News Roundup
‘An international panel of scientists has found with near certainty that human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases of recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than three feet by the end of the century if emissions continue at a runaway pace.’
via Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming – NYTimes.com.
‘Coastal flooding in cities around the world could cause damage totaling $1 trillion annually by the year 2050 if no mitigating steps are taken, new research suggests.’
via Coastal Flooding Damage: $1 Trillion a Year by 2050 – Yahoo! News.
‘The city of Whittier and a conservation group have reached an agreement to allow a controversial oil-drilling project under a nature preserve, a proposal that immediately drew fire from opponents.’
via Oil-drilling project under Whittier nature preserve rankles opponents – latimes.com.
‘California is feeling the effects of climate change far and wide as heat-trapping greenhouse gases reduce spring runoff from the Sierra Nevada, make the waters of Monterey Bay more acidic and shorten winter chill periods required to grow fruit and nuts in the Central Valley, a new report says.’
via Climate change woes already widespread in California, study says – latimes.com.
‘…A market-based approach, like a carbon tax, would be the best path to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, but that is unachievable in the current political gridlock in Washington. Dealing with this political reality, President Obama’s June climate action plan lays out achievable actions that would deliver real progress. He will use his executive powers to require reductions in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the nation’s power plants and spur increased investment in clean energy technology, which is inarguably the path we must follow to ensure a strong economy along with a livable climate.’
‘WASHINGTON A new massive federal study says the world in 2012 sweltered with continued signs of climate change. Rising sea levels, snow melt, heat buildup in the oceans, and melting Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheets, all broke or nearly broke records, but temperatures only sneaked into the top 10.’
via NOAA report card for 2012’s climate: More warming – CBS News.
August 3, 2013
Hundreds of protestors were arrested at the gates of Chevron in Richmond, including Bill McKibben of 350.org
‘Germany, the biggest solar market by installed capacity, will this year reduce subsidy payments to power-plant developers to a third of Japan’s support level as installations continue to outpace government targets.’
via German Solar Subsidy to Drop to Third of Japan’s on Installs – Bloomberg.
‘Germany increased spending on energy research 77 percent in the past seven years, benefiting mainly efficiency and renewable energy research projects as the country shuts its nuclear reactors.’
via Germany Boosts Energy Research Funding to $938 Million – Bloomberg.
July 10, 2013, San Francisco
Frank Haugwitz. head of Intersolar’s global conference development, spoke at the 2013 Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco. His talk was titled “China PV Market Prospects and Opportunities for Foreign Players”. His talk was detailed and informative, a key point being the enormous scale of future PV development plans within China.
Report by James George
