Political Climate Articles

The Oil Intensity of Food
"Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling," says Lester R. Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, in a recent release. "Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are dropping every year."
Discoveries of conventional oil total roughly 2 trillion barrels, of which 1 trillion have been extracted so far, with another trillion barrels to go. By themselves, however, these numbers miss a central point. As security analyst Michael Klare notes, the first trillion barrels was easy oil, "oil that's found on shore or near to shore; oil close to the surface and concentrated in large reservoirs; oil produced in friendly, safe, and welcoming places." The other half, Klare notes, is tough oil, "oil that's buried far offshore or deep underground; oil scattered in small, hard-to-find reservoirs; oil that must be obtained from unfriendly, politically dangerous, or hazardous places."
Read More...

U.S.-Russia climate and energy efficiency cooperation: A neglected challenge
The summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow on July 6-8 comes in the middle of a packed international schedule of bilateral and multilateral meetings for the United States. on climate change. In the run up to the critical U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen at the end of this year, when the extension or successor to the existing Kyoto Protocol must be agreed upon, it is crucial that the United States and Russia-both major emitters of greenhouse gases and potentially leaders on this crucial issue-explore ways of working together to ensure a positive outcome at these talks. Enhancing cooperation on climate change and energy efficiency should be a major plank of U.S. Russia policy and should be discussed at the highest levels when President Obama meets with President Medvedev next week.
Read More...

When the EPA ignores internal non-expert comments filled with falsehoods cut-and-paste from anti-science deniers, that isn't "suppressing a report."
Many of the top climate scientists in the world issued a major synthesis report reviewing the scientific literature since the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). They found "greenhouse gas emissions and many aspects of the climate are changing near the upper boundary of the IPCC range of projections." In short, actual observations show things are much worse than the IPPC found. Duh! and Duh! and Duh! Media coverage level - bupkis!
Read More...

Franken vs. Coleman
The NYT polical blog notes, "this morning, MSNBC's First Read listed several factoids that have accumulated during this fight":
$51.1 million has been raised between Coleman and Franken for the entire campaign
  • $50.3 million has been spent between the two candidates
  • $11 million (at least) has been spent on the recount
  • $?? million has been spent by the republican partyt
  • 2,424,946 votes were cast
  • 312 votes separate the candidates (Franken leads)
  • 239 days since Election Day 2008
  • 34 weeks since Election Day 2008
  • 7 months, 27 days since Election Day 2008
  • 4 seasons seen since Election Day 2008 election.
    Read More...

    China unhappy with US climate bill
    The United States set the bar too low and offered the world a poor example when it passed its climate change bill on Friday, according to a senior Chinese climate change official.
    Li Gao, a division director with the Climate Change Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the US did not live up to international expectations when it approved the document.
    Li said the bill's mid-term carbon emission target would probably be seized upon as the new standard by developed countries in the battle against global warming.
    And the official told China Daily the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) - disappointing though it is - may still not clear the Senate this fall because it was only approved by 219 votes to 212 in the House of Representatives.
    ACESA compels large US companies to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide - through a cap-and-trade system - by 17 percent of 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050.
    Read More...

    BP stand for "back to petroleum" - oil giant shuts clean energy HQ, slashes renewables budget up to $900 million this year, dives into tar sands
    You just can't teach an old petro-dog re-new-able tricks.
    BP has shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed budget cuts in moves likely to be seen by environmental critics as further signs of the oil group moving "back to petroleum".
    Sad, but not terribly original or surprising
    But Tony Hayward, the group's chief executive, said BP remained as committed as ever to exploring new energy sources and the non-oil division would benefit from the extra focus of being brought back in house .
    "It saves money and brings it closer to home … you could almost see it as a reinforcement [of our commitment to the business]," he said.
    Read More...

    'Organic' Traffic Lights Sense Traffic And Adjust Light Timing Accordingly
    ScienceDaily (June 29, 2009) - Controlling road traffic in congested areas is difficult to say the least, a point to which any drive-time urban commuter might testify. An organic approach to traffic lights, might help solve the problem and avoid traffic jams and gridlock, according to research published this month in the International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems.
    Read More...

    White House Sounds Alarm On Climate Change
    Global Warming Damage Happening Now, Says Most Urgently Worded Federal Science Study Yet
    (CBS/AP) Harmful effects from global warming are already here and worsening, warns the first climate report from Barack Obama's presidency in the strongest language on climate change ever to come out of the White House.
    Global warming has already caused more heavy downpours, the rise of temperatures and sea levels, rapidly retreating glaciers and altered river flows, according to the document released Tuesday by the White House science adviser and other top officials.
    "There are in some cases already serious consequences," report co-author Anthony Janetos of the University of Maryland told The Associated Press. "This is not a theoretical thing that will happen 50 years from now. Things are happening now."
    Read More...

    Researchers Find World's Energy Needs Could be Supplied by Wind
    A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that a super network of wind turbines could theoretically address current and projected global energy demands. A team from Harvard University examined wind speeds and patterns for the past 30 years and concluded that leading industrial countries could generate electricity needs from onshore wind turbines that are already commercially available.
    Read Report

    Projected Food, Energy Demands Seen To Outpace Production
    ScienceDaily (June 27, 2009) - With the caloric needs of the planet expected to soar by 50 percent in the next 40 years, planning and investment in global agriculture will become critically important, according a new report released June 25.
    Read More...

    More bubkes
    Roger Pielke Sr. has raised very strong allegations against RealClimate in a recent blog post. Since they come from a scientific colleague, we consider it worthwhile responding directly. The statement Pielke considers "misinformation" is a single sentence from a recent posting:
    Some aspects of climate change are progressing faster than was expected a few years ago - such as rising sea levels, the increase of heat stored in the ocean and the shrinking Arctic sea ice.
    First of all, we are surprised that Pielke levelled such strong allegations against RealClimate, since the statement above merely summarises some key findings of the Synthesis Report of the Copenhagen Climate Congress, which we discussed last month. This is a peer-reviewed document authored by 12 leading scientists and "based on the 16 plenary talks given at the Congress as well as input of over 80 chairs and co-chairs of the 58 parallel sessions held at the Congress." If Pielke disagrees with the findings of these scientists, you'd have thought he'd take it up with them rather than aiming shrill accusations at us. But in any case let us look at the three items of alleged misinformation:
    Read More...