Political Climate Articles
Climate Change Could Deepen Poverty In Developing Countries, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2009) - Urban workers could suffer most from climate change as the cost of food drives them into poverty, according to a new study that quantifies the effects
of climate on the world's poor populations.
A team led by Purdue University researchers examined the potential economic influence of adverse climate events, such as heat waves, drought and heavy rains, on those in 16
developing countries. Urban workers in Bangladesh, Mexico and Zambia were found to be the most at risk.
"Extreme weather affects agricultural productivity and can raise the price of staple foods, such as grains, that are important to poor households in developing countries," said Noah
Diffenbaugh, the associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and interim director of Purdue's Climate Change Research Center who co-led the study. "Studies have shown
global warming will likely increase the frequency and intensity of heat waves, drought and floods in many areas. It is important to understand which socioeconomic groups and countries
could see changes in poverty rates in order to make informed policy decisions."
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DOE Delivers $101 Million in Recovery Act Funds for Weatherization
DOE delivered more than $101 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds on August 25 to Guam and Pennsylvania, allowing them to expand their weatherization
assistance programs. The programs improve the energy efficiency of the homes of low-income families, helping the residents lower their energy bills. Officials in Guam and
Pennsylvania may spend up to 20% of their funds to hire and train new workers. The new allocations will help them achieve their collective goal of weatherizing 29,200 homes, creating
new green jobs while combating greenhouse gas emissions.
The new funds represent 40% of the total weatherization funds available to those states under the Recovery Act and follow the award of 10% of the funds in March to support planning
and ramp-up activities. The second half of the weatherization funds will be released when the state and territory meet the reporting, oversight, and accountability milestones required by
the Recovery Act. Details on the funds awarded to each state, as well as the weatherization goals set by Guam and Pennsylvania, can be found in the DOE press release. See also the
Web site for DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program.
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu visiting a Columbus, Ohio, home
DOE also released a video showing Energy Secretary Steven Chu visiting a Columbus, Ohio, home as it is being weatherized. He is joined in the video by Ohio Governor Ted
Strickland and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, and they discuss the benefits of weatherization and how funding from the Recovery Act is having a direct impact in communities
across the United States. See the video.
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Louisiana and National Conservation Groups Praise Obama Administration for New Cooperative Effort to Restore Louisiana and Mississippi Coastal Wetlands
Effort Reinforces President's Pledge to Restore Natural Hurricane Barrier on Eve of Katrina Anniversary
WASHINGTON D.C., August 28, 2009 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and national environmental groups today praised the Obama
administration for announcing a new interagency working group to restore the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
The severity of Katrina's damage nearly $90 billion in property damage alone -- was caused, in part, by the fact that Louisiana has lost 1/3 of its original wetlands about 2,000
square miles -- an area larger than Delaware. Yet, four years after Katrina, Congress has been unable to fund major coastal restoration projects it authorized in the 2007 Water
Resources Development Act because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not completed the projects' design and engineering.
The pace of restoration has not matched the urgency of the situation, said Steven Peyronnin, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. We are hopeful that the
Administration will breathe new life into restoration efforts that are crucial to protecting the people of Coastal Louisiana.
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Dallas airport to spend $3B to overhaul terminals
The board of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will soon decide on a plan to overhaul four of the airport's terminals. The project, which would include raised ceilings and new
concession areas, would cost more than $3 billion and take until 2017 to complete. "There is a lot about what we have that we really like, so we wanted to keep the good systems,
improve the functionality and refurbish the interiors to a standard we'd all be proud of," Airport Chief Executive Jeff Fegan said.
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Environmental initiatives stalled by NY politics
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New Yorkers who need to toss old TVs and computers could help avoid harming the environment with the heavy metals in the electronics if the state Senate
takes up one of several bills sidetracked by political gridlock earlier this summer.
Environmentalists began the year optimistic their issues would get new traction in the Legislature. With a Democratic-led Senate for the first time in more than four decades, they saw
passage of a bill requiring recycling water bottles - an elusive dream for decades.
Anything seemed possible, and bills that would tighten emissions standards, weatherize more homes and require manufacturers to recycle old electronics were on the verge of
passage.
Then the Senate coup that gripped Albany for more than a month shoved those proposals aside. Now it's unclear whether they will be on the agenda when the Senate returns in
September. The Assembly passed them before adjourning for the summer, but the Senate never got back to them after sorting out a vicious power struggle.
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