeks, at which delegates will discuss a successor treaty to the United Nations Kyoto Protocol, a global
agreement to curb carbon emissions.
Without an international effort, the world’s temperatures may rise by 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 Fahrenheit)
by 2100, the International Energy Agency has said. Carbon dioxide is the main gas blamed by scientists
for climate change.
Story Date: 28/11/08
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=apEGc8fHGPUY
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