29
EPA tells staff don't talk.
The EPA is telling its pollution enforcement officials not to talk with congressional investigators, reporters and even the agency's own inspector general, according to an internal e-mail provided to The Associated Press.
Associated Press.
29 July 2008
Huge chunk snaps off storied Arctic ice shelf.
Scientists say the break, the largest on record since 2005, is the latest indication that climate change is forcing the drastic reshaping of the Arctic coastline, where 9,000 square kilometres of ice have been whittled down to less than 1,000 over the past century.
Toronto Globe and Mail.
29 July 2008
Canada has green concerns over oil goldmine.
The earth beneath Fort McMurray's pine and spruce trees holds as much oil as the United States, Russia and the United Arab Emirates combined.
Nightline.
29 July 2008
Alaska forests hit with more wildfires, infestations as climate changes.
Climate change is affecting Alaska’s forests in a number of ways, many of them complex and indirect, but warming temperatures themselves are also affecting forests and are likely to cause the most dramatic impacts in the future.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
29 July 2008
Climate change: a look at the bigger picture.
It's the year 2050 and Bridgette Malebo has a thriving vegetable farm in Philippi but no bread for her children: the roads have been flooded for months and she can't get to market to sell her produce.
Cape Town Cape Times.
29 July 2008
Climate experts tussle over details. Public gets whiplash.
When science is testing new ideas, the result is often a two-papers-forward-one-paper-back intellectual tussle among competing research teams--and lately the phenomenon has been glaringly apparent on global warming.
New York Times.
29 July 2008
Fuel-economy push hits snags.
A Bush administration proposal to boost fuel efficiency of automobiles to 31.5 miles per gallon by 2015 is raising hackles on two sides: from car makers, who say it is too tough, and from some Democrats, who say it isn't tough enough.
Wall Street Journal.
29 July 2008
Climate change impact studied.
The National Conference of State Legislatures has released a study that examined the economic effect of climate change on Georgia industries, from timber to tourism.
Macon Telegraph.
29 July 2008
Does global warming aid increase in kidney stones?
Global warming could do more than hurt polar bears: It could force a rise in kidney stones, scientists warn.
USA Today.
29 July 2008
As ocean warms, coral loses anchor in acidic waters.
Coral reefs can't find a strong purchase in the eastern tropical Pacific thanks to more acidic waters--a potential precursor of what the ocean will be like under global warming
Scientific American.
29 July 2008
U.S. becomes wind power leader.
For a country with a reputation for being addicted to fossil fuels, it may come as a surprise that the United States is now the world leader in one green-energy category.
San Diego North County Times.
29 July 2008
Profiting from climate change.
The investing world is full of cunning hands, but Nicolas Huber aims to profit from a different type of calamity: climate change. More specifically, he invests in companies set to thrive in a world of rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and mounting natural disasters.
US News & World Report.
29 July 2008
SAfrica plans shift from coal for energy.
The South African government said Monday it would move away from cheap coal, long the engine of its economic growth and embrace nuclear and renewable energy in a bid to combat climate change.
Associated Press.
29 July 2008
Biofuels down, energy saving up in EU climate plan.
Biofuels are down and energy efficiency measures are up as the European Union's ambitious plan to fight climate change works its way towards becoming law.
Reuters.
29 July 2008
UTC's David: Waste not.
In testimony before a congressional committee Monday, United Technologies Chairman and former CEO George David said the key to energy independence and solving global warming lies in conservation more than alternative energy.
Hartford Courant.
29 July 2008
Nationwide UK competition shows the way to cut costs and carbon emissions.
Green Lane, in the suburb of Cookridge, is in the lead in the national Green Streets competition. Halfway through the contest, the gently sloping double row of 1960s terraces, semis and bungalows has cut costs by 29.32%.
London Guardian.
29 July 2008
State buildings shift to energy efficiency.
A new park pavilion on Lake Michigan that incorporates energy-efficient features is one of a growing number of state-owned buildings designed to hold down energy costs.
Associated Press.
29 July 2008
Blow up your SUV for the environment? Yeah, right.
Ryan Mickle, a management consultant, realized he'd no longer need his gas-guzzling Range Rover--and selling it wouldn't do any good. Though his own carbon footprint would decrease, someone else would still be polluting.
US News & World Report.
29 July 2008
Carbon tax mooted.
The national treasury has been given a mandate to investigate the introduction of a carbon tax as well as a cap-and-trade system that will form part of the government's strategy to build a climate change policy.
Johannesburg Business Report.
29 July 2008
Japan adopts action plan against global warming .
Japan's cabinet on Tuesday adopted a plan to slash carbon emissions up to 80 per cent by 2050 by starting carbon trading and stepping up research on carbon-capture technologies.
New Delhi Times of India.
29 July 2008
Emission permit auctions to net £2bn.
Auctioning off the right to emit carbon dioxide is likely to net the government nearly €2.5bn over the next four years, under plans to be announced on Tuesday.
London Financial Times.
29 July 2008
Generate your own power, use it and sell it too.
The Indian government has placed solar energy development at the centre of its strategy for energy security and combating climate change.
Indo-Asian News Service.
29 July 2008
Birth control is a green option.
Each new UK birth will be responsible for 160 times more greenhouse gas emissions than a new birth in Ethiopia, according to the Optimum Population Trust.
London Times.
29 July 2008
33% of China's carbon footprint blamed on exports.
Finger-pointing, and "China bashing" in particular, is a favourite game when it comes to assigning responsibility for climate change.
New Scientist.
29 July 2008
Wildfires may briefly slow Arctic warming, study says.
The rapidly warming Arctic may be given a brief annual reprieve by smoke from North American wildfires, which cools the surface for weeks or months at a time, a new study found.
National Geographic News.
29 July 2008
Our shaky hold on greenhouse infamy.
It is not a list you want to top, but the reality is set out in the Garnaut report: Australia is the largest per capita emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. However, the title is misleading.
Sydney Australian.
29 July 2008
Obama's biofuels policy tension.
US presidential hopeful Barack Obama is coming under increasing pressure to change his policies on biofuels. Obama has been a big supporter of corn subsidies for American farmers to produce the plant-fuel ethanol. But a report from his own adviser warns of the many problems associated with the biofuel.
BBC.
29 July 2008
Climate change: insubstantial shadows.
Amidst the cacophony of discussions and negotiations within the international climate change caucus, the G-8 had held out hope for effective implementation -- more than the United Nations Kyoto Protocol (KP), which remains bogged down in various degrees of non-compliance.
Inter Press Service.
29 July 2008
U.S. should find way to price carbon emissions, say execs.
Two top executives from U.S. industry told a congressional panel on Monday that the country should assign a dollar cost to carbon emissions to encourage investment in efficiency and tackle climate change.
Reuters.
29 July 2008
US environmental agency silences employees on climate change.
Amid intensifying scrutiny of its failure to act on climate change, the US environmental protection agency has ordered employees not to talk to internal auditors, Congress or the media, according to a leaked email released yesterday by green campaigners.
London Guardian.
29 July 2008
Greenhouse smoke battle soon to heat up.
A 90-day truce has been declared in the war between Metro Vancouver and the British Columbia greenhouse industry over the regional district's attempts to introduce much tougher emission regulations.
Vancouver Province.
29 July 2008
Campaigners seek an end to production of CO2-intensive 'unconventional fuels.'
Shell, BP and other oil companies at the centre of the tar sands revolution in Canada are facing a backlash from the Co-operative and other members of the ethical investment community against these operations for environmental reasons.
London Guardian.
29 July 2008
U.S. should find way to price carbon emissions, say execs.
Two top executives from U.S. industry told a congressional panel on Monday that the country should assign a dollar cost to carbon emissions to encourage investment in efficiency and tackle climate change.
Reuters.
29 July 2008
Ehrlich, others urge passage of Global Warming Solutions Act.
State Rep. Lori A. Ehrlich, D-Marblehead, joined fellow legislators, as well as business and environmental leaders last Tuesday to urge the House to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act before the current legislative session ends Thursday.
Swampscott Reporter.
29 July 2008
Women more anti-coal than men: poll.
Women are more worried than men about climate change and dislike coal more, a new poll shows.
Australian Associated Press.
29 July 2008
Martin Ferguson sets target for coal power.
Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has set a target of 2015-20 for a commercial breakthrough on low-emissions coal-fired power technology.
Sydney Australian.
29 July 2008
Don't wait for world on climate: poll.
As the Coalition meets in Canberra today to forge a climate change policy that would delay an emissions trading scheme beyond 2010, it will be confronted with evidence that most Australians support the Rudd Government's position.
Sydney Australian.
29 July 2008
Carbon scheme alone is not enough: oppn.
A carbon trading scheme on its own will not reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, federal opposition frontbencher Ian Macfarlane says.
Australian Associated Press.
29 July 2008
ALP hits Coalition ahead of talks.
The Rudd Government has gone on the attack ahead of Coalition meetings to formulate a response to an emissions trading scheme.
Sydney Australian.
29 July 2008
Carbon scheme alone is not enough: oppn.
A carbon trading scheme on its own will not reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, federal opposition frontbencher Ian Macfarlane says.
Australian Associated Press.
29 July 2008
Anxiety over Greens' role in climate scheme.
Big business is watching nervously the political fight surrounding climate change amid fears that outright Coalition opposition to an emissions trading scheme could drive the Government to negotiate with the Greens.
Sydney Morning Herald.
29 July 2008
Australians strongly back carbon trade scheme.
Australians overwhelmingly back government plans to introduce one of the world's biggest carbon trading schemes, a poll found on Tuesday, despite a lack of detail about how much it will cost and how it will work.
Reuters.
29 July 2008
Green plan needs work, groups say.
Ontario should use its new membership in the Western Climate Initiative to push for stringent caps on greenhouse gas emissions, environmental groups say.
Toronto Star.
29 July 2008
Regina carbon-capture research receives boost.
A trail-blazing, Regina-based research project to study the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers was the recipient of $5 million in federal funding Monday.
Saskatoon Star Phoenix.
29 July 2008
Analysis-biofuels down, energy saving up in EU climate plan.
Biofuels are down and energy efficiency measures are up as the European Union's ambitious plan to fight climate change works its way towards becoming law.
Reuters.
29 July 2008
GMP plans major energy shift away from nuclear power.
Green Mountain Power, the second largest electrical utility in the state with some 90,000 customers, is planning on a future in which the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant plays a much smaller role, company officials said Monday.
Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.
29 July 2008
No protests as Xcel ramps up nuclear plans.
As Xcel Energy makes plans to begin storing spent nuclear fuel in dry casks at its nuclear power plant in Monticello next month, one element is missing:
Minneapolis Star Tribune.
29 July 2008
Algae farm someday could produce biodiesel of choice.
PetroAlgae of Melbourne thinks that algae can provide the fuel of tomorrow.
Orlando Sentinel.
29 July 2008
Colleges grow more Earth-conscious to lure students.
Colleges across the country are rolling out a host of environmentally friendly initiatives, expanding beyond campus recycling and energy efficient buildings to hire sustainability officers to oversee all environmental programs.
Boston Globe.
29 July 2008
Eaten up.
Raj Patel's book Stuffed and Starved predicted the current global food crisis - spiralling food prices, starvation and obesity. He wrote it at the beginning of 2007, well before the roar of anger about rising food prices that resounded across the planet and that he so uncannily and accurately predicted.
London Guardian.
29 July 2008
Youth groups unite for clean air.
In celebration of the Environment Month, youths from different parts of the country convened in Manila recently to attend the launching of Clean Air Youth Alliance at the Philippine Educational Theater Association Center.
Cebu Daily News.
29 July 2008
Eye to beak with a red-footed boobie!
There are many special places on our planet that need protection. Palmyra Atoll, a speck of land lying in the middle of the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, is one of them. It is home to an abundant variety of animals that scientists are now studying.
Christian Science Monitor.
29 July 2008
Turning Niagara's garbage into cash.
Niagara's biggest landfill has a massive case of indigestion. Like an enormous stomach, the Niagara Waste Systems landfill reluctantly digests a diet of rotting veggies, rusty metals, plentiful plastic and chemical soup.
Niagara Falls Review.
29 July 2008
Eighty percent of Canadians consider the environment when making purchasing decisions.
While 80 per cent of Canadians consider the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions, the majority of consumers believe that environmental claims are often just marketing ploys, according to Bensimon Byrne's Consumerology Report, released this week.
Exchange Magazine.
29 July 2008
EPA tells its staff: Don't answer watchdogs' queries.
The Environmental Protection Agency has told its staff not to answer questions from the agency's internal watchdog, news reporters or the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, according an internal memo that an environmental group released Monday.
McClatchy Newspapers.
29 July 2008
Gulf Dead Zone not a record. Not quite.
The official measurements are in, and the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" is the second-largest ever recorded.
The Daily Green.
29 July 2008
Recycling on upswing, is still below average.
The county's two largest recycling companies say that recycling is up in Jackson County because of greater awareness and convenience.
Jackson Citizen Patriot.
29 July 2008
