Posted on May 19, 2008 by Dennis Pfaff
- Global warming is not to blame for a recent increase in hurricanes, according to a top scientist who previously warned about the meteorological impact of climate change, reports the UK's Telegraph.
- President Bush has signed a one-week extension keeping agriculture programs running, even as he has vowed to veto a farm bill passed by Congress last week, according to this Reuters report.
- Democrats in the American West, after years of being cast by Republicans as bigger friends of the spotted owl than jobs, may now have a political advantage in the wake of a natural gas drilling boom for having recast environmentalism as a defense of threatened water supplies, fishing spots and hunting grounds, says this analysis by The New York Times.
- A shareholder revolt at ExxonMobil led by the billionaire Rockefeller family, and challenging the oil company's hardline approach to global warming, has won the support of four significant British institutional investors, says this report from The Guardian.
- Insufficient food, climate change and pandemic flu are global crises which could unravel progress in public health, the World Health Organization's director general says, in a story from AFP.
- Prince Charles is calling on governments to address climate change, including protecting the world's rainforests, within 18 months or face "drought and starvation on a grand scale," says this article in the UK's Telegraph.
- Australia's best-known expert on global warming has updated his climate forecast for the world, and it's much worse than he thought just three years ago, says this article in Australia's The Age.
- All three major U.S. presidential candidates favor binding caps on emissions to deal with global warming, but differ on other approaches to the issue, according to this parsing of their stands appearing in the San Jose Mercury News.
- As if obese people didn't have to take enough abuse from others, now they're being blamed for contributing to global warming, reports eCanadaNow.com.
- "Green" might not be environmentally friendly, at least when it comes to the green of forests encroaching on Arctic tundra -- a phenomenon threatening to further accelerate warming in the far North, reports Science News.
- Biotech seed companies are behind a wave of patent claims on dozens of 'climate-ready' genes, patents that cover the development of new crops capable of withstanding drought or other effects of global warming, according to a report from a Canadian group cited in this article in Nature.
- Spanish power company Iberdrola, the world's largest renewable energy operator, said Sunday it plans to invest eight billion dollars (5.1 billion euros) in the United States between 2008 and 2010, reports AFP.
- Is symbolism overshadowing practical efforts to combat climate change? The Washington Post looks at this question.
- The U.S. Department of Energy will hold six regional workshops to gather data on transmission congestion, the department said in a press release.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has honored 39 individuals, organizations and companies from around the world for "their outstanding efforts to protect the Earth's climate and stratospheric ozone layer," the agency said in a press statement.
- Carbon markets explained, in this posting featuring Marc Stuart, one of the founders of EcoSecurities plc, a leader in generating and monetizing carbon credits, on C/Net's Green Tech Blog.
- British plans to offer money to poor countries to help prepare for climate change has come under fire from debt campaigners and developing countries, according to Britain's The Guardian.
- Google Earth is tracking the effects of climate change following a collaboration with the government of the United Kingdom, reports vnunet.com.
Posted on May 14, 2008 by Dennis Pfaff
- The U.S. House of Representatives passes a new five-year farm bill, including provisions relating to renewable fuels tax credits, by enough votes to overcome a presidential veto, reports Bloomberg.
- A committee of Nigeria's Senate is set to open debate on a bill to establish a National Climate Commission that would have responsibility for the strategic planning and co-ordination of national policies in the field of climate, according to Lagos' This Day.
- Biotech companies "see a silver lining in climate change," asserting that farmers cannot win the battle against an altered climate without genetic engineering, says an article in Asia Today, reprinted from Foreign Policy in Focus.
- Peter Darbee, chairman and CEO of Northern California's PG&E Corp., warns that the entrepreneurial efforts of renewable energy developers "may be stillborn" if Congress doesn't pass vital production and investment tax credits, in a commentary appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle.
- As Republican Sen. John McCain tries to reach out to independent voters in his campaign for the White House, global warming is the issue that sets him most apart from his predecessor, argues Time Magazine.
