News Roundup
‘…The results are pretty conclusive. The new research supports the idea that the vast majority of the world’s active climate scientists accept the evidence for global warming as well as the case that human activities are the principal cause of it.’
via Study Affirms Consensus on Climate Change – Green Blog – NYTimes.com.
‘Reuters – Europe’s carmakers moved a step closer creating an infrastructure for electric cars after agreeing on plug and socket standards for slow or overnight charging of the battery-driven vehicles due to hit roads from next year.’
via Europe moves closer to electric car infrastructure | Reuters.
‘LANZHOU, June 24 (Xinhua) — A total of 20 trainees from 12 countries are attending a workshop on the use of solar energy in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province.’
‘Embarking on a bit of a charm offensive, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just released the names of more than 800 scientists selected to take part in writing its fifth assessment report on climate change, due out in 2014. The panel is charged with releasing periodic reports summarizing the state of knowledge about climate change as a guide to policy makers.’
via A Winsome Climate Panel Presents Its New Cast – Green Blog – NYTimes.com.
‘President Obama and congressional Democrats cite the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster as a powerful reason to pass climate legislation, but economists see a flaw with the link: Leading Senate measures would do little to curb petroleum use.’
via Would a Push to Curb Carbon Really Reduce U.S. Dependence on Oil? – NYTimes.com.
‘Reuters – World climate talks set for November in Mexico could make progress on how poorer states cope with global warming, but more wins are needed at the table to produce a big breakthrough at the long-running talks, a senior World Bank official said.’
via More wins needed in climate talks: World Bank | Reuters.
‘In 2008, the Rodale Institute—an organization dedicated to the promotion of organic agriculture—published a widely noted report entitled “Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming.” The takeaway was that organic agriculture, due to its reliance on biological rather than chemical methods, could substantially reduce carbon emissions generated by the agricultural sector. Rodale predicted that if the world’s 3.5 billion acres of arable land were placed under organic production, 40 percent of global carbon emissions would be immediately sequestered.’
via Organic Agriculture: A Solution to Global Warming? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.
Troubling talk by Jeremy Jackson, coral reef ecologist about the widespread trouble in the oceans.
Concluding excerpt:
“So the question is, how are we all going to respond to this? We can do all sorts of things to fix it, but in the final analysis the thing we really need to fix is ourselves. It’s not about the fish, it’s not about the pollution, it’s not about the climate change. It’s about us and our greed, and our need for growth, and our inability to image a world which is different from the selfish world we live in today.”
“So the question is will we respond to this or not? I would say that the future of life and the dignity of human beings depends on our doing that.”
‘Reuters – The Sierra Club has appealed a state utility commission vote that allows a Southern Co utility to build an expensive advanced coal-fired plant.’
via Sierra Club to fight Southern Co coal project | Reuters.
‘(Reuters) – Pakistan this year expects to finalize four wind power deals worth $500 million to exploit a renewable resource that has been barely tapped in a country with a yawning gap between power capacity and demand.’