China's economic surge and profligate use of polluting energy sources threatens planetary climatic sustainability. Americans enjoy a standard of living based upon wasteful energy use that is not universalizable. What then is to be done? Should China and other economies in transition, to say nothing of the billions in abject poverty outside of the energy grid, be left to burn wood and dung? Is American gluttonous energy consumption a birthright based upon their higher moral character and manifest destiny? Is it too much to expect that the rich give up some of their wealth - or more precisely, access to energy - so the poor can survive? Americans are manifestly slovenly and greedy - they would just as soon kill peasants to drive their SUVs, rather than drive a sensible vehicle. Below Nature magazine takes a more scholarly, measured approach to the same intractable problem.

Energy: China's burning ambition

The economic miracle that is transforming the world's most populous nation is threatened by energy shortages and rising pollution. It also risks plunging the planet's climate into chaos.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (1) | More on China energy climate

Increasing numbers of the World's citizenry are aware of the dangers posed by climate change. Increasingly erratic and dangerously extreme weather will impact most of us - perhaps only excluding the super rich - in a myriad of ways; ranging from agricultural decline, to flooding, to deadly heat waves. Unfortunately, those with the power in leadership roles that could most do something about climate change are the least inclined to do so. Perhaps the G8 protests - mostly in regards to African poverty, but also climate change - can wake them up.

Alarm Bells to Ring Over Climate Change

Alarm bells will ring out during the Group of Eight (G8) summit next month to wake up world leaders to take action against climate change. The environment group Friends of the Earth International has issued a call for people to ring bells at 13.45 hours (local time) on July 7 at the summit venue in Gleneagles, Scotland, and around the world "to wake the G8 leaders up to the fact that time is running out to tackle climate injustice."

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The good news is that climate change has the attention of the U.S. Senate. The bad news is they are still unwilling to provide leadership necessary to begin mandatory emissions cuts, as the McCain-Lieberman climate bill was voted down. This occurred despite the Senate passing a resolution noting that the U.S. must eventually enact mandatory limits on global warming pollution. But as Senator John McCain stated - the climate change issue will be back, scientific findings will continue to accumulate, as will accounts of its impacts. Shame of those Senators that put off necessary policy, increasing the risks to humankind from massive and perhaps abrupt climate shifts.

Senate Rejects Mandatory Emissions Cuts in Energy Bill

The debate over global warming gathered steam in the Senate this week. As part of a broad energy bill, members began considering several amendments aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions and other heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming.

Today, after three hours of debate, the Senate rejected the most stringent of the amendments, which called for mandatory reductions on so-called greenhouse gases. It was offered by Connecticut Democrat Joseph Lieberman and Arizona Republican John McCain, who was resigned to his amendment's fate even before the vote.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (3) | More on climate change Senate vote

In a World of spiraling climate change, timid responses that represent the lowest common denominator between oil beholden Senate millionaires, is not going to cut it. True American leadership is needed to cap carbon dioxide emissions. Even a modest cap would set an important precedent, establish carbon trading mechanisms, and begin processes that must continue far into the future if climate is to be stabilized. Best estimates are that emissions need to be reduced 50% as soon as possible - this journey must begin now, even if baby steps.

Senate approves weaker, voluntary climate plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ambitious bipartisan plan to slow U.S. greenhouse gases with an emissions trading program collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday after a key Republican threw his support behind a weaker, voluntary plan. The Senate approved, 66-to-29, a plan by Nebraska Republican Chuck Hagel to offer generous tax breaks to U.S. utilities, refiners and manufacturing plants that develop technology to limit emissions of carbon dioxide. It would not cap U.S. emissions of carbon, which are linked to the global warming blamed for melting polar ice caps and rising oceans.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0) | More on climate change U.S. Senate

Essentially all energy on the Earth can ultimately be traced to the sun. Our whole biosphere has evolved as an ultra-efficient means to transform solar rays into chemical energy required for life. In our quest for renewable energy, we would be well served to mimic natural ecosystems. Solar arrays coupled with fuel cells for energy storage may be the holy grail upon which advanced human societies depend. Humanity would be well served to invest mightily in their continued development. The price of a watt of solar energy has fallen from $100 to $8 in the past three decades. It is time to get serious about solar energy as a means of averting environmental collapse.

It's Getting Cheaper to Tap the Sun

...providing homes with electricity and heat from the sun is getting more buzz than it has in decades. In the 70's it seemed that buyers of solar systems were mostly isolated tree huggers who somehow had a small fortune to spend on panels, but now urban and suburban homeowners are looking to the sun hitting their roofs for relief from rising electricity and heating costs. Higher utility bills, though, are just the stick. The carrot is the falling cost of solar systems that are lighter and more efficient and feature new designs, like solar panels that double as window awnings. Standardized installations and economies of scale for equipment production have helped drive costs lower.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (1) | More on solar energy

Expectations are high as the G8 meeting of industrial nations is set to engage on climate change next month. Against the backdrop of a sizzling Planet showing signs of spiraling ecological collapse, the stakes could hardly be higher. Tony Blair desperately seeks a legacy, providing international climate change leadership such as it is; George Bush is as beholden to oil as ever, criminally obstructing international climate policy; the senior science academies of the G8 nations saying human caused climate change is happening now, compelling their leaders to take action; and global and American public opinion increasingly crystallizing, demanding climate change leadership. Yet reports are that the White House is making extraordinary efforts to scupper Britain's attempts to tackle global warming during the G8 summit.

The G8 meeting will be deemed a failure if it achieves anything less than an admission that humans are causing climate change, binding targets for reducing emissions, and substantial financial support for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Eventual climate stabilization is dependent upon even relatively small policy shifts as soon as possible. Failure of all industrial countries – including the U.S., China and India – to immediately take concrete and coordinated international climate action will doom the Earth and all her inhabitants to murderous ecological collapse. Most of all, shame on President Bush for his stubborn intransigence that threatens us all – particularly our children.
g.b.

ClimateArk < http://www.climateark.org/ > intends to intensively track full-news coverage of the G8 proceedings at http://www.climateark.org/news/ , and will be launching a major action alert calling for G8 climate leadership just prior to the meeting's commencement.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0) | More on climate change G8

Finally a conservative commentator that understands that conservation is deeply and profoundly conservative. Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times is guilty of profoundly deep and free thinking on the nature of America's oil dependency. He has been writing regularly about a "geo-green" alliance of environmentalists and conservatives, concerned with the national security, climate change and other impacts of oil dependency. There is tremendous hope in following his lines of thinking.

Save us, O Toyota

I have a question: If I am rooting for General Motors to go bankrupt and be bought out by Toyota, does that make me a bad person? It's not that I want any autoworker to lose his or her job, but I think the only hope for GM's workers, and maybe even our country, is with Toyota. Having Toyota take over General Motors - which based its business strategy on building gas-guzzling cars, including the idiot Hummer, scoffing at hybrid technology and fighting congressional efforts to impose higher mileage standards on U.S. automakers - would not only be in America's economic interest, it would also be in America's geopolitical interest.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (1) | More on geo green

We are witnessing a major shift in public opinion, as global warming has broken through the public's psyche. It is now widely accepted in even the United States that climate change threatens the well-being of the Planet and all its life. In recent weeks we have seen major outpouring of concern from business, leading scientific academies and even conservative politicians. The Senate is considering mandatory emissions reductions in their energy bill deliberations, and Prime Minister Blair of the UK is working hard to make climate change policy advances at the coming G8 summit. The extent to which the Bush administration lags on climate change leadership was embarrassingly apparent, as it was revealed that a Bush administration official had been inappropriately editing governmental climate reports. Thankfully, the attention is finally shifting from whether climate change is happening to what can be done. As California's governor put it, "We know the science, we see the threat, and we know the time for action is now." There are no alternatives to dramatically and swiftly reducing emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy development. More on these matters can be found in this New York Times' editorial. Global ecological sustainability depends upon swiftly addressing climate changes -- and other symptoms of too many people and too polluting industry destroying life-giving ecosystems.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (2) | More on climate change public opinion

ClimateArk, a project of Ecological Internet, is pleased to announce the launch of a new email list entitled "Climate Change News Today". The format will closely parallel Forests.org's "Forest Conservation News Today", providing commentary and full-text news coverage from a variety of sources of major developments in climate change policy, science and advocacy -- highlighting about one major development a week. Full climate writings and links to news can be found at http://www.climateark.org/blog/ -- the best and most important of which will be sent to this new list. Subscribe today!

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0) | More on climate change commentary

We are witnessing a major sea-change as global warming has broken through the public's psyche and is now widely and rightly judged to threaten the well-being of the Planet and all its life. In recent weeks we have seen major outpouring of concern from business, conservative politicians and other interests beholden to the fossil fuel lobby and hostile to climate change science. The attention has rightly turned to what to do, rather than questioning whether climate change is happening. Global ecological sustainability depends upon swiftly addressing climate changes -- and other symptoms of too many people and too polluting industry destroying life-giving ecosystems.

The debate's over: Globe is warming

Don't look now, but the ground has shifted on global warming. After decades of debate over whether the planet is heating and, if so, whose fault it is, divergent groups are joining hands with little fanfare to deal with a problem they say people can no longer avoid.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (2) | More on global warming scientic consensus

First it was the National Academies of Science from around the World, now it is big business - all demanding the World's leaders actually lead on climate change. Look for an alert from Ecological Internet targeting the G8 powers soon.

Big Business Urges Urgent G8 Global Warming Action

LONDON - Big business added its voice on Thursday to a growing crescendo of calls on the governments of the world's richest nations to take urgent action to curb potentially catastrophic global warming.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0) | More on global warming | action G8

The American government at the behest of President Bush and his ruling oil oligarchy are willfully and criminally obstructing climate science and policy - placing in serious jeopardy the Earth's environment. This comes as another slew of scientists have urged the American government to act swiftly to address climate change as a matter of environmental urgency. Mr. Bush has the gall to say that climate change is serious while not only doing nothing in response, but also actively impeding other countries. America's criminal leadership must be stopped and made to pay for their crimes.

Official Played Down Emissions' Links to Global Warming

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents. In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved.

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Perhaps the single greatest thing that America as a society could do to ensure their continued prosperity, security and Planetary survival is to wean themselves off of their gluttonous dependence upon oil - imported in particular. And now there is tremendous momentum for just such a policy emerging from an unlikely alliance of enlightened political perspectives that agree - America must end its oil dependency.

Breaking That Dirty Oil Habit

...an unlikely alliance of neoconservatives, farmers and union and environmental leaders who want to wean the U.S. of its oil habit--some for purely green reasons (to stave off global warming), but others for the sake of cutting U.S. dependence on the volatile Middle East. And they have some radical ideas about how to do it.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry | Permalink | Comments (0) | More on American oil dependency

It is the responsibility of every human being to do what they can to address climate change and other environmental crises. In the absence of American Presidential leadership, no less than Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has stepped up to take the mantle of leadership. This first step is to be heartily congratulated. We must envision policies adequate to address climate change on the 10, 100 and 1000 year scales.

Schwarzenegger signs order to reduce greenhouse gases

Leap-frogging the White House and nearly all U.S. states on actions to combat global warming, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed an executive order committing California to reduce greenhouse gases to specific targets in the coming years.

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