News Roundup
April 22, 2013, Berkeley
The Lawrence Berkeley Lab hosted a Science at the Theater event on Earth Day entitled “How Hot Will It Get?” at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where researchers discussed their latest findings on the earth’s changing climate. The scientist who spoke included Margaret Torn, Jeff Chambers, and Bill Collins, Michael Wehner , and Maximilian Auffhammer.
‘May 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an Alaskan village’s claim that it should be able to sue oil companies and utilities for damages attributed to climate change.’
via U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Alaska climate change case | Reuters.
May 22 (Reuters) – A casual observer familiar with the Keystone XL saga would think the United States was making it very hard to build any oil sands-related pipelines. But nothing could be farther from the truth.
via COLUMN-Keystone XL double standard: Tale of 2 pipelines: Campbell | Reuters.
‘Chinese officials identify water scarcity as one of the nation’s most pressing difficulties. The problems are social, political and economic. This year Beijing for the first time issued water quotas to every province, setting targets for annual consumption by 2015.’
‘…In rejecting Keystone, President Obama would not solve the underlying problem, which, as pipeline proponents correctly point out, is consumption. Nor would he halt exploitation of the tar sands. But he would put a brake on the process. After all, if getting tar-sands oil to China were easy, the Canadians wouldn’t be applying so much pressure on the White House. Once Keystone is built, there will be no putting the tar back in the sands. The pipeline isn’t inevitable, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. It’s just another step on the march to disaster. ‘
via Elizabeth Kolbert: Obama’s Keystone Decision : The New Yorker.
‘The news that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, the most important global warming gas, have hit 400 parts per million for the first time in millions of years increases the pressure on President Obama to deliver on his pledges to limit this country’s greenhouse gas emissions.’
‘The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is moving to chop down 22,000 trees in Berkeley’s historic Strawberry and Claremont Canyons and over 60,000 more in Oakland. This destructive plan is rapidly moving forward with little publicity, and FEMA cleverly scheduled its three public meetings for mid and late May while UC Berkeley students were in finals or gone.’
via FEMA Plans Clear-Cutting 85,000 Berkeley and Oakland Trees | California Progress Report.
also see the ABC7 news report:
BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) — Tens of thousands of trees are on the chopping block in the East Bay. But on Saturday morning, neighbors will have one final chance to speak out about the project that will eliminate about 80,000 trees from the East Bay Hills.
via FEMA providing money to cut down trees in East Bay Hills to reduce fire danger | abc7news.com.
‘…This work — if it holds up — offers the tantalizing possibility that climate change might be slow and limited enough that human society could adapt to it without major trauma.’
via What Will a Doubling of Carbon Dioxide Mean for Climate? – NYTimes.com.
‘From Hurricane Sandy’s devastating blow to the Northeast to the protracted drought that hit the Midwest Corn Belt, natural catastrophes across the United States pounded insurers last year, generating $35 billion in privately insured property losses, $11 billion more than the average over the last decade.’
via Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change – NYTimes.com.
‘If governments were really committed to limiting the rise in temperatures to 2 degrees, two-thirds of the currently known oil, coal and gas reserves would have to be left in the ground, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).’