Climate Change

Must Be Green to Apply — Unless You’re Not Green

Not all “green” transmission lines are good for the environment. E&E Daily reports on Thursday’s hearing before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Commitee discussing separate transmission siting and planning bills circulated by Senators Reid and Bingaman.  Both would expand Federal siting authority and require regional planning for transmission lines intended to deliver renewable …

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Environmentalists v. Environmentalists: The Case of Alternative Energy

A shift to alternative forms of energy and away from conventional carbon-intensive fuels like coal forms the centerpiece of virtually all carbon-reducing strategies.  28 states have enacted mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) (requiring their utilities to procure a set percentage of energy from alternative/renewable sources); the President’s stimulus package includes block grant money and tax …

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Good news for gondoliers

The Gallup poll showing increasing public skepticism about the climate change threat, which Holly blogs about below, does not bode well for Venice, California–unless you’re a gondolier.   A report was released yesterday, sponsored by several California agencies, giving more detail than ever before about the threats to California’s coast from rising sea levels.  Margot Roosevelt of …

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From Our Far Flung Correspondents: Copenhagen Day 3

A  Ph.D student in the Berkeley Energy and Resources program  writes: The third & final day of the climate conference dawned bright & sunny in Copenhagen, and I jammed myself & my poster onto a packed subway car for the trip back to the Bella Center. Trains run every 2-4 minutes in Copenhagen at rush hour; …

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Global warming still a partisan issue

The latest Gallup Poll on attitudes toward climate change has a disturbing message for advocates of strong policies either to limit greenhouse gas emissions or to promote effective adaptation. Forty-one percent of respondents think that news coverage generally exaggerates the seriousness of global warming, the highest number since Gallup started asking the question in 1997. …

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A little knowledge

As directed in the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, and less than six months late, EPA has now issued a proposed rule requiring mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. The preamble can be found here, the proposed regulatory language here, and additional information about the proposed rule here. Relying on its broad information-gathering authorities under Clean …

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From Our Far Flung Correspondents: Copenhagen Day 2

A Berkeley Ph.D student in the Energy and Resources program writes: Day 2’s blog will be brief, since it’s already after midnight Denmark time.  It’s been a very good day, and my brain is once again full, and ready for bed.  Today started with three plenary speakers, including our ERG’s own Dan Kammen plus Prof. …

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Failing to “Do the Math”

Remember that DOE canceled the demonstration project for carbon sequestration in Matton, Illinois because of cost over-runs.  It turns out that they screwed up the numbers, according to GAO.  Now that DOE has a Nobel prize winner at the helm, maybe its math skills will improve.

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California’s Salmon Crisis – Searching for Solutions

All the available scientific evidence indicates that California’s salmon populations are in deep trouble: several sub-species are currently listed as threatened or endangered under federal and state endangered species laws; the commercial salmon fishing season off the Northern California coast will be shut down for the second year in a row; and the resulting economic …

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Environmental Measures in Spending Bill Clear Congress

At the same time, the measure chips away at several leftover Bush administration policies. It clears the way for the Obama administration to reverse a rule issued late in the Bush administration that says greenhouse gases may not be restricted to protect polar bears from global warming. Another Bush administration rule that reduced the input …

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