Climate Change

Don't Kill the Planet in the Name of Saving the Economy

We are living through two great meltdowns - the credit crunch, and the climate crunch. The heating of the planet is now happening so fast it's hard to pluck a single event to fix on, but here's one. By the summer of 2013, the Arctic will be free of ice. How big an event it this?

Posted in Economy/Trade, Environment, Politics, Climate Change, Nature/Conservancy

Corporate Curriculum: Teaching the 'Science of Death'

For more than a decade, writing for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites, I have attempted to cast a light on "industrial strength" science curriculum: "that curriculum of the corporation, by the corporation and for a corporation's profits...shall indeed hasten the rate of destruction of the earth's resources and indeed, people may perish from the earth." I have been an utter failure at convincing many in the environmental community of the importance of reaching out to these 55 million students as future voting citizens that must be ecologically literate and that

Posted in Corporatism, Education, Environment, Climate Change, Coal, Deforestation, Nature/Conservancy

Ecologists Raise Alarm Ahead of UN Climate Summit

WARSAW - Ecologists raised the alarm Monday over global warming as environment ministers from more than 30 states met in Warsaw ahead of December's UN Climate summit focused on slashing greenhouse gases.

"We're ringing alarm bells -- the UN summit in Poznan must deliver a deal that will keep global warming below two degrees Celsius to the end of this century," Kaisa Kosonen from the global environmental group Greenpeace told reporters.

Posted in Energy, Environment, Climate Change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2008
11:11 AM

CONTACT: Oxfam America

Laura Rusu (202) 496-1169 or (202) 459-3739 or lrusu@oxfamamerica.org

Oxfam America Statement on New House of Representatives Climate Legislation

WASHINGTON - October 8 - Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser made the following statement in reaction to yesterday's release of new draft climate change legislation by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell and Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher:

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Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice. www.oxfamamerica.org

Posted in Climate Change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2008
4:21 PM

CONTACT: Earthjustice
Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice, (303) 996-9622

Groups Challenge Federal Decision to Waste Natural Gas, Ignore Global Warming at Colorado Coal Mine

Agencies reject multi-million dollar chance to capture gas, protect climate

DENVER - October 7 - WildEarth Guardians and Earthjustice today called on federal agencies to withdraw a permit for a Western Colorado coal mine expansion that would waste massive amounts of methane and contribute to global warming.

Methane -- also known as natural gas -- is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, yet is also a valuable energy source.

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Posted in Environment, Climate Change, Coal, Nature/Conservancy

Rural Communities Best Equipped To Cope With Climate Change: UN Report

Rural communities which protect nature and exploit forests, wetlands and wildlife sustainably will be the best equipped to cope with the droughts and floods that will increasingly hit Africa, Asia and Latin America with climate change, says a new UN-backed report.

Posted in Climate Change, Nature/Conservancy, Water

This Green Subsidy for Car Makers Is Just a Disguised Corporate Bailout

While all eyes were fixed on the banking bail-out, a bucketload of public money was quietly sloshed into the pockets of another undeserving cause. Last week, George Bush agreed to lend $25bn to US car manufacturers. It's a soft loan, which will cost the government $7.5bn. Few people noticed; fewer fought it. The House of Representatives approved the measure by 370 votes to 58. The great corporate bail-out is spreading like the plague.

Posted in Economy/Trade, Environment, Politics, Bailout, Climate Change

Seas Turn to Acid as They Soak Up CO2

The Bay of Naples is renowned for its breathtaking beauty and glittering clear waters. For centuries, tourists have flocked to the region to experience its glories.

But beneath the waves, scientists have uncovered an alarming secret. They have found streams of gas bubbling up from the seabed around the island of Ischia. 'The waters are like a Jacuzzi - there is so much carbon dioxide fizzing up from the seabed,' said Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, of Plymouth University. 'Millions of litres of gas bubble up every day.'

Posted in Environment, Climate Change, Nature/Conservancy

Cold on Climate Warming

Did a substantive Sarah Palin show up? Darn right she did. And if you are an endangered species, look out.

As Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden gave a steady performance, Palin revealed herself to be an understudy of President Bush when she said she did not want to argue about the causes of global warming. Of course she did not want to argue about it on the national stage, because she has been doing as governor of Alaska what Bush has done in the White House: Say you want sound science and then ignore it.

Posted in Environment, Politics, Climate Change, Election 2008

Battle for The Amazon

Brazil's new environment minister, Carlos Minc, announced this week that he will be pressing for criminal charges against 100 of the worst individuals or companies responsible for most of the deforestation since 2005. New figures just released show that the rate of deforestation has increased by 133% since last month in the nine states of the Amazon region, which is an increase of 228% compared to a year ago.

Posted in Climate Change, Deforestation, Latin America