tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17142260429780518692024-02-20T00:08:03.045-08:00Climate Kiwigarethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-53625881770966542782009-09-01T20:31:00.001-07:002009-09-01T20:33:00.297-07:00Nelson CASTED<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oPilRu1_FoF3hYZXDfYq7Qab3SNJTTcwuI5RRrj9OyuATghscYqC-qQc-NXwpoCvPdID8GzRzhOL4fFLYtHZQOevtqbvwzZutZq7wBpPuhzAlWpO8gzxkicdOFNnEXav9ZE49x4rT7Ue/s1600-h/nelson.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 390px; height: 365px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1oPilRu1_FoF3hYZXDfYq7Qab3SNJTTcwuI5RRrj9OyuATghscYqC-qQc-NXwpoCvPdID8GzRzhOL4fFLYtHZQOevtqbvwzZutZq7wBpPuhzAlWpO8gzxkicdOFNnEXav9ZE49x4rT7Ue/s400/nelson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376707750933593394" /></a><br />This is a photoshopped image<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-19585285889741642972009-09-01T14:12:00.001-07:002009-09-01T14:16:33.840-07:00Copenhagen mermaid CASTED<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-5uTbKpJ_zTN4YiafmpqdC7Wa1YW6kz91ii32RHbpNyv_OZvUnyqzqusKBSVhG8Bmmn95VhlMZkVajhMsz4tMC0n4PEUCrDpC_9Hqh7ydPFj3RQBPvl4fLJmLiCw7YAPVh1kADq_2cdq/s1600-h/Copenhagen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-5uTbKpJ_zTN4YiafmpqdC7Wa1YW6kz91ii32RHbpNyv_OZvUnyqzqusKBSVhG8Bmmn95VhlMZkVajhMsz4tMC0n4PEUCrDpC_9Hqh7ydPFj3RQBPvl4fLJmLiCw7YAPVh1kADq_2cdq/s400/Copenhagen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376610045412430514" /></a><br /><br />This is a photoshop job. I'd love to see what other images we could cast.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-52994935349212440622009-09-01T14:12:00.000-07:002009-09-01T14:13:14.570-07:00Copenhagen mermaid CASTED<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-5uTbKpJ_zTN4YiafmpqdC7Wa1YW6kz91ii32RHbpNyv_OZvUnyqzqusKBSVhG8Bmmn95VhlMZkVajhMsz4tMC0n4PEUCrDpC_9Hqh7ydPFj3RQBPvl4fLJmLiCw7YAPVh1kADq_2cdq/s1600-h/Copenhagen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-5uTbKpJ_zTN4YiafmpqdC7Wa1YW6kz91ii32RHbpNyv_OZvUnyqzqusKBSVhG8Bmmn95VhlMZkVajhMsz4tMC0n4PEUCrDpC_9Hqh7ydPFj3RQBPvl4fLJmLiCw7YAPVh1kADq_2cdq/s400/Copenhagen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376610045412430514" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-23961919259209232712009-01-25T12:39:00.000-08:002009-01-25T12:42:07.980-08:00Climate Snippets is taking a breakClimate Snippets is taking a break for a while - but in the meantime the best place to get regular updates with a Kiwi flavor is through the Climate Defence Network's Climate News (done by my wife!)<br /><br />www.climatedefence.org.nz/<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-1642582739259775252008-12-18T16:44:00.000-08:002008-12-18T16:47:39.766-08:00Climate Snippets - 19 December<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpb0CSXrpvp_-uqBC5gsIRpShFM7vaDVSoguqqzdA-hax_8GYG9JpLiTbIhTxah7dKavflstx2wzr2kTxLCnQBj1bdy3OvlHpJ9jBVIdX93zZeSJnVuJAsatsnbyhIgyxf2jy5QTJpFBw/s1600-h/logo1xmas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpb0CSXrpvp_-uqBC5gsIRpShFM7vaDVSoguqqzdA-hax_8GYG9JpLiTbIhTxah7dKavflstx2wzr2kTxLCnQBj1bdy3OvlHpJ9jBVIdX93zZeSJnVuJAsatsnbyhIgyxf2jy5QTJpFBw/s400/logo1xmas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281295861631646146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10548431" class="Headline">Key likens climate goals to Rudd's. </a><br /><br />New Zealand's new direction on climate-change policy will be as cautious as that revealed by Australia this week, Prime Minister John Key suggested yesterday.Mr Key was commenting in Parliament following the Australian Government's commitment on Monday to cut carbon emissions by as little as 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020, and at a time when National's priority in Parliament this week is to undo the flagship policy of the previous Labour Government.<br /><br />Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee capped off a series of moves to weaken or overturn Labour's climate change measures by issuing instructions to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to stop any ban on incandescent light bulbs. National has a long-term policy of reducing carbon emissions by 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. But it has no medium-term target of the sort that will be negotiated at Copenhagen. In Parliament yesterday Mr Key confirmed, under questioning from Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, that the National Government would not actually suspend the present emissions-trading scheme as stated in its confidence and supply agreement with Act.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10548734" class="Headline">Gas and coal-fired electricity ban repealed.</a><br /><br />The new Government has scrapped another Labour climate change measure - passing legislation this week that repeals restrictions on the building of new coal and gas-fired power plants. But Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today labelled the move a retrograde step, which shuts off one of the easiest ways New Zealand could reduce its carbon emissions. The two-page Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill passed its third reading by 63 votes to 58. It was opposed by Labour, the Greens, the Maori Party and the Progressives.<br /><br />Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the ETS put a price on pollution, providing adequate incentives for power companies to invest in renewable generation. But Ms Fitzsimons said New Zealand's per capita emissions were about five times the global average and electricity generation and urgent measures were needed to reduce them. Power generation contributed about 10 per cent of the country's emissions and was one of the easiest things to clean up because of the abundance of renewable options. She said officials had told the previous government a target of 90 per cent renewable energy could be reached - up from about 70 per cent at the moment - with "negligible cost".<br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2008/12/17/124385cf4e56" class="Headline">Biofuel obligations repealed under urgency.</a><br /><br />Mandatory biofuel obligations have been repealed after Parliament passed legislation under urgency on Wednesday afternoon. The legislation was passed by a slim majority of 62 to 59 because two of the Government's support partners - the Maori Party and United Future - opposed the move. The Biofuels Act, which came into force in October, required a proportion of petrol and diesel sold to be sourced from biofuel. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the mandatory obligation would have loaded unspecified costs on consumers and meant the importation of biofuel with no guarantee that it had been sustainably produced. But the Green Party said there was a clause in the legislation that required biofuels to come from sustainable sources and sustainability standards could have been in place by the middle of next year. <a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/20426%20"><br /></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/20426%20">Jeanette Fitzsimon’s first reading speech.</a> </li></ul><a href="http://www.guide2.co.nz/politics/news/groser-defends-nz-climate-treaty-stance/11/4622" class="Headline">Groser defends NZ climate treaty stance. </a><br /><br />Climate negotiations minister Tim Groser has defended the Government's call for better treatment of agricultural emissions in the next global climate treaty. Last week he laid out New Zealand's position for the talks, saying he would be negotiating aggressively to achieve better rules governing agriculture, which contributes about half of the country's emissions. He said New Zealand had a small population which raised public transport issues; an already high proportion of renewable electricity generation meaning scope for gains was small and an already efficient agriculture sector. But the Government's stance has come under fire from non-government organisations which say seeking "favourable" treatment for agricultural emissions runs the risk of weakening the whole agreement and establishing New Zealand as an "international climate pariah".<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/fitzsimons-nz-dragging-chain-climate-change/5/6696">New Zealand could be a world leader on finding ways to feed the world without changing the climate, instead of dragging the chain as we have done at the Poznan climate negotiations, the Green Party says.</a> </li></ul><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7782919.stm" class="Headline">Australia sets new climate target. </a><br /><br />Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include cutting emissions by at least 5% by 2020 and a carbon trading scheme to be implemented by 2010. But the proposals were immediately denounced by critics as inadequate, with the Green Party calling them a "global embarrassment". The new measures announced by Mr Rudd will see:<br /><ul><li>Greenhouse gas emissions cut by between between 5% and 15% by 2020, from 2000 levels </li><li>A scheme to be implemented by 2010 requiring industrial polluters to bid for government licences to emit carbon. It will cover 75% of emissions and include 1,000 of the country's biggest firms, but will initially exclude Australia's drought-battered farmers. </li></ul><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7786910.stm" class="Headline">Scientists say they now have unambiguous evidence that the warming in the Arctic is accelerating.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24813289-601,00.html" class="Headline">Climate change: 2008 is world's 10th hottest year.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/11/kingsnorth-green-banksy-saboteur" class="Headline">No new coal - the calling card of the 'green Banksy' who breached fortress Kingsnorth.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/166-mw-solar-power-project-will-be-largest-in-china.php" class="Headline">166 MW solar power plant will be China’s largest.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.climateark.org/blog/2008/12/light-redd-the-looming-tragedy.asp" class="Headline">EARTH MEANDERS: Light REDD: The looming tragedy of carbon markets paying to destroy ancient forests.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.grist.org/news/2008/12/12/clear/index.html" class="Headline">Global climate deal? Yes we can, Gore says.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/dec/10/comment-porritt-poznan-copenhagen-environment" class="Headline">Jonathon Porritt: Press the panic button.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/16-3" class="Headline">Bill McKibben: The most important number on Earth. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/12/15/at-last-a-date/" class="Headline">Monbiot: At last, a date.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0812/S00169.htm" class="Headline">Gareth Hughes: A Green New Deal for Aotearoa.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/12/15/john-keys-uncertainty-principle/" class="Headline">Blog: John Key’s uncertainty principle.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3584" class="Headline">Blog: Putting the ETS “on hold”?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tApSj6DiUkU" class="Headline">Video: Jeanette gives her opinion of Rodney's Climate Change Denial Select Committee.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/dec/15/fatih-birol-george-monbiot" class="Headline">Video: George Monbiot meets ... Fatih Birol.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quQ_8ibidbc" class="Headline">Video: Head in the sand on climate change.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://projectlitefoot.org/" class="Headline">New Project backed by Kiwi sport celebrities.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/interactive/2008/dec/09/climatechange-carbonemissions" class="Headline">Interactive carbon atlas.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-79346238437744913462008-12-10T13:12:00.001-08:002008-12-10T13:14:10.648-08:00Climate Snippets - 10 December<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK_dAdEF1NI-5I1ejYkMEcwdI6NFmg1zoJPlaOAynv8SAQ_2z-yzBp_JmYaZ_f7lURSFb8WDmxKs05RtS5SmVBb_8vo3XJEJC8VzVgV3IgEurMUgDgDiSfYXHwUDvCIAGyJr0IaE_YNhyphenhyphen/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK_dAdEF1NI-5I1ejYkMEcwdI6NFmg1zoJPlaOAynv8SAQ_2z-yzBp_JmYaZ_f7lURSFb8WDmxKs05RtS5SmVBb_8vo3XJEJC8VzVgV3IgEurMUgDgDiSfYXHwUDvCIAGyJr0IaE_YNhyphenhyphen/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278272493342282738" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/10/poznan-climate-talks" class="Headline">Poznan progress slow but steady, say officials.</a><br /><br />A senior diplomat has defended the lack of progress at UN climate talks in Poland, and insisted that real action in finding a successor to the Kyoto protocol is not required until next year. Insiders say the Poznan negotiations are edging towards the low-level achievements expected from the two-week meeting. A formal work-programme has been agreed to take the talks forward in 2009, which the UN hopes will climax with a new worldwide treaty to curb carbon emissions agreed at the meeting in Copenhagen. Debate remains over how to liberate millions of pounds collected from a levy on the sale of carbon credits, which is intended to help poor nations adapt to the impacts of climate change.<br /><br />Green campaigners criticised the slow progress. Oxfam said a refusal by rich countries to discuss deeper emission cuts was a "wasted opportunity". Greenpeace said delegates had "taken a year to agree what they already agreed at [2007 talks in] Bali".<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10547487">Barry Coates: Breaking promises, shifting blame in the climate game.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10547310">Fran O'Sullivan: Groser may find his hands tied.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/10/poznan-climatechange1">Europe pledges strict emissions cut to tempt China and India into climate deal.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10547375">UN official: Relocating island populations no answer.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10547374">Samoa calls on developed countries to take lead on climate change</a></li></ul><a href="http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/climate-change-select-committee-established/5/6391" class="Headline">Climate Change Select Committee established.</a><br /><br />New Zealand needs to build a broader consensus about how to make progress on climate change issues, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said today in releasing the terms of reference for the select committee to review the Emissions Trading Scheme and related matters. Dr Smith confirmed that the special select committee was being set up to honour the terms of the confidence and supply agreement between National and ACT. "The new government takes a more modest view of New Zealand's role in the global efforts to tackle climate change. "It is appropriate to have a fresh look at our policy response and the Emissions Trading Scheme given the poor track record on emissions, the changed economic environment, and the rushed way the legislation was passed. "The choice of Peter Dunne in the chair is a quite deliberate step to build a broader consensus across the parliament. Mr Dunne had previously taken steps to take such an initiative but these were rebuffed by the previous government.<br /><br />Members:<br /><ul><li>National - Craig Foss, Nicky Wagner, Paul Hitchison, Hekia Parata (4)</li><li>Labour - David Parker, Moana Mackey, Charles Chauvel (3)</li><li>ACT - Rodney Hide (1)</li><li>Greens - Jeanette Fitzsimons (1)</li><li>United Future - Peter Dunne (1)</li><li>Maori Party - yet to be named (1)</li></ul><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/10/poznan-climate-change-environment-europe" class="Headline">EU Leaders agree 20% 2020 renewable energy target.</a><br /><br />EU leaders agreed yesterday to combat climate change by ordering that a fifth of Europe's energy mix should come from renewable sources within 12 years.<br />The agreement, hailed as a "landmark" deal and a breakthrough by politicians and the green lobby alike, came before a crucial EU summit opening in Poland tomorrow at which 27 prime ministers and presidents are supposed to finalise an ambitious package to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.<br /><br />The agreement reached yesterday paves the way for a law obliging all EU countries to meet national targets for renewable energy. Two points had threatened to derail the legislation: the insistence that biofuels comprise 10% of transport fuel by 2020, and an attempt by Italy to loosen the law by ordering a review of progress on renewables in 2014. The review date was retained, but the compulsory target and national quotas also survived.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0812/S00072.htm" class="Headline">Green Party Address in Reply 2008 – Fitzsimons ‘Saving the banks while the biosphere collapses.’</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4B76RV20081208" class="Headline">Ecoflation, a new worry, could hit consumer goods.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/02/edm-birds-oilsands-report.html" class="Headline">Millions of birds could die from oilsands development: report.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://weblog.greenpeace.org.nz/climate-change/toilet-installation-leaves-national-looking-flushed/" class="Headline">Greenpeace: Don't flush our climate down the John.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hfeYrjh-mdBvtyUZWkgwpHOFjwEQD94UG6683" class="Headline">Protesters break into secure area at UK airport.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/12/09/a-beardful-of-bunkum/" class="Headline">Monbiot: A beardful of bunkum.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Politics/tabid/370/articleID/83171/cat/68/Default.aspx#video" class="Headline">Video: Greens show support for Emission Trading Scheme.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W847iqudLM" class="Headline">Video: Birds and Canada's tar sands: Why America's number 1 source of oil is removing millions of birds.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.eco-tube.com/v/TALK/Monbiot_confronts_the_United_Nations.aspx" class="Headline">Video: Monbiot confronts UN.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=europe_climate_obstruction" class="Headline">Action Alert: climate talks falter as Italy and Poland play politics with global climate's future.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-48036773381418158872008-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:002008-12-05T16:35:51.402-08:00Climate Snippets - 6 December - Global Day of Action on Climate Change Special<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdk1X56zQ9X3rXktcO_W4ldem2lHtTZiCyH4AKIz8GRybYDk_Qlf8Bub523ORQYvt8GqQMKy6WPOzXn2IEPFjSlaAuUnpcGdOvFnXFg84GARn32z0FdXBNzzcZ8rQrBfHcOZbJClDL74GL/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdk1X56zQ9X3rXktcO_W4ldem2lHtTZiCyH4AKIz8GRybYDk_Qlf8Bub523ORQYvt8GqQMKy6WPOzXn2IEPFjSlaAuUnpcGdOvFnXFg84GARn32z0FdXBNzzcZ8rQrBfHcOZbJClDL74GL/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276469127225048690" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/greens-call-govt-not-drag-chain-climate-talks-38482" class="Headline">Poznan climate talks begin.</a><br /><br />About 10,600 delegates from 186 governments, businesses and environmental groups will meet in Poznan for two weeks of talks. The meeting marks the halfway point of a two-year push to agree a new climate treaty in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012 Much of the debate is about trying to agree on an overall emissions cut by developed nations of 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020, though the final target is not likely to be set until the Copenhagen meeting.<br /><br />Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, said meeting the climate change targets at the same time as the world was grappling with recession would be a challenge. Mr de Boer praised President-elect Barack Obama for saying that he would seek to cut United States emissions of greenhouse gases back to 1990 levels by 2020 as part of global action to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts, more powerful storms and rising seas. US emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants and cars, are about 14 percent above.<br /><br />In Europe, economic slowdown has exposed doubts about the costs of an EU goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. UN talks host Poland, which gets 93 percent of its electricity from coal, and Italy are leading a drive for concessions in a package meant to be agreed at a December 11-12 summit of EU leaders in Brussels. The talks in Poland will review new ideas for combating global warming, such as handing credits to tropical nations for preserving forests. China is also suggesting that developed nations should give up to 1 percent of their gross national product in aid to help the poor switch from fossil fuels.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4778870a23917.html" class="Headline">NZ Farmer plea at climate talks - Greens say PM risks undermining exports.</a><br /><br />Prime Minister John Key has confirmed New Zealand will seek special treatment for its farmers at climate change talks this month, bringing claims from the Greens that the stance could damage agriculture exports. Mr Key said negotiators in Poznan, Poland, would argue aggressively for any targets on greenhouse gas emissions for New Zealand to take account of the significant contribution farming played in the economy. The industry accounts for half of New Zealand's carbon emissions. But Greens co-leader Russel Norman said the stance would undermine international efforts to reduce emissions and could threaten farm exports as other countries focused on high-emitting industries. "If they want credibility in any of these negotiations, they've got to be seen to be taking action domestically," Dr Norman said. "Undermining the ETS undermines that credibility. If we're asking for anything around agriculture, then we need to be seen to be doing stuff domestically. "The problem is that everyone's got a reason for special treatment, and if everyone gets special treatment, then we don't reduce emissions."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2PO2N5L8VgHmxUVq39BgC-xPhDg" class="Headline">Financial crisis no excuse to slow carbon fight: UN climate chief.</a><br /><br />The world financial crisis must not become an excuse for backsliding on efforts to curb global carbon emissions, a top UN environmental official warned Thursday. While acknowledging the severity of the financial turmoil, Yvo de Boer, said: "To use the financial crisis as an excuse not to act on climate change would basically amount to setting yourself up for the next financial crisis. For example, within the next five to 10 years we will be replacing about 40 percent of the power-generating capacity worldwide. If, in the light of the financial crisis, a decision is made to go for cheap and dirty technology, as in the past, that technology will still be around in 30 to 50 years," he said. "The challenge for industry is how it can be part of the solution and not part of the problem," he later told reporters.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7748247.stm" class="Headline">'World mandate' on climate action. </a><br /><br />An opinion poll in 11 countries has produced what organisers term a "global mandate" for action on climate change. About half of the respondents wanted governments to play a major role in curbing emissions, but only a quarter said their leaders were doing enough. In developing countries, a majority of people were prepared to make "lifestyle changes" to reduce climate change. The survey was commissioned by the HSBC Climate Partnership, which includes business and environmental groups. The survey revealed that 43% of people questioned put climate change ahead of the world's financial instability as an issue of current concern, even though the surveys ran in the turbulent months of September and October. However, the numbers saying they would alter their lifestyles to reduce climate change had fallen in the year between the previous survey, in 2007, and this one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280" class="Headline">Nielson, Taylor & Clark: Govt should go with emissions trading scheme.</a><br /><br />The new Government's decision to put the emissions trading scheme on hold<br />pending a review came as a bolt from the blue. Stakeholders had been led to expect that there would be some changes to the ETS but the proposal to pass legislation putting it on hold was completely unexpected. The decision has thrown the emerging carbon market into disarray. It has undermined the recent launch of the New Zealand Stock Exchange's carbon trading platform, TZ1. EcoSecurities, one of the largest promoters of emission reduction projects in the world, pulled out from the launch of its New Zealand business. It has brought into doubt the forest sector's investment in large-scale carbon sequestration [storing carbon in forests]. According to one report it led an Asian investor to cancel a 25,000ha afforestation project. There are other indications that investment in new plantings has evaporated.<br /><br /><a href="http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/2338669" class="Headline">Dim view of light bulb decision.</a><br /><br />The Greens are unhappy with National's decision to overturn the previous government's ban on incandescent light bulbs. Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has reportedly instructed the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority to prepare the paperwork to reverse the ban. The legislation would have seen incandescent bulbs switched off in October next year. Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says it's par for the course for National which has opposed every energy efficiency proposal she can think of in recent years. She says National has set a climate change target of a 50% reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050 but does not seem to have the slightest idea of how it will get there.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7758542.stm" class="Headline">Brazil sets plan to cut deforestation by 70 percent over 10 years.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4B06R920081201" class="Headline">EU agrees to cut car emissions.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/spanish-cemetery-goes-solar.php" class="Headline">Solar cemetery.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/50675" class="Headline">Vatican set to go green with huge solar panel roof.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.grist.org/news/2008/12/01/deforestation/?source=daily" class="Headline">Major Study: Palm oil offers no green solution.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.theage.com.au/world/indias-humble-rickshaw-goes-solar-20081013-4zlo.html" class="Headline">India's humble rickshaw goes solar.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3353949/Climate-change-keeps-swans-in-Siberia.html" class="Headline">Climate change keeps swans in Siberia.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3534" class="Headline">Jeanette Fitzsimons: NZ red faced over climate change’.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4770165a1865.html" class="Headline">Rod Oram: Can John Key find his compass?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://globalpublicmedia.com/museletter_199_the_food_and_farming_transition" class="Headline">Heinberg: The Food and farming transition.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/12/02/whistling-in-the-wind/" class="Headline">Monbiot: Whistling in the wind.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3524" class="Headline">Blog: Don Elder waxed poetic about the prospects for NZ coal this week at Solid Energy’s maiden annual meeting in Auckland.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://weblog.greenpeace.org/climate/" class="Headline">Blog: Greenpeace climate rescue weblog.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/" class="Headline">Blog: National rejects expert advice?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/postcards/" class="Headline">Send a Greenpeace e-postcard to Poznan</a><br /><br /><a href="http://dontbearodney.blogspot.com/" class="Headline">Don’t be a Rodney – write a letter to key.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://adaisythroughconcrete.blogspot.com/2008/11/eon.html" class="Headline">UK E.on coal company Google-bombed.</a><br /><br /><A HREF="<br />http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/the_gospel_of_green/video.html" CLASS="Headline">CBC Video: Canada looks to Germany</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thebigask.be/nl/node/411" class="Headline">Video: The Big Ask.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2008/12/02/124384ea8be8" class="Headline">Audio: Norman: Climate science review 'embarrassing'.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/countdown/" class="Headline">Greenpeace has turned it's front webpage into a giant countdown clock leading to Copenhagen to highlight how little time we have left to cut a real deal on climate change.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-53262734594635056462008-11-25T14:10:00.001-08:002008-11-25T14:12:01.317-08:00Climate Snippets - 26 November<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXn8aGpa9YzSmqBY-8j_zCGcwpdwfF1pxiTdBaB0DwMjLvsHLr_z3Nk5y5zJ7NcVNprao06OAc4PbgMKQTAGgOZ6WteGs418Vb8Sz2Nyww8EGD9yVeaoupWxPGlAei_qJsRu7azlSNztq/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjXn8aGpa9YzSmqBY-8j_zCGcwpdwfF1pxiTdBaB0DwMjLvsHLr_z3Nk5y5zJ7NcVNprao06OAc4PbgMKQTAGgOZ6WteGs418Vb8Sz2Nyww8EGD9yVeaoupWxPGlAei_qJsRu7azlSNztq/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272721097192036258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10545097" class="Headline"></a><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1714226042978051869" class="Headline">UK’s new air-departure tax.</a><br /><br />Prime Minister John Key's first meeting with Gordon Brown has been overshadowed by Britain's controversial new that the travel industry says threatens the billion-dollar UK tourist market. Mr Key told Mr Brown that the tax was of "significant concern" to New Zealand and said he will continue to pursue the matter with the British government. The tax will increase the further a passenger flies to help offset carbon emissions. Travel to New Zealand attracts the highest of four levels of the tax because of its distance from the UK. The British government also plans to incrementally increase the tax from $113 to $240 by November 2010.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5938?emc=el&m=170745&l=4&v=cc9d8205c9" class="Headline">Adoption of climate treaty by 2009 in doubt.</a><br /><br />Despite new leadership in the United States promising to cap the country's greenhouse gas emissions, some environmental leaders say it is unlikely that an international climate treaty will pass in the next year. During his campaign, U.S. president-elect Barack Obama supported a global cap-and-trade agreement for regulating his nation's carbon emissions. As a result, many international observers are hoping the United States will agree to binding emissions-reduction targets at the high-profile climate change negotiations scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Such optimism may be unrealistic, however….Read more.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/19/carbonemissions-emissionstrading" class="Headline">UK 'undermining' climate fight by keeping carbon permit cash.</a><br /><br />The UK government was under fire this week for "undermining" the European Union's fight against climate change by auctioning off carbon allowances for the first time and not earmarking the cash for "green" projects. Around four million permits are being distributed today under a new phase of the European Union's (EU) emissions trading scheme (ETS) with expected receipts of up to £60m going to the Treasury for general spending purposes. "The policy of the UK government on this issue undermines the very purpose of the EU ETS... Auctioning undermines this flexible mechanism as it takes money away from those who can do something about climate change, the emitters, and it gives it to those who can't, the politicians," said James Emanuel at emissions trading broker, CantorCO2e. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said ministers should change their mind and use the cash specifically for projects such as improving energy efficiency of homes, investing in low-carbon technologies and helping poorer countries cope with climate change.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI70120081119" class="Headline">Canada wants North America cap-and-trade system</a><br /><br />Canada's Conservative government, shifting positions in the wake of Barack Obama's election as U.S. president, said on Wednesday that it would work to develop a North America-wide cap-and-trade system to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The Conservatives, who walked away from the Kyoto protocol on climate change after taking power in 2006, have until now focused on cutting the intensity of emissions rather than imposing outright curbs.<br /><br />"We will work with the provincial governments and our partners to develop and implement a North America-wide cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases," the government said as it unveiled plans for the new session of Parliament. Obama favors much tougher greenhouse gas reduction targets than those set by the Conservatives, and says he will start a cap-and-trade system. Green groups said the Conservatives' new positioning is largely academic as Canada would likely go along with whatever approach the new U.S. administration takes because the U.S. economy is around 10 times the size of Canada's. "I think we will be forced into a North American-wide cap-and-trade system that will basically be dictated by Washington.... It's the only system that can work. We've got an integrated economy," said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club Canada.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0811/S00378.htm" class="Headline">NZ now a joke in Europe, says carbon trader.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.times-age.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3790986&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=" class="Headline">NZ Foresters 'losing millions' in carbon credits. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10544810" class="Headline">Protesters 'tried to chuck a big cream pie in my face' – Solid Energy CEO </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10544814" class="Headline">Colin James: Key's task harder than recession.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/24/content_10401920.htm" class="Headline">APEC leaders urges to address climate change.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AI5IZ20081119" class="Headline">Politicians persuaded to save Canada boreal forest.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/11/wii-xbox-ps3-po.html" class="Headline">Video game consoles in the U.S. consume more than $1 billion of electricity a year just when sitting idle.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/guide-greener-electronics-november-241108" class="Headline">In its 10th Guide to Green Electronics, Greenpeace deems Nokia the greenest company.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/25/climate-change-carbon-emissions" class="Headline">Monbiot: The planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/11/faq-on-climate-models/" class="Headline">Real Climate FAQ on climate models.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://withoutyourwalls.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/coal-its-like-paying-someone-to-be-a-prick-new-internationalist-blog/" class="Headline">Video: Coal – it’s like paying someone to be a prick.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-45960243262770960392008-11-19T17:15:00.000-08:002008-11-19T17:21:24.799-08:00Climate Snippets - 20 November<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XJTZOO41KZRNBwQ3_V18I8hsgNgQxtDyFyug8ggskCIC8CXa1ET1leW32uZbeRTFuR97P8zOarD9-O7YuJL4CrxsgZzP2EFbVqtagv5V5sVe9QtlV4JYnXmTKbbV5Wt-kt5ikAl-2Ejw/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XJTZOO41KZRNBwQ3_V18I8hsgNgQxtDyFyug8ggskCIC8CXa1ET1leW32uZbeRTFuR97P8zOarD9-O7YuJL4CrxsgZzP2EFbVqtagv5V5sVe9QtlV4JYnXmTKbbV5Wt-kt5ikAl-2Ejw/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270542662202683570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guide2.co.nz/politics/news/ets-review-comes-under-fire/11/3924" class="Headline">ETS review comes under fire. </a><br /><br />Environmental groups have criticised the incoming National government's decision to put the emissions trading scheme (ETS) on hold while it conducts a complete review. The review is part of ACT's support agreement with National. It will be conducted by a special select committee and its draft terms include reviewing the science stating humans are to blame for climate change. ACT campaigned on scrapping the ETS and has questioned whether human-induced climate change actually exists. National campaigned on watering down the existing legislation within nine months and prime minister-elect John Key this week said he was still confident an amended ETS could be passed into law before the end of next year.<br /><br />Comments:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/press/releases/national-act-agreement-economi">National/ACT agreement economic self-sabotage.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/4755239a6440.html">Federated Farmers - Farmers hope new government will listen to concerns over ETS.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10543565">Brian Fallow: Modified emissions trading scheme looking likely.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/parker-critical-delay-emissions-scheme-37997">Parker critical of delay in emissions scheme.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10543806">Key reviews carbon tax as NZ gets 'dirty' rating.</a></li></ul><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4756597a6034.html" class="Headline">Energy shakeup looms.</a><br /><br />The National government could raise billions of dollars by putting three state-owned power companies back together and partly privatising the result, according to energy sector sources. John Key's new government is also expected to "soften" the impact of the planned emissions trading scheme, with some in the power industry calling for a delay of a year or more and a cap on carbon prices. Labour's 10-year ban on new gas or coal-fired power stations is likely to be lifted and if National keeps its word, the Resource Management Act will be reformed, which should cut the power sector planning consent process from up to five years to two years, speeding up the construction of new power plants.<br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4ZGTUrYhzzLOhFASpNhny3b_mmgD94DCFO80" class="Headline">Energy agency warns of supply crunch.</a><br /><br />The International Energy Agency on Wednesday predicted world energy demand will rise 1.6 percent per year on average between 2006 and 2030 and called for massive investment in energy infrastructure to prevent a supply squeeze. The IEA's base scenario for energy demand has fallen due to the global economic slowdown and higher oil prices, but the agency stressed that a delay in spending on new projects due to the credit crisis could lead to a "supply crunch that could choke economic recovery." The IEA expects demand for oil to rise from 85 million barrels per day currently to 106 million barrels per day in 2030 — 10 million barrels per day less than projected last year. China and India continue to be the main drivers, accounting for more than half of incremental energy demand to 2030, but the Middle East, a longtime supplier, also emerges as a major new demand center.<br /><br />The agency said that these trends call for energy supply investment of $26.3 trillion to 2030, or more than $1 trillion a year, but it noted that tight credit conditions could delay spending. Over 2008 to 2015, it predicts the price to average $100. The report also highlighted the expected rapid growth of renewable energy resources. It predicts that world renewables-based electricity generation — mostly hydro and wind power — will overtake gas to become the second-largest source of electricity, behind coal, before 2015.<br /><br /><a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxtxEnGYqzX_bBu1CyVsCfx9W9dA" class="Headline">The rate of warming is 'unprecedented'</A><br /><br />Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilisation 5 000 years ago, according to studies published on Thursday. Researchers from Cornell University studied the increased introduction of fresh water from glacial melt, oceanic circulation, and the change in geographic range migration of oceanic plant and animal species. "The rate of warming we are seeing (now) is unprecedented in human history," said Greene, whose research appears in the November 2008 issue of the journal Ecology.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5930?emc=el&m=168333&l=8&v=cc9d8205c9" class="Headline">Europeans form renewable energy agency.</a><br /><br />A consortium of European governments is developing the world's first International Renewable Energy Agency. The agency, known as IRENA, will serve as a global cheerleader for clean energy. It plans to offer technical, financial, and policy advice for governments worldwide, according to a joint announcement from Germany, Spain, and Denmark - the project's leaders.<br /><br />"IRENA aims to become the main driving force in promoting a swift transition towards the extensive and sustainable use of renewable energy worldwide," said Hermann Scheer, general chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy and a champion for the agency since 1990, in a prepared statement. "There exist international agencies for fossil and nuclear energies, but none for renewables. IRENA will close this gap." Scheer, a Social Democratic member of the German Parliament, led his government to commit to IRENA's creation in 2006 - arguing that it was a necessary balance to the International Atomic Energy Agency created in the 1950s.<br /><br />At a conference in Madrid last month, IRENA's 51 participating nations agreed that the agency's first projects would be presented in January, at the formal launch of IRENA. In the meantime, details such as the organization's headquarters, leadership, and funding still need to be finalized. The involved nations currently include nearly all of Europe as well as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. In the past year, global renewable energy sources have increased dramatically. More than 250 gigawatts of capacity, excluding large hydropower, exists globally. Clean energy investments surpassed $148 billion in 2007, a 60 percent increase from 2006, according to the U.N. Environment Programme.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4764688a11.html" class="Headline">NZ does badly in greenhouse gas survey.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/10/maldives-climate-change" class="Headline">Paradise almost lost: Maldives seek to buy a new homeland.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24639109-16222,00.html" class="Headline">Australian Coal Association unveils advertising campaign.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5462?emc=el&m=168333&l=6&v=cc9d8205c9" class="Headline">Bicycle production was up 3.2 percent in 2007 to 130 million units, a continuation of the upward trend that has characterized production for most of this decade.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gkesiYQ8Rcb2Y4QdOshamudKKxLQ" class="Headline">UNFCCC: emissions from industrialised world still high.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/climate-change/news/article.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10544087" class="Headline">Pacific and EU forge climate change agreement.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.350.org.nz/" class="Headline">Coming up: 350 Climate Action Festival in Wellington.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/video_response_upload?v=w0WkS_UkbK8" class="Headline">Greenpeace asks you to film a climate response to John Key on Youtube.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.coalfinger.com/" class="Headline">Video: Coalfinger</a><br /><br /><a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/18/85317/829?source=daily" class="Headline">Video: Obama’s climate message to governors.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://hot-topic.co.nz/wagging-the-dog/" class="Headline">Blog: ACT wagging the tail on climate change?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3502" class="Headline">The Emissions Trading Scheme hits the backburner.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3471" class="Headline">Blog: Next year forty 40 families from Carteret Island, dubbed the ‘world’s first climate change refugees’ by the United Nations, will relocate to the nearby Papau New Guinean island Bougainville.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php?p=3468" class="Headline">Blog: Ride sharing – Fareshare.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-52273822882697602162008-09-18T21:21:00.000-07:002008-09-18T22:22:47.118-07:00Climate Snippets - 19 September<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EboSssDBBeoWqzHD4r6XLumuf-NrsVccmqtWD-z9aZMieYyJkIT9YfqaXkJ5GVzOtApgx1Ge4OgoHcdTCUm61kgkjzv46C23NWK0O4jhKnw0Ejmc4qTRpsuSmSyCfzI7GUmuq2_K_7Go/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EboSssDBBeoWqzHD4r6XLumuf-NrsVccmqtWD-z9aZMieYyJkIT9YfqaXkJ5GVzOtApgx1Ge4OgoHcdTCUm61kgkjzv46C23NWK0O4jhKnw0Ejmc4qTRpsuSmSyCfzI7GUmuq2_K_7Go/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247583021515693666" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19853" class="Headline">Kaukapakapa a test for National.</a><br /><br />Hearings starting next week for a proposed new gas-fired power station in National Leader John Key’s electorate of Helensville are a major test for Mr Key and his party on climate change issues, Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman says. “Genesis Energy’s plan to build a 480 megawatt station at Kaukapakapa amounts to empire building by the company because it doesn’t make economic or environmental sense,” Dr Norman says. John Key either needs to change National’s policy so it makes more sense or tell residents he is 100 percent for Think Big at Kaukapakapa.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10532401" class="Headline">Green crude oil world first, says company. </a><br /><br />A New Zealand company says it has produced the first samples of green crude oil at a commercially competitive price. The biodiesel, made from wild algae grown on human sewage, was a world first, Marlborough-based company Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation said. Aquaflow launched a $5 million capital raising for further research and development of its wild algae-based fuel in January last year. The company refined the processes it had developed to create a next-generation fuel it calls "green crude", The Marlborough Express reported. Company director Barrie Leay said green crude was a manufactured form of crude oil different from earlier generations of biodiesel. Additional food crops or agricultural land were not needed and the end product was not just a fuel but could be used in products in the same way as crude oil can. "This is an exciting development because we can separate fuels such as diesel and aviation fuels, as well as a range of high-value chemicals, from green-crude," Mr Leay said.<br /><br /><a href="http://hot-topic.co.nz/beat-the-retreat/" class="Headline">Beat the retreat.</a><br /><br />New Zealand’s glaciers lost 2.5 km3 (2.2 billion tonnes) of permanent ice from April 2007 to March 2008, leaving 44.9 km3 of ice in the Southern Alps - the lowest amount since NIWA began regular surveys 32 years ago. The picture (credit: “Mr Ice” Trevor Chinn, click for larger image) shows the Marion Glacier in the Arawata Valley in South Westland which has recently retreated above its proglacial lake. The annual survey uses a fixed wing aircraft to record the height of the snowline at the end of summer (and Trevor gets to take the pix). Jim Salinger, NIWA’s principal scientist, says that the survey shows that the glaciers had lost a lot more ice than they had gained over the preceding winter.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/15/climatechange.carbonemissions" class="Headline">Roll back time to safeguard climate, expert warns.</a><br /><br />Professor John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told the Guardian that only a return to pre-industrial levels of CO2 would be enough to guarantee a safe future for the planet. He said that current political targets to slow the growth in emissions and stabilise carbon levels were insufficient, and that ways may have to be found to actively remove CO2 from the air. Schellnhuber said: "We have to start pondering that it might not be enough to stabilise carbon levels. We should not rule out that it might be necessary to bring them down again." <br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080910133934.htm" class="Headline">Old growth forests are valuable carbon sinks.</a><br /><br />Contrary to 40 years of conventional wisdom, a new analysis published in the journal Nature suggests that old growth forests are usually "carbon sinks" - they continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change for centuries. However, these old growth forests around the world are not protected by international treaties and have been considered of no significance in the national "carbon budgets" as outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. That perspective was largely based on findings of a single study from the late 1960s which had become accepted theory, and scientists now say it needs to be changed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24368848-2702,00.html" class="Headline">Kevin Rudd's $100m clean coal plan.</a><br /><br />Kevin Rudd has summoned mining and industry chief executives, environmentalists and union leaders to Canberra this week to unveil a $100 million clean coal research institute aimed at making Australia the world hub for the climate-change-fighting technology. The launch is the start of a major diplomatic effort to win international support and funding for the plan, aimed at realising the goal set by the G8 at its recent meeting in Hokkaido of having 20 carbon-sequestering coal-fired power plants up and running by 2020. The Australian understands the Prime Minister will make the project the centrepiece of his efforts next week when he attends the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.carbonfree.co.uk/cf/news/wk37-08-0003.htm" class="Headline">NASA Undertakes peak oil impact study. </a><br /><br />The burning of fossil fuels - notably coal, oil and gas - has accounted for about 80 percent of the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial era. Now, NASA researchers have identified feasible emission scenarios that could keep carbon dioxide below levels that some scientists have called dangerous for climate. When and how global oil production will peak has been debated, making it difficult to anticipate emissions from the burning of fuel and to precisely estimate its impact on climate. To better understand how emissions might change in the future, Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York considered a wide range of fossil fuel consumption scenarios. The research, published Aug. 5 in the American Geophysical Union's Global Biogeochemical Cycles, shows that the rise in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels can be kept below harmful levels as long as emissions from coal are phased out globally within the next few decades. "This is the first paper in the scientific literature that explicitly melds the two vital issues of global peak oil production and human-induced climate change," Kharecha said. "We're illustrating the types of action needed to get to target carbon dioxide levels."<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzbcsd.org.nz/story.asp?id=938" class="Headline">Poll reveals support for ETS but wide knowledge gap.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19856" class="Headline">The National Party has been forced to reveal they are being funded by the roading lobby as a result of the ‘rolling disclosure’ provisions the Greens insisted were placed in the Electoral Finance Act.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10532305" class="Headline">Bunny McDiarmid: Creating a serious climate for change.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10532156" class="Headline">Owen Hembry: Farms fenced by climate change law.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=ay8QV4bC6v4M&refer=canada" class="Headline">Ozone hole bigger this year than last.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/new-cow-diet-reduces-emissions.php" class="Headline">New cow diet reduces methane emissions.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.carbonfree.co.uk/cf/news/wk37-08-0006.htm" class="Headline">Compost could meet 10% of UK transport fuel needs.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7620921.stm" class="Headline">Plants are unlikely to soak up more carbon dioxide from the air as the planet warms, research suggests. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/18/carbonemissions.climatechange" class="Headline">Leaked papers show Britain trying to weaken plan for EU carbon cuts.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1714226042978051869" class="Headline">Correction: In last weeks Snippets I quoted the National Business Review which incorrectly stated the National party supported the Public Transport Management Bill, they didn’t.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/11/advertising.marketingandpr" class="Headline">Video: MTV ad attacks 'greenwash' firms.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thestar.com/Videos/article/294996" class="Headline">Video: Airsick: Industrial devolution.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYb3nhyzTK0&eurl=http://climatedenial.org/" class="Headline">Video: Crazy Hummer ad.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=nvCLtHZ_2b9ApbjiD1VVp18w_3d_3d" class="Headline">Petition: North shore cycling. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/reports4/guide-to-greener-electronics-9" class="Headline">Greenpeace releases guide to greener electronics.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2008/sep/17/advertising.climatechange" class="Headline">Video: Shane Meadows' ad for Defra to encourage people to switch off electrical appliances.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://hot-topic.co.nz/would-you-give-this-man-any-creedence/" class="Headline">Video: Ice expert, Dr Richard B Alley, giving a (ahem) creditable rendering of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary, with a message about coal and climate.</a><br /><br /><a href="https://secure.wecansolveit.org/page/contribute/oilandcoal" class="Headline">Video: We's new ad on U.S. coal and oil lobby.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-91727919737391270392008-09-11T17:12:00.000-07:002008-09-11T17:16:12.357-07:00Climate Snippets - 12 September<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CHD-uv92RrhwB25NVnckvPMFbYDGSiTmSmb6VAi80iLDFTxwr-T9IaXX7IY5a5ITCAbTJSpYWxDX-PHcuhYffZpF_4QjUotexrYotkdMdQkLHNfFcOl4NNRbtBnbpDsaW7ivW3YtUkdE/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7CHD-uv92RrhwB25NVnckvPMFbYDGSiTmSmb6VAi80iLDFTxwr-T9IaXX7IY5a5ITCAbTJSpYWxDX-PHcuhYffZpF_4QjUotexrYotkdMdQkLHNfFcOl4NNRbtBnbpDsaW7ivW3YtUkdE/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244921419133903106" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4688465a23917.html" class="Headline">Emissions bill passes.</a><br /><br />Controversial climate-change legislation that forces polluting industries to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions has passed into law, with far-reaching. In a sign of the Government's concern over potential delays, it broke with an earlier decision and rammed Parliament into urgency to speed up the process. "New Zealand has risen to meet one of the great challenges of our time," Climate Change Minister David Parker told MPs. The legislation meant New Zealand would join 27 European nations, Norway and Sweden in setting up an emissions trading scheme, he said. National pledged to change the legislation if it wins this year's general election.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19816">Read Jeanette’s third reading speech </a></li></ul> <a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/transport-bill-passes-under-urgency-35091" class="Headline">Transport bill passes under urgency.</a><br /><br />Legislation giving regional councils greater control over public transport services has passed into law as Parliament sits under urgency. Previously councils could set standards for public transport it contracts. Transport Minister Annette King said the bill did not tell regional councils how to run their public transport systems, just gave them the tools to run them effectively. The National Party did not vote against the bill, but transport spokesman Maurice Williamson said he had reservations about it as it created needless red tape for operators.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10531027" class="Headline">Nats re-release green policies.</a><br /><br />National released its environment and conservation policies this week - after Labour released theirs last week. Key points in the environment policy were:<br /><ul><li>A legislated target of 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2050.</li><li>An emissions trading system (ETS). National would amend the Labour scheme within nine months of office.</li><li>Set standards and incentivise biofuel use by exempting it from excise tax or road-user charges.</li><li>Exempting electric cars from road user charges.</li><li>$1000 grants for solar water heating and heat-pump hot water heating.</li></ul>Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the 2050 target was silly as National was not putting limits on more roading and traffic. He said dairy would be left free to produce more emissions. Dr Norman also criticised the focus on personal vehicles instead of public transport.<br /><br /><a href="http://3news.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Climatechangesuspectedascauseofgodwitsearlyarrival/tabid/423/articleID/70682/cat/64/Default.aspx" class="Headline">Climate change suspected as cause of godwits early arrival.</a><br /><br />The annual godwit migration has come early this year, with the birds arriving in Christchurch two weeks ahead of time. A joke doing the rounds is that they have fled Alaska on learning that Sarah Palin has joined the US presidential race, but a more likely theory has to do with global warming. The arrival of the first godwits of spring is a significant day on Christchurch's calendar. Their presence is announced with the sounding the bells of the Christchurch cathedral. Every September the birds make the non-stop 11,000 kilometre journey from Alaska - the longest migration of any bird. And this year marks their earliest arrival yet. "I've been monitoring their arrival for 25 years, and this is by far the earliest arrival," park ranger Andrew Crossland says. "Last year they were about a week later than this year, but normally they're about two to three weeks later than now."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.carbonfree.co.uk/cf/news/wk36-08-0002.htm" class="Headline">Solar energy For 4 billion people. </a><br /><br />Solar electricity can contribute largely to the energy needs of two-thirds of the world’s population - including those in remote areas - by 2030. This is the main conclusion of the Solar Generation report, published by Greenpeace and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). By 2030, it estimates that over 1800 GW of photovoltaic systems will have been installed worldwide. This represents over 2600 TWh of electricity produced per year, or 14% of global electricity demand. This is enough power to supply over 1.3 billion people in developed areas and over 3 billion people in remote rural areas who currently have no access to mains electricity. “Solar electricity could help cut up to 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030, equivalent to the emissions of 450 coal-fired power plants,” said Sven Teske, energy expert from Greenpeace International and co-author of the study.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7609036.stm" class="Headline">Brown unveils £910m fuel measures.</a><br /><br />Gordon Brown has agreed a £910m package of measures with the big energy companies aimed at helping people with soaring gas and electricity bills. It includes half price insulation for all households and a freeze on this year's bills for the poorest families. Pensioners and unemployed people with young children will get an extra £16.50 a week if there is a severe winter. But the measures were attacked as "ridiculous" by the unions, who want a windfall tax on the energy giants. The government says its aim is to insulate every home in Britain by 2020 - and energy companies, councils and voluntary organisations will be making door-to-door visits in deprived areas to promote the scheme.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10530271&pnum=0" class="Headline">Cycleway not recommended for Auckland harbour Bridge. Locke:” Government funding can make bridge cycleway a reality.”</a><br /><br /><a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWxQixColLYdzd8hm3Rl1FPtgebg" class="Headline">Another large section of Canadian ice shelf breaks loose.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4685203a6000.html" class="Headline">Greens gain emissions compo for capital's public transport.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.act.org.nz/dump-the-ets" class="Headline">Rodney Hide says “I remain sceptical that greenhouse gases are the cause of a global warming.”</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7600005.stm" class="Headline">Shun meat, says UN climate chief.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.richardheinberg.com/node/305" class="Headline">Heinberg: Want Cheap Oil? Reduce Demand!</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/05/AR2008090503525.html" class="Headline">US Federal Highway Trust Fund nearly depleted due to driving cutback.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/05/carboncapturestorage.carbonemissions" class="Headline">World's first carbon capture pilot fires up clean-coal advocates.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/nasa-scientist-appears-in-court-to-fan-the-flames-of-coal-power-station-row-918057.html" class="Headline">The Nasa scientist who first drew attention to global warming 20 years ago appeared in a British court this week as a key witness in support of climate change activists.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/kingsnorth-six-day-one-20080901http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/kingsnorth-six-day-one-20080901?utm_source=ebulletin_kingsnorthverdict&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=coal%20" class="Headline">Kingsnorth Six found not guilty.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-roofs10-2008sep10,0,1149905.story" class="Headline">To slow global warming, install white roofs says report.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/09/09/fallow-focuses-the-debate-on-facts/" class="Headline">Blog: Fallow focuses the debate on facts.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/sep/10/climatechange.scienceofclimatechange?picture=337409567" class="Headline">Pictures used to teach people about global warming in Bangladesh.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0004/1717699/mnr-20080904-0820-Dr_James_Lovelock_on_Emissions_Trading_Scheme-m048.asx" class="Headline">Audio: Lovelock on emissions trading.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://greenvoices.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/the-lockwood-maurice-show/" class="Headline">Video: The Lockwood & Maurice Show.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-50787027163998183932008-09-03T19:34:00.000-07:002008-09-03T20:04:58.358-07:00Climate Snippets - 4 September<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4bDJ153vCJO3TS4nak50KGU4ZW6hWXyRROQNUAeRdN7g5Yk0EA2_HmT3U68HNlyhTt9_qYk11ZuTmGDHHAEKY7xzwz9Eldb3m3XCYKZy2l67RJTyWybcBFQU0xxA2ALbQtka6BJmHt7S/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4bDJ153vCJO3TS4nak50KGU4ZW6hWXyRROQNUAeRdN7g5Yk0EA2_HmT3U68HNlyhTt9_qYk11ZuTmGDHHAEKY7xzwz9Eldb3m3XCYKZy2l67RJTyWybcBFQU0xxA2ALbQtka6BJmHt7S/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241989292090860946" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://3news.co.nz/News/PoliticsNews/Parliamentpassesbiofuelslegislation/tabid/419/articleID/69914/cat/67/Default.aspx" class="Headline">Parliament passes biofuels legislation.</a><br /><br />Parliament tonight passed legislation requiring oil companies to supply biofuel at a fixed percentage of their total sales. They have to start supplying it in October this year at 0.5 percent, rising to 2.5 percent by 2012. Decisions about which type of biofuel is supplied, how much of it is blended with fossil fuels and where it comes from will be up to the industry. Energy Minister David Parker said during the third reading of the Biofuel Bill that the alternative fuels would have to be sustainable. "We know all biofuels are not equal and sustainability is under increasing scrutiny," he said. "But because some biofuels are not good doesn't mean all are bad." Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said it was a small step but it would bring in investment that would create the infrastructure to produce biofuels that could be used when new technologies became available. The bill passed its third reading 70-50, with Parliament sitting under urgency.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1714226042978051869" class="Headline">Reaction to Green’s decision to support ETS.</a><br /><br />The Government is one step closer to passing its Emissions Trading Scheme before the election. The bill underwent its second reading in the Parliament, passing by 63 votes to 56. Reaction to the Green’s decision was mixed:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0808/S00325.htm">Greenpeace: Welcomed the Green's support for the ETS, saying the party has secured some positive measures.</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0808/S00438.htm">Federated Farmers: ETS too important to rush. </a> </li><li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1714226042978051869" option="com_content&task=" id="1848&Itemid=" 2=""> Maori Party on ETS “The ETS is still just an Emissions Trading Scheme, when what is required is an Emissions Reduction Programme." </a> </li><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0808/S00332.htm%20">RAM: Call 'pollution market' by its real name.</a> </li></ul><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0808/S00500.htm" class="Headline">Latest figures on emissions from energy & industry.</a><br /><br />The Ministry of Economic Development this week released the 2008 edition of the Energy Greenhouse Gas Emissions report which contains information on emissions from energy and industrial processes to the end of 2007. The report assists in meeting New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions reporting obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The report also contains a wealth of useful material for those with an interest in greenhouse gas emissions.<br /><br />Key features of the latest report are:<br /><ul><li>Total emissions from the energy sector were around 4% lower in 2007 than in 2006. </li><li>Emissions from thermal electricity generation were around 18% lower in 2007 than in 2006 due to the commissioning of the Huntly e3p combined cycle gas turbine and the relatively high hydro storage levels that were maintained through the year. </li><li>Growth in emissions from transport appears to have slowed in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of 1% since 2004.</li><li>Emissions from gas combustion increased by 11%, mainly due to fuel switching for thermal electricity generation. </li><li>Emissions from coal combustion decreased by 34% between 2006 and 2007, due largely to a lower amount of coal used for thermal electricity generation in 2007 as a result of the commissioning of e3p and favourable hydrological conditions.</li><li>Emissions from industrial processes increased by 6% between 2006 and 2007.</li></ul>The report, and more detailed supplementary data tables, are available from the MED website: http://www.med.govt.nz/energy/ghg/<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=252&objectid=10528596" class="Headline">Iwi wins rights to river's energy. </a><br /><br />Waikato-Tainui leaders say they have "future-proofed" their river settlement by securing potentially lucrative rights of first refusal. The Crown and Waikato-Tainui yesterday signed a Treaty of Waitangi settlement covering the Waikato River. The rights of first refusal come into play if future governments decide to sell off either the Huntly Power Station or the Solid Energy permit to mine underneath the Waikato River. The coal-powered station is the largest power producer in the country, supplying up to 20 per cent of energy requirements.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4669831a7693.html" class="Headline">Cash offer for 'converting' on the cards. </a><br /><br />Consumers will get a one-off cash payment in 2010 to help offset the cost of climate change policy under a package to be unveiled today. The payment will be linked to household income, with low income homes receiving the most. The deal was hammered out between the Government, NZ First and the Green Party as part of a package that includes $1 billion over 15 years to help improve insulation and energy efficiency. The compensation package would use funds recycled from income to the Government from the scheme.<br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gV7z6TGMMJP4J2L4KWix9DADnEiAD92Q55801" class="Headline">Ending fossil-fuel subsidies would help climate and economy, U.N. says.</a><br /><br />A new U.N. report urges countries to phase out energy subsidies, saying they often waste money, do not always help the poor and are bad for the environment. Gas-rich Russia leads countries spending the most in energy subsidies, laying out $40 billion a year, according to the U.N. Environment Program report released Tuesday at a 160-nation conference aimed at drafting a new treaty to contain global warming. Oil-exporter Iran is second, spending $37 billion, while Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer, is also among the top five.<br /><br />Governments spend as much as $300 billion a year total in subsidies that encourage consumption and discourage efficiency. The subsidies delay the transition from dirty energy to more climate-friendly sources of power, said the UNEP report. Some African countries are known to spend all the foreign development aid they received to pay for the increase in fuel prices, which may be politically popular but economically damaging. "In the final analysis, many fossil fuel subsidies are introduced for political reasons but are simply propping up and perpetuating inefficiencies in the global economy," said UNEP director Achim Steiner, who also is a U.N. undersecretary general.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27846&Cr=climate%20change&Cr1" class="Headline">Accra talks bode well for future climate change negotiations – UN official.</a><br /><br />Important progress has been made during the latest round of United Nations-led climate change talks in Accra, Ghana, on key issues relating to a new international agreement to tackle global warming, the world body’s top official dealing with the issue said today. The Accra meeting was the latest in a series of UN-sponsored talks in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. The aim of the negotiations is to create a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, with first-round commitments ending in 2012, on greenhouse gas emissions reduction. “We’re still on track, the process has speeded up and governments are becoming very serious about negotiating a result in Copenhagen,” Yvo de Boer told reporters on the final day of the week-long session.<br /><br />The achievement of the Accra meeting had therefore been in “providing the basis for real negotiations to begin in Poznan,” he said, referring to the Polish city that will host this year’s UN Climate Change Conference from 1 to 12 December. Highlighting the progress made during the past week, Mr. de Boer said there was an “encouraging and important” debate on the important topic of deforestation and forest conservation, which was crucial since deforestation accounts for about 20 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions for which humans are responsible.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7585645.stm" class="Headline">Scientists suggest the Arctic is already at a climatic "tipping point".</a><br /><br />Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second smallest extent since satellite records began, US scientists have revealed. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says that the ice-covered area has fallen below its 2005 level, which was the second lowest on record. Melting has occurred earlier in the year than usual, meaning that the iced area could become even smaller than last September, the lowest recorded.<br /><br />Researchers say the Arctic is now at a climatic "tipping point". "We could very well be in that quick slide downwards in terms of passing a tipping point," said Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the Colorado-based NSIDC. "It's tipping now. We're seeing it happen now," he told the Associated Press news agency.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4672526a3600.html" class="Headline">Finding power in effluent.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2008/09/02/124373091609" class="Headline">Ngai Tahu has filed another claim with the Waitangi Tribunal because of the Government's emissions trading scheme.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10529418" class="Headline">Greens say Waterview project a 'financial drain'.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/pike-river-year-loss-114-million-34594" class="Headline">Pike River Coal has reported a $1.14 million loss for the year to the end of June, which the company said reflected the development phase of its new mining operation and related one-off costs.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10530141" class="Headline">NZer on trial for damage at UK power station.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121970803923071113.html" class="Headline">Obama would make cap-and-trade program a top economic priority.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRYhia8wUENs&refer=home" class="Headline">Exxon Mobil must face lawsuit by Indonesian villagers.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUST463620080826" class="Headline">Japan firms to work on solar-powered ship.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.grist.org/news/2008/08/29/palin/index.html" class="Headline">The eco-rundown on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's VP pick.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7587465.stm" class="Headline">London Mayor reveals climate change plan.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7592575.stm" class="Headline">Climate 'hockey stick' is revived.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://eco.goo.ne.jp/topics/cooltheearth2008/english/index.html" class="Headline">Cool the Earth contest.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/31/an-emissions-trading-subsidy-for-fishing/" class="Headline">Blog: An emissions trading subsidy for fishing?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.oblivion-graphics.com/home/images/16-permanent-recess-bg.jpg" class="Headline">Image: Permanent recess – Wellington 2200 by AJ </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-53528941585617582032008-08-25T20:25:00.001-07:002008-08-25T20:27:00.488-07:00Climate Snippets - 26 August<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRigW-07Ecoj5Br2TiWPqztnkEAlqreSV7LBmeyctX2w0PGbbY-zBuLGGIJfiUOqHyOLSGZRIQO3mIHDXHLwo1WvhNgF0h2HwD_f_bp90JpN7hvkUc1NTmJxcGxrYhaN2zEzwa1LpHOx5K/s1600-h/logo1smaller.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRigW-07Ecoj5Br2TiWPqztnkEAlqreSV7LBmeyctX2w0PGbbY-zBuLGGIJfiUOqHyOLSGZRIQO3mIHDXHLwo1WvhNgF0h2HwD_f_bp90JpN7hvkUc1NTmJxcGxrYhaN2zEzwa1LpHOx5K/s400/logo1smaller.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238662437541971090" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19614" class="Headline">Green Party wins major improvements to ETS.</a><br /><br />The Green Party Caucus has decided that the substantial changes we have won to the ETS justify voting for it. “We have always said the scheme needed to share the effort much more fairly. Along with the one-off financial payment, this goes a long way to compensating households for their higher prices, and reducing energy waste and carbon emissions. “Revenue from the ETS will be recycled into a Billion dollar fund to make New Zealand homes warm, dry and cost-effective to heat,” Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.<br /><br />“It was a difficult decision because we do not believe that emissions trading, in itself, will do enough to reduce emissions. The Greens will continue to fight for greater energy efficiency standards, better and more public transport, accelerated technology change, and a host of practical emissions reduction technologies which will save far more carbon than trading will. A price on carbon will help to encourage sustainable alternatives to our energy wasting, unsustainable, fossil fuel-based way of life. It is a start, but it is not nearly enough.”<br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4664533a11.html" class="Headline"><br />Drivers to pay for oil shock.</a><br /><br />Motorists should pay more to drive cars - including more expensive car parks, and fees to use the roads - if New Zealand is to survive rising oil prices, a comprehensive new report [Managing Transport Challenges When Oil Prices Rise’ says. The increased costs would be coupled with investment in public transport, tax breaks for fuel-efficient vehicles, laws requiring new developments to provide showers and lockers for walkers and bikers, improved urban design, and encouraging businesses to swap company cars for cash or bus subsidies. The report calls for a fundamental shift in the Government's transport solutions - away from building more roads toward investing in alternative transport and maintaining existing roads. Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons welcomed the report and hoped it would "inject a bit of reality" into transport planning. She said the Government had previously ignored rising oil prices in its cost-benefit analysis of building more roads. This report acknowledged "for the first time" the reality of long-term oil-price rises.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/tiempo/newswatch/" class="Headline">Accra climate talks begin.</a><br /><br />Opening the latest round of climate treaty negotiations, the Accra Climate Change Talks, John Agyekum Kufuor, president of Ghana, called for an "international deal... in which developing countries commit to plan for climate resilient development. In return the international community should commit to provide adequate, predictable, long-term funding and support in terms of technology transfer and capacity building." The Accra meeting is the latest stage in the development of strengthened long-term action on climate change. "The clock is ticking," Kufuor warned. "We need to be pragmatic and move beyond rhetoric to make progress as we move towards Copenhagen." Agreement needs to be reached by the time of the Copenhagen meeting in December 2009.<br /><br />In his opening address, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCC Secretariat, noted that Africa is "the climate change regimes’ forgotten continent," with a limited number of Clean Development Mechanism projects and relatively low funding from the Global Environment Facility. "If this meeting can be a step towards the design of a regime that helps Africa to achieve clean economic growth and deal with the impacts of climate change through effective mechanisms that deliver on finance, technology and capacity-building, you will have done very important work here," he continued. The Accra discussions will cover the finance and technology needed to limit emissions and adapt to climate change, sectoral approaches to emissions reduction and sector-specific actions and reducing emissions from deforestation.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10528671" class="Headline">Cracking ice fuels greenhouse fears.</a><br /><br />A growing ice crack, which has created a 28.5sq km chunk of ice haemorrhaging off a glacier, has appeared in northern Greenland, a part of the Arctic that had seemed immune from global warming. New satellite images showing the crack have led the professor who spotted the wounds in the massive Petermann glacier to predict major portions of the Northern Hemisphere's largest floating glacier will disintegrate within the year, raising sea levels further. The crack is 11km long and about 800m wide. It is about half the width of the floating part of the glacier. Other, smaller fractures are also visible.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/story.cfm?a_id=61&objectid=10528179" class="Headline">Many think it's too late for climate, survey finds. </a><br /><br />Ten per cent of New Zealanders believe it is too late to do anything about climate change, a new survey reveals. The figure has alarmed campaigners trying to spread the message that everyone can do their bit for the environment. Paul McElwain, strategy director of advertising company Publicis Mojo, presented the results of the online survey to a conference in Auckland yesterday. The poll of more than 4000 household shoppers showed hundreds thought it was too late to act on climate change. One in 10 New Zealanders and about two in 10 Australians thought time had run out.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/greens-supports-call-public-transport-upgrades-34276" class="Headline">Greens supports call for public transport upgrades.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5443?emc=el&m=136135&l=5&v=cc9d8205c9" class="Headline">Global meat production continues to rise.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hC0KQoVsnHqEQ4y6_3dirTzn0ScA" class="Headline">Accra conference splits over deforestation emission cut.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10528676" class="Headline">Editorial: Greens' dilemma the price of being our climate conscience.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/08/22/identity-politics-in-climate-change-hell/" class="Headline">Identity politics in climate change hell.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives//008192.html" class="Headline">Decoding the World's best energy policies.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://io9.com/5037773/genetically+engineered-trees-can-dissolve-themselves-into-fuel" class="Headline">Genetically-Engineered trees can dissolve themselves into fuel.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/26/yes-to-the-emissions-trading-scheme/" class="Headline">Blog: Yes to ETS.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7577493.stm" class="Headline">Solar plane makes record flight.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/25/the-niue-declaration/http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/25/the-niue-declaration/" class="Headline">Blog: The Niue Declaration.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0006/1709601/ntn-20080826-0906-Green_Party_Support_For_Emissions_Trading_Scheme-m048.asx" class="Headline">Green Party support for ETS, Jeanette on Nine to Noon, listen here.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-61350271972583571682008-08-20T21:10:00.000-07:002008-08-20T21:12:25.115-07:00Climate Snippets - 21 August<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQ8rh-jnOeNRN7q1XASYY43aKEPP6OWro_39PymReAi9K4_eCHymK3zJZLQbcl6a_sLRuPU2XnjMXX3rpPoNG1TyjFFbxDVa_x2YAH4r0apMXxZrOFGZd-vjeyui72X9qECsV_R-V1wDi/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQ8rh-jnOeNRN7q1XASYY43aKEPP6OWro_39PymReAi9K4_eCHymK3zJZLQbcl6a_sLRuPU2XnjMXX3rpPoNG1TyjFFbxDVa_x2YAH4r0apMXxZrOFGZd-vjeyui72X9qECsV_R-V1wDi/s400/logo1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236818881306462370" /></a><br /><br /><B>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</B> <br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19600" CLASS="Headline">Greens seek opinions from kiwis on ETS.</A> <br /><br />The Green Party is facing a difficult decision over whether to lend its support to the Emissions Trading Scheme. "At the beginning of this process we said we wanted to be as open about these negotiations as we could be and now we have reached a point where the Green Party caucus has to make a decision about this next Tuesday and we would like some feedback from New Zealanders before we do," Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says. "What really mattered about this scheme was that is was fair to New Zealanders and effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Throughout the negotiation process we have kept this at the forefront of our minds”. People can email their opinions to ets@greens.org.nz <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19537" CLASS="Headline">Nat’s energy policy is financial madness – Greens.</A> <br /><br />The National Party's new energy policy is a tribute to cronyism and makes no economic sense, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says. "It ignores our biggest energy problem, transport fuels and the rising cost of oil, and relies on ‘drill and hope’. No one with any common sense would invest in more subsidies to fossil fuels when New Zealand is so well endowed with renewable energy. <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=142852" CLASS="Headline">Greens want pollution fines.</A> <br /><br />The Green Party is calling for tougher fines to be imposed on farmers polluting waterways. It follows an audit of farms in the greater Wellington region showing a third of the farms were non-compliant. Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman says it is time Government gave regional councils powers they can use to clean up waterways. He says the current fines are minimal, and mean very little to big industrial dairy operations. Mr Norman says the next government needs to increase instant fines possible under Resource Management Act regulations for serious polluters of rivers and lakes. he is calling for the fine to be increased to $2,000 for first time offences and up to $10,000 for repeat offences. Mr Norman says at the moment the maximum infringement for discharging into waterways increase is $750, and that is nothing to an operation with a turnover of $5 million or more a year.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24210133-2703,00.html" CLASS="Headline">New Zealand a natural partner in carbon trade: Kevin Rudd.</A> <br /><br />There are no technical barriers to linking Australian and New Zealand emissions trading schemes, Kevin Rudd declared yesterday on his first visit to Auckland since being elected Prime Minister. New Zealand was a "natural partner" for Australia but Australia had to "get its own house in order" and properly establish a carbon pollution reduction scheme before linking with other programs. "The first thing is to get the carbon pollution reduction scheme right, and we've released a detailed green paper on that and we are consulting business as we speak, and the community sector, and that will take some time," Mr Rudd told a session of the Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland. "The important principle for us ... is to make sure there are no barriers to linking the schemes and, based on my advice, there are none. Frankly, in terms of the long-term health of the planet I think it is a good direction to head in, but as I said, in terms of our processes, we still have a way to go." <br /><br /><A HREF="http://3news.co.nz/News/PoliticsNews/Emissionstradingunderthespotlightatclimatechangeconference/tabid/419/articleID/67555/cat/67/Default.aspx" CLASS="Headline">Emissions trading under the spotlight at climate change conference.</A> <br /><br />The Australia and New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference has opened, with emissions trading under the spotlight. Regulated and voluntary trading are both a focus, as are other complementary measures to drive emissions reductions. However, Greenpeace wants to see less talk and more action. A spokesman says it is all very well having the conference, but the New Zealand government needs to back up good intentions with legislation.<br /><br /><A HREF="<br />http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10527843<br />" CLASS="Headline">Urgent call for Rudd and Clarke on climate change action.</A> <br /><br />Pacific Islands such as Kiribati face an uncertain future due to rising sea levels and climate change and community leaders are urging the governments of New Zealand and Australia to take action. Community leaders from the Pacific are urging Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand to take more proactive actions on climate change in the Pacific, in particular increased immigration and resettlement. "The Australian and New Zealand governments must begin a real process of partnership with Pacific Island countries in finding ways to prepare for and assist with the resettlement of Pacific Island people who will be displaced by global warming." Instigated by Friends of the Earth and supported by organisations from all over the Pacific, the letter is to be issued at the Pacific Islands Forum this week.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2008/Update74.htm" CLASS="Headline">World geothermal power generation nearing eruption.</A> <br /><br />With fossil fuel prices escalating and countries searching for ways to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions, capturing the earth’s heat for power generation is garnering new attention. First begun in Larderello, Italy, in 1904, electricity generation using geothermal energy is now taking place in 24 countries, 5 of which use it to produce 15 percent or more of their total electricity. In the first half of 2008, total world installed geothermal power capacity passed 10,000 megawatts and now produces enough electricity to meet the needs of 60 million people, roughly the population of the United Kingdom. In 2010, capacity could increase to 13,500 megawatts across 46 countries -equivalent to 27 coal-fired power plants.<br /><br /><br /><B> In Brief</B><br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/4657726a6570.html" CLASS="Headline">A Queenstown man is taking High Court action to prevent the Government enacting the controversial Emissions Trading Scheme.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10527570" CLASS="Headline">Power generated from cow dung has been identified as one way New Zealand could make billions from an emissions trading scheme.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.arta.co.nz/newsroom/media-releases.html?releaseid=dd675001-f206-b719-3d33-d9dc5f5eb46a" CLASS="Headline">Annual public transport figures released by the ARC and the ARTA show Aucklanders are on the move to public transport, with total patronage for the year to 30 June 2008 reaching 54.4 million journeys, 4.4% higher than last year.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all" CLASS="Headline">Electric-car visionary would overhaul the way we get around.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://climaction.blogspot.com/" CLASS="Headline">Climaction: STOP THE GREENWASH! - Skycity Protest.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/14/wildlife.endangeredhabitats" CLASS="Headline">Frogs and other amphibians dying at alarming rates, say scientists.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ivGWDJ-UGbtYjPYqsJDUh0YXb3Eg" CLASS="Headline">Japan to label goods' carbon footprints.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/jellyfish-invasion-britain-to-fight-them-on-the-beaches-900647.html" CLASS="Headline">Jellyfish invasion: Britain to fight them on the beaches.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/14/BUP412B774.DTL" CLASS="Headline">California: giant 800 megawatt solar power deal. </A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/18804/minister-denies-light-bulb-safety-issues" CLASS="Headline">Minister denies light bulb safety issues.</A> <br /><br /><br /><br /><B> Best of the Net</B><br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0011/1699562/ngts-20080814-1912-Peak_Oil_Yet_-wmbr.asx" CLASS="Headline">Peak oil on National radio.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/19/kaukapakapa-gears-up-for-a-fight/" CLASS="Headline">Blog: Kaukapakapa gears up for a fight.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0008/1704455/mnr-20080821-0741-Political_Reporter_Julian_Robins-m048.asx" CLASS="Headline">Julian Robbins on the ETS (Morning Report).</A><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-83709450397852405472008-08-13T18:36:00.000-07:002008-08-13T18:56:38.392-07:00Climate Snippets - 14 August<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_amwv1yvqG4LIG-Gjo4Vale2X6tH93mHLK9HazP9Nrgm3hl5ep0d8ffXtBuG8jlxTVRq6YJnn6KZqUvK4Fjg9hd0TRKHdLY_GmUYaL4D_ashc57r24YwutSy1OxGYJORyjZsHM650kaKh/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_amwv1yvqG4LIG-Gjo4Vale2X6tH93mHLK9HazP9Nrgm3hl5ep0d8ffXtBuG8jlxTVRq6YJnn6KZqUvK4Fjg9hd0TRKHdLY_GmUYaL4D_ashc57r24YwutSy1OxGYJORyjZsHM650kaKh/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234182720192836722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10526933" class="Headline">Environment Minister Trevor Mallard and Energy Minister David Parker yesterday announced the proposed statement for renewable electricity generation.</a><br /><br />It would encourage the small-scale development of renewable electricity generation projects to cut back on the reliance of rural communities on the national grid.<br />That could include making it simpler to set up small renewable energy sources such as a wind turbine in the backyard. The ministers have appointed an independent board of inquiry to consider the proposed policy to help achieve the Government's goal of generating 90 per cent of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2025. The board of inquiry will receive public submissions and report back to the Environment Minister on the proposed national policy statement before it was gazetted.<br /><br />Greenpeace has welcomed the Government's announcement saying "Greenpeace has long been asking for a national policy statement (NPS), to help sort the good electricity projects from the bad. A clear NPS will allow councils to weigh up a variety of factors, such as benefits to the climate and risks to biodiversity, when considering consent applications. Crucially, the Labour-led Government's NPS will be coupled with a 90 per cent by 2025 renewable electricity target."<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/central/nps/generation.html">For National Policy Statement click here. </a></li></ul> <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4654884a11.html" class="Headline">The National Party releases its energy policy.</a><br /><br />A 10-YEAR ban on new coal and gas-fuelled power stations is likely to be abandoned by National under plans to protect against future electricity shortages. Security of electricity supply is expected to be the focus of its energy policy, due to be unveiled today by leader John Key, as a tit-for-tat war over infrastructure spending heats up. The policy will probably include previously announced measures to streamline the resource consent process, and more investment in the national grid may also be on the cards. But National is also expected to argue that the 10-year ban on new coal and gas-fuelled power stations, which stymied the development of a $500 million turbine near Auckland, should be scrapped.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://national.org.nz/files/2008/National_energy_policy.pdf">For policy and background documents click here </a></li></ul> <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1500966&objectid=10525904" class="Headline">NZ fuel market fair and competitive, says report.</a><br /><br />The sneaking suspicion that petrol prices go up faster than they fall has been dismissed, with a report claiming the fuel market here is "fundamentally competitive". The report, based on the Australian Competition and Commerce Commission's own inquiry, found that New Zealand had the fifth-lowest petrol prices and taxation levels in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development behind Mexico, the United States, Canada and Australia. Despite a public outcry at the record price rises seen earlier this year, the study found those were primarily the result of record rises in the barrel price of crude. Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said the report showed that the supply of cheap oil was nearing an end and other, more sustainable options, had to be pursued urgently.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/10/climatechange.arctic" class="Headline">Meltdown in the Arctic is speeding up.</a><br /><br />Ice at the North Pole melted at an unprecedented rate last week, with leading scientists warning that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer by 2013.<br />Satellite images show that ice caps started to disintegrate dramatically several days ago as storms over Alaska's Beaufort Sea began sucking streams of warm air into the Arctic. As a result, scientists say that the disappearance of sea ice at the North Pole could exceed last year's record loss. More than a million square kilometres melted over the summer of 2007 as global warming tightened its grip on the Arctic. But such destruction could now be matched, or even topped, this year.<br /><br />'It does not really matter whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for Arctic ice,' Maslowski said. 'The crucial point is that ice is clearly not building up enough over winter to restore cover and that when you combine current estimates of ice thickness with the extent of the ice cap, you get a very clear indication that the Arctic is going to be ice-free in summer in five years. And when that happens, there will be consequences.'<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2008/2008-08-07-091.asp" class="Headline">Scientists link warmer temperatures to rainfall extremes.</a><br /><br />The link between a warmer climate and more powerful rainstorms has been confirmed by scientists using both computer models and satellite observations gathered over a period of 20 years. Heavy rain events increase during warm periods and decrease during cold periods, according to the scientists in Florida and England who said this week that their research is the first to provide observational evidence linking higher temperatures with heavier rains.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19425" class="Headline">Norman: Oil dependency takes its toll .</a><br /><br />This weeks new trade deficit figures showing a massive increase in the cost of importing petrol and other oil products dramatically illustrate why the Government must reduce New Zealand’s dependence on oil, the Green Party says. The cost of imports of petroleum and products have increased 22 percent in the last 12 months - from $5.8 billion in the year to June 2007 to $7.1 billion in the year to June 2008. “We have built our transport system based on cheap oil, which means as the price of oil has risen rapidly so has our oil import bill. We have to sell $7 billion worth of exports a year just to break even,” Co-Leader Russel Norman says. “We are oil junkies who can’t kick the habit as the cost increases because successive governments have invested in roads and motorways that keep us addicted.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2008/climatecamp/" class="Headline">Kingsnorth Climate Camp.</a><br /><br />From 3rd-11th August, the Camp For Climate Action has been held in Kingsnorth, Kent near the proposed site of the first coal-fired power station in the UK since 1984.<a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/405749.html"><br /></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/405749.html">World's smallest campaigners scale Kingsnorth smokestack.</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/08/07/hypocrites-unite/">Monbiot on Climate Camp: Hypocrites Unite!</a> </li></ul><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dailynews/4654937a6002.html" class="Headline">Fitzsimons on Taranaki LNG: “From the point of view of energy policy it is daft, from the point of view of climate change it is damaging, and from the point of view of the local community, it is dangerous."</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4644165a25482.html" class="Headline">Hutt venture catches winds of change for 'green' generation.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/08/06/dells-green-payday-going-carbon-neutral-helps-bottom-line/" class="Headline">Dell Computer's worldwide business operations are now carbon neutral.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4651683a1864.html" class="Headline">Green credentials need close scrutiny.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/put-roo-on-the-menu-or-rue-the-day/1238625.aspx" class="Headline">Aussies should fight climate change by eating kangaroo, says study.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/10/climatechange.australia" class="Headline">'Big Dry' claims River Murray lakes.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=1500966&objectid=10525874" class="Headline">Tyre pressure adds to campaign hot air.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/11/climatechange" class="Headline">On a planet 4C hotter, all we can prepare for is extinction.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/swedish-bachelors-use-more-energy.php" class="Headline">Swedish bachelors 20 percent higher energy users compared to bachelorettes.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/08/11/picking-up-the-gauntlet/" class="Headline">Monbiot: Radioactive coal.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://live.edie.net/kickapps/_MIT-expert-explains-solar-breakthrough/VIDEO/289672/25995.html" class="Headline">MIT expert explains solar breakthrough.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/watch-a-green-video-offset-you-003384.php" class="Headline">From Grist: Want to fight global warming but too lazy to change a lightbulb, bike to work, or hit the farmers market? How about sitting on your ass - can you manage that? Congratulations, you're green! </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-9517187104595001052008-08-06T20:34:00.000-07:002008-08-06T20:50:18.494-07:00Climate Snippets - 7 August<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0mS5ibxJbhAj9rFG8kfa_yqqHFTKIIva-lDaieBLV2rVl8nVBxIoBNsafcOiqrq8hYMJarZS2uEDEqql_4BAOJId_gm1Qa2BcOCc6jay7s_JropxA-CoqYn6pZ80dFBrWnn8xhfkL8W3/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0mS5ibxJbhAj9rFG8kfa_yqqHFTKIIva-lDaieBLV2rVl8nVBxIoBNsafcOiqrq8hYMJarZS2uEDEqql_4BAOJId_gm1Qa2BcOCc6jay7s_JropxA-CoqYn6pZ80dFBrWnn8xhfkL8W3/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5231617753006569730" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10525131" class="Headline">Key unveils plan to borrow for roads.</a><br /><br />National Party leader John Key yesterday unveiled his plan for a big push to build more road, electricity, telecommunications and water infrastructure - to be financed by borrowing. The overall financial direction outlined by National at the weekend has drawn heavy fire from Labour. Prime Minister Helen Clark said the plans were hilarious and crazy.<br /><br />The infrastructure plan, for which National will borrow $750 million more a year than Labour, is aimed at reducing bottlenecks and improving economic growth. It is not known if National has new projects in mind or intends to borrow to pay for projects already planned. But it is understood the party will identify specific projects during the election campaign. They are likely to include Auckland's Waterview motorway link.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4644604a23917.html" class="Headline">Labour's 40-year plan for greener safer transport.</a><br /><br />A five-fold increase in public transport use - and 50 per cent cut in the road death toll - are two of several ambitious transport targets the Government hopes to achieve within 40 years. Transport Minister Annette King announced the transport sector targets this week with the launch of the New Zealand Transport Strategy, which provides a 10-year roadmap for the sector.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/06/labour-takes-40-years-to-act-on-the-100-month-challenge/">In response the Greens say Labour takes 40 years to act on the 100 month challenge.</a> </li></ul><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4645754a6008.html" class="Headline">Wairau hydro scheme heads to court. </a><br /><br />Reaction to the final approval for TrustPower's planned $280 million hydro scheme for the Wairau River has been swift and damning, with the matter likely to proceed to the Environment Court. Few apparent changes have been made in the consent conditions for the electricity company's plan to divert water from the Wairau River. It wants to take up to 60 percent of the flow through nearly 50km of canals and five power stations to generate 70 megawatts of electricity.<br /><br />The Green Party and Forest and Bird have criticised both the final consent decision as "disappointing". Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said the Wairau was one of the few remaining intact braided river systems in New Zealand, and had a very high representation of endangered species. The Wairau was likely to be ranked highly in a Wetlands of National Importance list currently being compiled, she said. "All this will be lost for just 70MW of capacity. This energy could be saved by insulating homes, using low-flow shower heads and replacing old fridges."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49657/story.htm" class="Headline">Untouched forests store 3 times more carbon – study. </a><br /><br />Untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests, said a new Australian study of "green carbon" and its role in climate change. Green carbon occurs in natural forests, brown carbon is found in industrialised forests or plantations, grey carbon in fossil fuels and blue carbon in oceans. Australian National University scientists said that the role of untouched forests, and their biomass of green carbon, had been underestimated in the fight against global warming.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7535839.stm" class="Headline">China's 'rapid renewables surge'. </a><br /><br />China's rapid investment in low carbon technologies has catapulted the nation up the global renewable energy rankings, a report shows. The Climate Group study said China invested $12bn (£6bn) in renewables during 2007, second only to Germany.<br />However, it was expected to top the table by the end of 2009, it added. In order to meet its target of increasing the percentage of energy from low carbon technologies from 8% in 2006 to 15% by 2020, China is expected to invest an average of $33bn annually for the next 12 years. It has the world's largest hydroelectricity capacity since the controversial Three Gorges project began producing electricity, and the fifth largest fleet of wind turbines on the planet. Although its installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) panels is still relatively low, it is already a leading manufacturer of solar panels.<br /><br />According to figures from the World Bank, 20 of the planet's 30 most polluted cities are in China. In terms of total emissions, China is already the world's biggest emitter. But if you look at emissions on a per capita basis, we are not the biggest emitters because we have 1.3bn people. The report also showed that China was only responsible for about 7% of greenhouse gases emitted in the period before 2002, when more than 90% of emissions from human activity were released.<br />But since the turn of the century, it added, China's portion has been growing steadily and now accounts for 24% of the global total.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions" class="Headline">The final countdown.</a><br /><br />Time is fast running out to stop irreversible climate change, a group of global warming experts warns this week. We have only 100 months to avoid disaster. Because in just 100 months' time, if we are lucky, and based on a quite conservative estimate, we could reach a tipping point for the beginnings of runaway climate change. That said, among people working on global warming, there are countless models, scenarios, and different iterations of all those models and scenarios. So, let us be clear from the outset about exactly what we mean.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7544475.stm" class="Headline">Showdown looms for UK 'climate camp'. </a><br /><br />Protesters are aiming to shut down Kingsnorth power station on the Medway estuary in Kent this weekend. They oppose the decision of its owner, the energy company E.ON, to replace the ageing site with a brand-new coal-fired power station - the first such to be built in Britain for 30 years. The protesters are hoping that their week-long demonstration will inspire others to follow in their green footsteps.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4644745a3600.html" class="Headline">Council 'soft' on dirty dairying.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/News/ResidentsgroupannoyedatJohnKeysrejection/tabid/209/articleID/64889/cat/41/Default.aspx" class="Headline">Residents group annoyed at John Key's rejection.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/us/politics/06nuke.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin" class="Headline">McCain tours nuke plant, renews call for nuclear power expansion in U.S.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/8/4/16102/94832?source=daily" class="Headline">Enviros unhappy with Obama's offshore-drilling shift.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/30/energyefficiency.travelandtransport" class="Headline">Spain has launched an ambitious plan to reduce energy consumption and save millions of euros on oil imports by cutting the speed limit to 50mph and handing out millions of low-energy use light bulbs.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/08/05/coal-scuttled/" class="Headline">Monbiot: Coal scuttled.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions" class="Headline">Lynas: The climate change clock is ticking.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.onehundredmonths.org/" class="Headline">One Hundred Months.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/07/an-early-morning-video-on-peak-oil/" class="Headline">Good peak oil video.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stoprodneypowerstation.org/" class="Headline">New website set up to stop Rodney power station.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/aug/01/electric.kite" class="Headline">Video: Dutch scientists demonstrate their electric kite.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-7047082522680152232008-07-30T22:13:00.000-07:002008-07-30T22:15:48.880-07:00Climate Snippets - 31 July<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLThbN6tShtLI13aa3AEB20HDVbA4A5n_Q-HONybIkzSnQKh1lkbF-aCQxu-BvZuJlD1aVBeZACZbycV6dlkBPWYQI-FDROlt_ZZ4BB0pqy97Dlp2At1TG5CVaKGEskRDz2ggxFdrCVv9P/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLThbN6tShtLI13aa3AEB20HDVbA4A5n_Q-HONybIkzSnQKh1lkbF-aCQxu-BvZuJlD1aVBeZACZbycV6dlkBPWYQI-FDROlt_ZZ4BB0pqy97Dlp2At1TG5CVaKGEskRDz2ggxFdrCVv9P/s400/logo1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229042431407511330" /></a><br /><br /><br /><B>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</B> <br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/central-otago/15652/wind-power-key-says-leading-scientist" CLASS="Headline">Wind power key, says leading scientist.</A> <br /><br />A leading New Zealand scientist believes renewable energy production can minimise risks associated with climate change, outlining his views yesterday during an Environment Court appeal hearing for the largest wind farm development in the Southern Hemisphere. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) Wellington climate change general manager David Wratt told the hearing for Meridian Energy's proposed Project Hayes development the wind farm could serve as mitigation for potentially dangerous climate change effects in New Zealand. "Renewable power, including wind power, is one of the key mitigation technologies and practices currently commercially available for the energy sector. New renewable energy power stations are an essential part of New Zealand's emission management response," Dr Wratt's written evidence stated. "A reduction of 50% to 85% would be required in global carbon dioxide emissions in 2050, compared with 2000, in order to maintain an eventual long-term global equilibrium temperature." <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/central-otago/15334/400-million-windfarm-approved" CLASS="Headline">$400 million windfarm approved.</A> <br /><br />Trustpower's $400 million Mahinerangi wind farm has been approved by the Environment Court, the Otago Daily Times has been told. The project was originally approved by a joint committee of the Clutha District Council and the Otago Regional Council late last September, with 178 conditions. The wind farm, on 1723ha of land about 50km west of Dunedin, will have 100 145m-high turbines capable of generating 200MW of power - enough to supply about 100,000 average-size homes. <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10522906" CLASS="Headline">Simon Terry: Plan to put price on carbon emissions needs to change. </A> <br /><br />The simplest way to understand the Government's central response to climate change is to think in terms of protection money. The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) starts in the right place - setting up a mechanism to put a price on "carbon". Such a price signals the cost of emissions to the environment encourages low carbon alternatives and has the capacity to reduce emissions. Climate protection money is the other benefit, as pricing also brings in funds to meet the nation's Kyoto commitments. New Zealand's gross emissions are expected to be 28 per cent over its Kyoto Protocol target without intervention. To square away this excess and do its bit for climate protection, New Zealand will buy carbon credits from overseas and the ETS will ensure local forest owners who remove carbon from the atmosphere also get paid….read more.<br /><br /><A HREF=" http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2350125820080724?sp=true" CLASS="Headline">U.S.-Canada carbon trading group eyes 2012 start.</A> <br /><br />A coalition of U.S. states and Canadian provinces that have banded together to cut greenhouse gases will launch their carbon cap and trade system in 2012, according to a draft plan released on Wednesday. The Western Climate Initiative's system will be phased in starting with industrial process emissions, with emissions from transportation and other fuels added to the system in 2015. It also will include emissions from electricity imported from sources outside of the group. The WCI launched in 2007 has set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. But the document released in advance of the WCI's scheduled meeting July 29 in San Diego, indicated the group's members were still wrangling over important details on issues such as how emission allowances will be apportioned between its members.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/climate-change/dn14412-33-of-chinas-carbon-footprint-blamed-on-exports.html" CLASS="Headline">33% of China's carbon footprint blamed on exports.</A> <br /><br />Economists now say that one-third of China's carbon dioxide emissions are pumped into the atmosphere in order to manufacture exported goods – many of them "advanced" electronics goods destined for developed countries. "Export goods emissions" account for 1.7 billion tonnes of China's carbon dioxide. That represents 6% of total global emissions – the equivalent of Germany, France and the UK's combined emissions. A large share of these emissions – up to 25% – has been blamed on China's ever-growing export market, but this has not been quantified until now. Now Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues have shown that the figure is larger still. Weber's team used a standard model of the Chinese economy, produced by the Chinese government. This model, which operates on the same principle as others produced by every national government, reflects how money has flowed in and out of different sectors of the economy since the 1980s. Matching the model to the dataset allowed the team to calculate that, in 2005, export sectors generated 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – 33% of China's emissions. <br /><br /><br /><br /><B> In Brief</B><br /><br /><br /><A HREF="luciajh@gmail.com" CLASS="Headline">Auckland Climate Action Hui 2.3 August. </A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10522537" CLASS="Headline">WWF has asked all New Zealand towns and cities to sign up as for Earth Hour 2009. </A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2439039120080724" CLASS="Headline">Schools eye four-day week to cut fuel costs.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4382586.ece" CLASS="Headline">Green activist superglues himself to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4632904a1865.html" CLASS="Headline">Rod Oram on Australian and NZ emission trading scheme.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/07/28/coal-juice-high-energy-prices-prompt-first-us-coal-to-liquids-plant/" CLASS="Headline">High energy prices prompt first US coal-to-liquids plant.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2641421220080727" CLASS="Headline">U.S. Army works to cut its carbon "bootprint".</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10523499" CLASS="Headline">Huge growth in specialist environmental jobs.</A> <br /><br /><br /><br /><B> Best of the Net</B><br /><br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jul/25/glaciers.climatechange?picture=335781901" CLASS="Headline">Life in the shadow of China's melting glacier.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1819594,00.html" CLASS="Headline">TIME: 10 things you can like about $4 gas.</A><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-52888476910122728062008-07-24T14:24:00.000-07:002008-07-24T14:53:50.572-07:00Climate Snippets - 25 July<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NukgpHREHKngypDHs3l_U8iqdzp8WLQ15TVFFH8J0P42r2VEsPh9sZWLw0xMt-ldAne3LzrTM7HXepO6kOHUcsVszenJ8IXvhomTVaQCaJmLyAN1rf3g5GsWr_0IYEJZfTNqEKyDewY8/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NukgpHREHKngypDHs3l_U8iqdzp8WLQ15TVFFH8J0P42r2VEsPh9sZWLw0xMt-ldAne3LzrTM7HXepO6kOHUcsVszenJ8IXvhomTVaQCaJmLyAN1rf3g5GsWr_0IYEJZfTNqEKyDewY8/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226701683018752098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10522159" class="Headline">Australia outlines emissions scheme. </a><br /><br />While the Government struggles to get its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) down the legislative slipway and launched before the election, its Australian counterpart has outlined its own scheme. There are as many differences as similarities between them. Both are intended to apply to electricity generation from 2010. In Australia's case, "stationary energy" accounts for about half of its emissions, because of its reliance on coal-fired generation. Australia does not envisage including agriculture (about 16 per cent of its emissions) until 2015 at the earliest. It will not decide until 2013. Neither Government is in any hurry to add to the price of transport fuels. Australia plans a Clayton's approach initially, where any increase in petrol or diesel prices from the ETS will be offset, cent-for-cent by a reduction in the excise on those fuels. That would entirely eliminate any price signal for the first three years of the scheme. The New Zealand Government opted to push back transport's entry into the scheme from 2009 to 2011.<br /><br />In response<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0807/S00300.htm">The Green Party is disappointed that Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme will not provide a model for New Zealand.</a> </li><li><a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Garnaut-urges-immediate-action-on-climate-change-G84Y4?OpenDocument">Garnaut urges immediate climate action.</a> </li></ul><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10521135" class="Headline">ETS: Opinion poll backs emission law. </a><br /><br />An opinion poll on the emissions trading scheme has found more people support it than not. The survey of 514 people, conducted by DigiPoll last month, found 34 per cent for and 24 per cent against the legislation. The bill has been reported back by the finance select committee and the Government is trying to muster enough support among the smaller parties to get it passed before the election. Nearly half of respondents agreed: "New Zealand should be one of the world leaders on climate change and work at the same pace as other countries which are determined to make a difference." Forty-four per cent disagreed with the assertion: "New Zealand's carbon emissions are so small that any action we take will not make any difference to the effects of climate change." Thirty-four per cent agreed with the statement. And 87 per cent said they were personally prepared to take steps or accept costs to reduce the effects of climate change. But price resistance set in somewhere between $10 and $20 a week when asked how much more they would pay for power and petrol.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/03/biofuels.renewableenergy" class="Headline">Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis.</a><br /><br />Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body. The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil. Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George Bush.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/03/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange" class="Headline">Environment: Climate risk from flat-screen TVs.</a><br /><br />The rising demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world's largest coal-fired power stations, a leading environmental scientist warned yesterday. Manufacturers use a greenhouse gas called nitrogen trifluoride to make the televisions, and as the sets have become more popular, annual production of the gas has risen to about 4,000 tonnes.<br /><br />As a driver of global warming, nitrogen trifluoride is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, yet no one knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by the industry, said Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine. Prather's research reveals that production of the gas, which remains in the atmosphere for 550 years, is "exploding" and is expected to double by next year. Unlike common greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), emissions of the gas are not restricted by the Kyoto protocol or similar agreements.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=244&objectid=10520724" class="Headline">World leaders vague on climate change goals.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/17/politics/p020047D80.DTL" class="Headline">Gore challenges US to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/node/19403" class="Headline">Coal or Kiwi: Solid Energy at it again.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1444289120080714" class="Headline">Global warming may raise kidney stone cases: study.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2mJPSpzBz2r00KCuyf7QxFer3BA" class="Headline">A massive swath of northern Ontario boreal forest, considered the world's largest carbon storehouse, will be off-limits to forestry and mining activities.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jVVnzdmc99-_-9GYSG_w7DBXUlhgD91S9FHO1" class="Headline">Pope expresses worry about climate change.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=11865" class="Headline">No gasoline or oil price relief until winter 2009, says EIA.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/24/national/w050239D60.DTL" class="Headline">Vast oil, natural gas reserves estimated in Arctic.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1754592320080717?sp=true" class="Headline">Ugandan coffee may disappear in 30 years: Oxfam.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jul/23/climatechange.scienceofclimatechange" class="Headline">Climate change as seen through the eyes of the world's top cartoonists. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NZCycleSafety/" class="Headline">Safer cycling petition.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/" class="Headline">Latest Al Gore video.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-33669898714052249502008-07-03T16:05:00.001-07:002008-07-03T16:07:05.491-07:00Climate Snippets - 4 July<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxw_hfVL4aa9z9QP3Ejpe8YEvj1Ia4trG10xbK6FcAgmT0oMY8M8M6A3fh9o08-ZRdrjKRA7km2mi4AzfnCkt6dbVlnCQV48IWJjyf1lKFJH2lk_rldiJTIX5si-Zalmc1rQ71oQEsz0F/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxw_hfVL4aa9z9QP3Ejpe8YEvj1Ia4trG10xbK6FcAgmT0oMY8M8M6A3fh9o08-ZRdrjKRA7km2mi4AzfnCkt6dbVlnCQV48IWJjyf1lKFJH2lk_rldiJTIX5si-Zalmc1rQ71oQEsz0F/s400/logo1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218928023175603490" /></a><br /><br /><B>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</B> <br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080701/full/news.2008.927.html?s=news_rss" CLASS="Headline">Condemned to single-sex life by climate change.</A> <br /><br />Rising temperatures look set to produce male-only offspring in the tuatara, condemning the ancient reptile species to extinction by 2085, computer modelling predicts. Researchers studying tuatara made their doomsday prediction using digital terrain maps detailing the consequences for the reptiles' nesting sites of a 4°C hike in average temperature. The entire tuatara population is now effectively trapped on about 30 small islands in New Zealand’s north, having been wiped out elsewhere by predators. They therefore have no chance of adapting by fleeing to cooler climes, the researchers say. The study is reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society. “Since the mid 1990s, people have been talking about the vulnerability of reptiles to climate change because they have temperature-dependent sex determination. But no one has been able to model it in this type of complexity before,” says research leader Nicola Mitchell of the University of Western Australia in Perth. <br /><br /><A HREF="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBrqyQ_5hOVwl4C-1zC6K6tfv62wD91L8C181" CLASS="Headline">UN reports big jump in 'green energy'. investment.</A> <br /><br />Global investors plowed $148 billion into new wind, solar and other alternative energy assets last year, in what the United Nations describes as a "green energy gold rush" gaining speed the last several years. The spike in investment — 60 percent above the $92.6 billion spent on such projects in 2006 — reflects sharply rising concerns over climate change and energy prices, U.N. officials said in a report Tuesday. In 2005, alternative energy drew $58.5 billion in new money.<br />An additional $56 billion changed hands on mergers and acquisitions involving alternative energy last year — another sign the "clean energy" industry is maturing in the eyes of investors, U.N. Undersecretary-General Achim Steiner said. Solar power was the fastest-growing sector, rising almost 90 percent to $28 billion.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVnFZPsAG7kzrXkIIhttkxMG4p7A" CLASS="Headline">Yvo de Boer sees record oil price as a positive.</A> <br /><br />The UN's top climate change official said Thursday that record oil prices, which have surged to 146 dollars a barrel, were positive for the environment. "I think they are a net positive. First of all you see that through decreasing demand in Europe and North America where people are becoming much more conscious of petrol prices," Yvo de Boer told AFP. "High oil prices also improve the competitiveness of renewable sources of energy and make it more interesting to focus on energy efficiency," he added. "There is a risk that as dirty forms of oil become commercially more attractive that would lead to an increase in emissions," he said. One such worry is the Canadian tar sands, a dense mixture of sand, water and petroleum used to extract bitumen, which are controversial because of the environmental impact of extracting and refining the mixture.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/greens-say-truckies-should-not-hold-country-ransom-32752" CLASS="Headline">Greens say truckies should not hold country to ransom.</A> <br /><br />New Zealanders should not be held to ransom by a trucking industry that has been heavily subsidised by taxpayers for too long, Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says. Truck drivers, furious at a rise in diesel road user charges, plan to clogged city centres today. Transport Minister Annette King announced the increase in road user charges on Monday night and they came into effect on Tuesday -- angering truckies who wanted notice so they could pre-purchase But Ms Fitzsimons today said the trucking industry had been heavily subsidised for years and the price rise, which was small, was warranted. She said a 2005 Transport Ministry report showed trucks only paid 56 percent of the costs they caused to the economy whereas rail freight paid 82 percent. "That distorts the playing field between trucks and rail. That means we have more freight going by big trucks on the road rather than on trains. That's bad for all other road users." In addition she said road user charges had only been raised once since 1989. "We know that the costs of maintaining highways have gone up massively during that time. It is time that trucks paid their way."<br /><br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10519903" CLASS="Headline">Nats attack new fuel tax law. </A> <br /><br />National attacked the Government yesterday over increased road-user charges and a law passed last night allowing regional fuel taxes to fund large capital projects - but won't say it would undo them. The tax of up to 10c a litre when fully implemented will be limited to 2c next year and 5c a litre in 2010. The Transport Minister will have to approve applications for regional fuel taxes and no more than 5c a litre can be applied to roading projects. Up to 5c a litre can be applied to fund public transport. Acting Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven said the electrification of Auckland rail network would be an early project to benefit. The Land Transport Management Amendment Bill allowed the transport system to be planned in a fully integrated manner.<br /><br /><br /><B> In Brief</B><br /><br /><A HREF="luciajh@gmail.com." CLASS="Headline">Young Greens and Greens on Campus Auckland Climate Action Hui 2,3 August.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10518094" CLASS="Headline">Young Kiwi travellers care about carbon footprint.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/news-and-events/news/Climate-change/blockade-Eraring" CLASS="Headline">Greenpeace activists are blockading Australia’s most polluting coal-fired power station to call for an energy revolution.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/business/worldbusiness/01rupee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" CLASS="Headline">India offers 8 ideals on a climate change policy, but few details.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25482959/" CLASS="Headline">High gasoline prices have dramatically changed Americans' views on energy and the environment, with more people now viewing oil drilling and new power plants as a greater priority than energy conservation, according to a new survey.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10517544" CLASS="Headline">Chief executives from 99 of the world's largest companies called this week for Group of Eight nations to take the lead on climate change and agree to a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnN01322389.html" CLASS="Headline">Tuxedo clad canaries in the coal mine. </A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/03/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange" CLASS="Headline">Flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world's largest coal-fired power stations.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/27/business/EU-FIN-EU-Airlines-Carbon-Trading.php" CLASS="Headline">EU to include airlines in emissions trading system.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/fitzsimons-open-letter-receives-closed-response/5/815" CLASS="Headline">Fitzsimons: open letter to Key receives closed response.</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/07/01/green-lifeline/" CLASS="Headline">Monbiot: A radical new idea could save the world’s ecosystems. But what will it do to the economy?</A> <br /><br /><A HREF="http://hot-topic.co.nz/" CLASS="Headline">Carbon neutral cows?</A><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-20437395335691418862008-06-25T16:33:00.000-07:002008-06-25T16:59:43.509-07:00Climate Snippets - 26 June<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrCqitc0HCgYtc9ezL-8q2xP_kWOrDVLBx5keR7yu1ZXbLDn_tqUK7nt2GgrTEblccB-4aPRtrVzobp3n15gggyJNbTGFuzz6ZLJrRoClmdXyVZcsQ1ONkeHkWCVax1ZluevdGRBbg-Yz/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrCqitc0HCgYtc9ezL-8q2xP_kWOrDVLBx5keR7yu1ZXbLDn_tqUK7nt2GgrTEblccB-4aPRtrVzobp3n15gggyJNbTGFuzz6ZLJrRoClmdXyVZcsQ1ONkeHkWCVax1ZluevdGRBbg-Yz/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215972842096041826" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/23/fossilfuels.climatechange" class="Headline">Put oil firm chiefs on trial, Hansen.</a><br /><br />James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer. Hansen will use the symbolically charged 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking speech to the US Congress - in which he was among the first to sound the alarm over the reality of global warming - to argue that radical steps need to be taken immediately if the "perfect storm" of irreversible climate change is not to become inevitable.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/france.travelandtransport" class="Headline">Paris plans help-yourself green car hire.</a><br /><br />First came self-service bicycles, and now Paris is launching a green scheme to provide electric cars that drivers can pick up and drop off anywhere in the city.<br />The Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, announced yesterday that from the end of next year, 4,000 electric cars will be placed around Paris and its outskirts for drivers in the scheme to help themselves for short journeys. It is the first electric car project of its kind in a capital city.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4595569a11.html" class="Headline">Government secures a cheaper route for Transmission Gully.</a><br /><br />Transport Minister Annette King announced the go-ahead for the inland highway Tuesday after a detailed investigation that has mapped out an alternative route saving $275 million. The project, aimed to ease congestion along the coastal highway, is now projected to cost $1.025 billion, compared with $1.3 billion using a 2004 inflation-adjusted price tag. The Dominion Post understands savings have been made by axing the number of entry and exit points, including trimming one of two Porirua on-ramps. The route also crosses flatter land, which has cut down on the number of streams requiring bridges. The Green Party questioned the viability of the 27-kilometre highway with petrol prices rising and motorists unable to afford petrol taxes or tolls, which will probably be used to<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10517584&ref=rss" class="Headline">Auckland leaves the car at home, traffic cut 3%.</a><br /><br />New traffic-flow figures suggest our love of driving is waning, possibly because of rising fuel prices. Figures for last month, given to the Weekend Herald by Transit NZ, show traffic on the city's motorways in peak hours is down an estimated 3 per cent since May last year. That translates to a reduction of more than 6000 cars a day on some of the system's busiest stretches. In the same period, Auckland's population rose by about 23,000, from 1,394,000 to about 1,417,000. Transit's northern operations manager, Joseph Flannagan, said the average reduction in motorway traffic was about 3 per cent, but decreases of between 4 and 7 per cent were recorded at Great North Rd on the Northwestern Motorway, and at Silverdale, Oteha Valley Rd, Esmonde Rd and St Marys Bay on the Northern.<br /><br />Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said the change in driving habits should herald a swing towards public transport funding in Auckland. But future public transport investments were being pushed aside while motorway funding was secured. Auckland's rail electrification was now in doubt as the expected regional fuel tax to provide the funding had lost favour in Parliament, she said. Electrification of the rail system and converting Britomart to a through-station would enable passenger numbers to increase from 6 million a year now to 38 million, at a cost of about $2 billion. A similar figure is being spent on the Western Ring Route's Waterview tunnel. Ms Fitzsimons says this project should be scrapped and the money spent on rail, avoiding the need for any petrol tax.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10518162" class="Headline">Big gains touted in emissions report.</a><br /><br />An emissions trading scheme would unlock investment of more than $12 billion over the next 10 years and create nearly 10,000 jobs, according to a report commissioned by the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development. The business council's aim is to remind MPs considering the ETS legislation that it has an upside to weigh against the risks and costs other business lobby groups and companies have been emphasising.<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10518193">Council members "blindsided" by report.</a> Some key members of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development are steamed up about yesterday's "special report" to MPs promoting a multibillion-dollar bonanza for New Zealand if the emissions trading legislation is passed.</li><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00386.htm">Price on carbon could be positive for the economy – Greens.</a> Farmers would profit from involvement in the Emissions Trading Scheme, reinforcing the Green Party's insistence that farming be included in the Bill earlier than 2013, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says. "If the use of nitrogen inhibitors can increase a dairy farmer's profit by 18 percent a year as well as add 1728 jobs, why is the government so reluctant to take this free, low hanging fruit? Can't we start agriculture now with what is not only easy, but free, and delay action on methane as planned? "In addition to nitrogen inhibitors there are several other technologies that would reduce nitrous oxide emissions - they have plenty of options." Ms Fitzsimons welcomes the New Zealand Council for Sustainable Development report, released this afternoon, as it demonstrates the financial benefits of a price on carbon.</li></ul><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4594116a13.html" class="Headline">Firms to get billion-dollar green subsidy – Sustainability Council.</a><br /><br />Seven of New Zealand's biggest companies will receive "corporate welfare" of $1.2 billion over the next decade, according to an environmental think-tank. It would include subsidies on greenhouse gas emissions and their increased energy bills, Sustainability Council executive director Simon Terry said this week. And an eighth company, Fonterra, will receive a further $200 million, in addition to separate subsidies of $1.3 million being given to the nation's farmers.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7472532.stm" class="Headline">The replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty, Oxfam says.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j5lcyEX3OISNxt1ovLMpfX3Rx-Hg" class="Headline">UN climate chief asks G8 summit to agree on 2020 emission targets.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3430319,00.html" class="Headline">World's biggest solar plant goes online in Germany.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=14864" class="Headline">China accounted for two-thirds of the rise in carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 and is now pumping out about 14% more emissions than the USA.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-19-drivingless_N.htm" class="Headline">Americans drove 22 billion fewer miles from November through April than during the same period in 2006-07, the biggest such drop since the Iranian revolution led to gasoline supply shortages in 1979-80.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/25/advertising.marketingandpr" class="Headline">Climate change ads should be more cheery, report says.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4592592a1865.html" class="Headline">Oram: Lobbyists can't see the wood for the trees.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/23/climatechange.carbonemissions" class="Headline">Monbiot: Big oil's big lie.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10517929" class="Headline">Colin James: Does it matter if climate bill dies?</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo3HEyDzsDg" class="Headline">Greenpeace NZ coal video.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www2.icao.int/public/cfmapps/carbonoffset/carbon_calculator.cfm" class="Headline">The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, has unveiled a carbon calculation tool on its website that allows travellers to estimate the carbon footprint for any flight they take.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.350.org/" class="Headline">New global campaign – 350.org</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-73152888345856214762008-06-19T15:53:00.000-07:002008-06-19T15:56:08.257-07:00Climate Snippets - 20 June<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLO22n1-Sm5265zhK0QexIObH8iMQKvVPmEt5zhDegfoL1wwh6awcv1eHvheNOamoVxQmPQwKw-GyaXfQvIxZecl-cAOWczFzhQCuPE8G5gdIv2dK3Ug9DyBlrM1_Gp7MGAR3Y-OYawP3/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLO22n1-Sm5265zhK0QexIObH8iMQKvVPmEt5zhDegfoL1wwh6awcv1eHvheNOamoVxQmPQwKw-GyaXfQvIxZecl-cAOWczFzhQCuPE8G5gdIv2dK3Ug9DyBlrM1_Gp7MGAR3Y-OYawP3/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213729918779466290" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10516725" class="Headline">Labour talks on emissions reaching crucial stage.</a><br /><br />Labour's private talks with the Greens and New Zealand First are entering a key phase as it desperately tries to get its flagship emissions trading scheme passed into law before the election. The scheme was reported back by a select committee yesterday with 1000 mainly technical amendments.<br /><br />The select committee recommended that the bill be passed but Labour is yet to secure the political support it needs to get the legislation through its final stages in the House. There are several combinations Labour could hypothetically use to get the 61 votes it needs to get the legislation into law but some are clearly more politically palatable than others. The most likely combination of votes now appears to be the Greens and New Zealand First, but those parties are seeking different things and it will be hard to get a deal that satisfies both.<br /><br />New Zealand First's concerns extend far wider than just the impact of the scheme on power prices - it is also worried about effects on the fishing and shipping industries, it isn't sure about Labour's planned ban on new thermal power generation, and it wants to look carefully at the impact on major employers such as a steel mill.<br /><br />The Greens, meanwhile, have given Labour a rundown of what they want in the scheme, which includes some movement on the introduction of agriculture. Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said the Greens would vote against the bill unless it improved at the committee stage in coming weeks in the House. "It's not a question of whether something is better than nothing," she said. "This sets up a huge, highly complex and very expensive edifice which is only worth having if it's going to really reduce greenhouse emissions in a fair way. If it's not going to do that we would actually be better off without it."<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200806141146/25bcbaba">The Green Party says the Government's Emissions Trading Scheme has the potential to destroy native forests. Co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says in its current form, the bill would allow 18-year-old native trees to be felled and replaced with pine. She says there would be no penalty for cutting down natives and the pine planting would attract carbon credits.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00219.htm">The Greens close silly loophole, where the Government proposed that taxpayers should cover the cost of methane gas escaping from coal mines rather than the coal industry. </a></li><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00174.htm">A backroom deal between the Government and the agriculture sector has gutted the industry's voluntary emissions targets and directly contradicts Government policy, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons has revealed.</a></li></ul><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00259.htm" class="Headline">Maori Party: ETS rips off taxpayers, poor families hardest hit.</a><br /><br />“The ETS as it currently stands is not fair and not transparent. Costs fall almost entirely on families and taxpayers, while big businesses and industrial farmers who are generating greenhouse gases get off scot free for years to come. The Maori Party knows there will be real costs that threaten the viability of some businesses. The ETS should deal with those situations as they arise – not by giving blanket protections to whole industries, which remove any incentive to cut emissions. We have sympathy for the seafood industry – why are other export industries given carbon credits, but fishers are not included in the lolly scramble? The whole scheme is riddled with inconsistencies,” said Mrs Turia. “It is fundamentally flawed and in its current form delivers little for the environment and Papatuanuku”.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4586957a6000.html" class="Headline">Lights out for old bulbs.</a><br /><br />The Government launched a strategy today which will mean lights out for old-style bulbs as it seeks to reduce lighting energy consumption by 20 percent by 2015. Energy Minister David Parker and government spokesperson on energy efficiency and conservation Jeanette Fitzsimons said the days of the traditional energy-hungry incandescent bulb were numbered. The strategy aimed to phase out the bulbs from late 2009. Once new standards were introduced, no new stocks of the incandescent bulbs can be imported for sale. Ms Fitzsimons said technological advances in the area meant there were more and more options.<br />Some are Electricity Commission subsidised. New Zealand spent about $660 million on electricity for lighting a year generating about 2.65 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Almost $500m could be saved by 2020, "just by changing the lights", Ms Fitzsimons said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080618143301.htm" class="Headline">Ocean temperatures and sea level increases 50 percent higher than previously estimated.</a><br /><br />New research suggests that ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 were 50 percent larger than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Results were compared with recent estimates of other contributions to sea-level rise including glaciers, ice caps, Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and thermal expansion changes in the deep ocean. When these independent lines of evidence are examined collectively, the story is more consistent than found in earlier studies. The oceans store more than 90 percent of the heat in the Earth’s climate system and act as a temporary buffer against the effects of climate change. The ocean warming and thermal expansion rates are 50 percent larger than previous estimates for the upper 700 meters of oceans, and greater than that for the upper 300 meters.<br /><br /><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/200806130005.html" class="Headline">Africa: seeking a common position on climate change.</a><br /><br />The Twelfth African Ministerial Conference on Environment ended five days of deliberations today with governments and civil society agreed -- separately -- on the importance of developing a common position for Africa at next year's climate change talks in Copenhagen. "Climate change is the defining human development and security issue of our generation. Those responsible should compensate the people whose livelihoods have been destroyed as a result," said Ewah Eleri, director of the International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development in Nigeria. The groups said Africa contributes least to greenhouse gas emissions, yet millions of Africans were being forced to daily deal with devastating impacts of climate change. Eleri said mandatory compensation must be paid to Africa by global polluters. He was particularly critical of the suggestion that African governments should obtain loans to fund climate change adaptation. "You don't burn someone's house and then offer them a loan to rebuild it," said Eleri.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/17/climatechange.food?gusrc=rss&feed=environment" class="Headline">Climate change is fuelling conflicts around the world and helping to drive the number of people forced out of their homes to new highs, says the head of the UN's refugee. </a><br /><br />After a few years of improvement, thanks mainly to large-scale resettlement in Afghanistan, the numbers of civilians uprooted by conflict is again rising. During 2007 the total jumped to 37.4 million, an increase of more than 3 million, according to statistics published today. The figures, described as "unprecedented" by the UN, do not include people escaping natural disasters or poverty - only those fleeing conflict and persecution. But Antonio Guterres, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said that climate change could also uproot people by provoking conflicts over increasingly scarce resources, such as water.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL0431855" class="Headline">NZ sees breakthrough in animal gas problem.</a><br /><br />New Zealand believes it has made a breakthrough in its plan to cut methane emissions from its livestock, part of a strategy to tackle greenhouse gasses, the farming nation's trade minister said on Wednesday. "Our agricultural research organisation just last week was able to map the genome ... that causes methane in ruminant animals and we believe we can vaccinate against (that)," Phil Goff told a conference in Paris.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10516473" class="Headline">Businesses' green vows 'need to be provable'</a><br /><br />New Zealand can't rely on some "hazy glow" of advertising around its clean, green image to capture the sustainability-oriented consumer market, says a British retail expert. Mike Barry, head of corporate social responsibility at Marks & Spencer, said at an Environmental Defence Society conference in Auckland last week that evidence of commitment to sustainability had to be clear and provable.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10515861" class="Headline">ARC banks on election to fund rail.</a><br /><br />Political parties can expect organised pressure from the Auckland Regional Council to bid against one another to fund ambitious railway extensions, notably links to the airport. The idea of trying to influence the election was spurred by their endorsement of a $2.2 billion proposal of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to create railway loops between Britomart and the airport via Avondale, Penrose, Onehunga and Wiri - including tunnels under Onehunga and part of State Highway 20. That would be in addition to a tunnel under central Auckland to form an inner rail loop for about $1 billion, which authority planning chief Peter Clark said would be essential for expanding services into Britomart. Councillor Joel Cayford, while welcoming the rail expansion plan, said it was "incapable of being funded unless the Government puts its hand up in a bigger way". Dr Cayford noted the Government's slowdown over introducing a regional fuel tax, which was only to pay for the $1 billion electrification of the existing rail network without provision for any extensions.<br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR11918.html"><br />Catch the train now or miss the bus: The Government should underwrite the funding stream for the electrification of the Auckland rail system so new electric trains can be ordered now, the Green Party says.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/6/16/211443/993?source=daily" class="Headline">Gore endorses Obama, says candidate has what it takes to tackle climate crisis.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/washington/18drill.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin" class="Headline">Bush will seek to end offshore oil drilling ban.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/18/carboncapturestorage.carbonemissions1" class="Headline">CO2 disposal in the ocean is a dangerous distraction.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/75559/index.php" class="Headline">Solid Energy, has ordered a twenty four year tourist activity to cease operations in a cave system it is about to destroy. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/13/activists.climatechange" class="Headline">UK Climate change protesters hijack Drax coal train.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121357738002676071.html" class="Headline">Segway sales glides as gasoline jumps.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25104169/" class="Headline">With a new kit, turn your car into a hybrid.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5447" class="Headline">Nuclear power grew by less than 2,000 megawatts in 2007, to 372,000 megawatts total, according to Worldwatch. This growth is just one-tenth the amount of new wind power capacity installed globally in 2007.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sun/sun-20080608-1005-Sunday_Group_for_8_June_2008-048.mp3" class="Headline">Audio: Sunday Group discussion on Peak Oil and the future of oil supplies. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008091.html" class="Headline">Blog: How Do We Intelligently Discuss Politicized Geoengineering?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMG58VG3HF_index_0.html" class="Headline">ESA’s Envisat satellite captured further break-up of the Wilkins Ice Shelf – the first ever-documented episode to occur in winter.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_climate_wakeup/13.php?cl=97566854" class="Headline">Petition: to the prime minister of Japan - the chair of the powerful G8 summit. Join the call for climate action now!</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-20866363604508206632008-06-10T16:08:00.000-07:002008-06-10T16:11:56.863-07:00Climate Snippets - 11 June<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuT_gsw4AiNDE1kTd7Rotuj8HV0jIIy9jCqXdjsWCWYIZJ1khmVYu8Hj1tpSZSS9dyDmpaELr9awI9-Sy9XeGtSoi0UTiyXqrd2zMaNYNqzkOpf0a3P93EAu2cBPS5FghjmM6JzDwPbbu1/s1600-h/logo1WED.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuT_gsw4AiNDE1kTd7Rotuj8HV0jIIy9jCqXdjsWCWYIZJ1khmVYu8Hj1tpSZSS9dyDmpaELr9awI9-Sy9XeGtSoi0UTiyXqrd2zMaNYNqzkOpf0a3P93EAu2cBPS5FghjmM6JzDwPbbu1/s400/logo1WED.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210394102925939026" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4573666a7693.html" class="Headline">World Environment Day - Kick the carbon habit.</a><br /><br />Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a statement to mark the UN's World Environment Day - hosted by New Zealand - that global warming is becoming the defining issue of the era and will hurt rich and poor alike. "Our world is in the grip of a dangerous carbon habit," he said. "Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us, makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the consequences of our actions," he said. His point man in Wellington, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Achim Steiner, today said New Zealand was chosen to host World Environment Day because it was one of the first nations to commit to carbon neutrality and has provided climate change leadership. The Government mounted a huge series of official "events" to mark the day, many of them featuring VIP guests, including Mr Steiner, Kiribati president Anote Tong, and the chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climte Change, Dr Rajendra Pachauri. These events included UN art competitions and displays, a "science breakfast", a panel discussion at Victoria University, and press conferences and "photo opportunities". At community level, many towns staged presentations or projects to reduce the number of cars on the road, rehabilitate landfills, promote gardening and renewable energy, plant trees and re-cycle objects.<a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10514468"><br /></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10514468">Climate change an 'opportunity' says Pachauri.</a></li><li><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWqbnrkPm-XSctsNUp2tY0x7_AuAD916CJ4O0">Kiribati president asks for climate change help.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.tv3.co.nz/Greenpeacelashesgovernmentsclimatechangerecord/tabid/209/articleID/58361/cat/41/Default.aspx">Greenpeace lashes government's climate change record.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10514467">Schwarzenegger on the big screen.</a></li></ul><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/06/business/emit.php" class="Headline">$45 trillion urged in battling carbon emissions.</a><br /><br />In one of the strongest warnings so far about the world's thirst for energy, the International Energy Agency said Friday that investment totalling $45 trillion might be needed over the next half-century to prevent energy shortages and greenhouse gas emissions from undermining global economic growth.<br />The executive director of the agency, Nobuo Tanaka, called for "immediate policy action and technological transition on an unprecedented scale." Tanaka said the world needed to "completely transform the way we produce and use energy."<br /><br />Among the energy agency's chief messages is that current energy policies are unsustainable, with emissions of carbon dioxide expected to climb 130 percent and demand for oil to rise by 70 percent by 2050. Tanaka warned that oil demand could be five times the current production of Saudi Arabia by that time, and that carbon emissions of such a magnitude could raise global average temperatures by 6 degrees Celsius , changing all aspects of life and creating irreversible changes in the natural environment.<br /><br />The IEA recommended taking measures now that would ensure that carbon emissions were down to at least present-day levels by mid-century by using technologies that already exist, including steps for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions from power generation. Such measures would cost $17 trillion between now and 2050, or 0.4 percent of global output, costing about $400 billion a year. The agency also mapped out a second, more ambitious plan aimed at reducing emissions to half their current levels by mid-century by emphasizing technologies and strategies for "weaning the world off oil." The agency estimated the cost of that process at $45 trillion, or 1.1 percent of annual global output, over the period to 2050. Investments of $100 billion to $200 billion would be needed each year over the next 10 years, rising to $1 trillion to $2 trillion each year in the coming decades.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7431589.stm" class="Headline">Images reveal 'rapid forest loss'. </a><br /><br />High-resolution satellite images have revealed the "rapid deforestation" of Papua New Guinea's biodiversity rich rainforests over the past 30 years. An international team of researchers estimates that the current rate of loss could result in more than half of the nation's tree cover being lost by 2021. They added that the main threats came from commercial logging and burning. Existing conservation measures were failing to protect the world's third largest rainforest, the team concluded. Scientists from the University of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Australian National University spent five years analysing satellite images that showed deforestation and habitat destruction between 1972 and 2002. They estimated that in 2001 the nation's accessible forests were being cleared or degraded at an annual rate of 362,000 hectares (3,620 sq km). The images also showed that trees in protected areas were being felled at the same rate as unprotected regions, the team added.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/06/usa.climatechange" class="Headline">US Senate Republicans block climate change plan.</a><br /><br />A landmark plan to fight climate change was defeated today in the US Senate, likely postponing action on carbon emissions limits until after this autumn's presidential election. The climate bill was defeated, 48-36, with 60 votes needed to end Republican obstruction. Democrats had hoped that summer would be an opportune time to debate emissions caps. But Republicans seized an opening to claim that the bill - which requires emissions reductions by more than 60% on 2005 levels by 2050 - would increase gas prices.<br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i24L5ar43z2rAHCAxJ4pik3NGcugD9123GS81" class="Headline">New round of climate talks opens in Germany.</a><br /><br />More than 2,000 delegates opened the two-week meeting Monday, launching an 18-month process of intense negotiations on an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Discussions began with a warning from poor countries and environmentalists that global warming already is harming millions of people, worsening the global food crisis and changing Earth more rapidly than scientists earlier predicted. The Bonn talks are to go into the details of an agreement to be concluded in December 2009 and signed in Copenhagen, Denmark. The talks are based on an accord reached in Bali last December when the United States, India and China indicated they would take part in a post-2012 arrangement. At least seven more major meetings are scheduled before Copenhagen, with the next in August in Accra, Ghana. Delegates say the new pact must be concluded by December 2009 so it can be ratified in time to smoothly replace Kyoto in 2012. Few, if any, conclusions were expected from the Bonn talks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/09/japan.climatechange" class="Headline">Japan unveils new emissions target.</a><br /><br />Japan has set a target to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by up to four-fifths by 2050. The prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, said Japan would achieve the target through carbon trading and by raising the proportion of the country's energy produced from "zero-carbon" sources, such as wind, water and solar power.<br />Environmentalists, however, expressed disappointment with the government's failure to set an interim target for 2020. The prime minister said an interim target would be made in the future, adding that Japan could cut its current greenhouse gas emissions by 14% by 2020. Tokyo would also contribute up to $1.2bn (£600,000) to a new multilateral fund with the US and Britain to help developing countries fight global warming, Fukuda said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0911742120080610?sp=true%E2%80%9D%20%3EJapan%20is%20set%20to%20host%20the%20G8%20in%20a%20month%20and%20science%20academies%20of%2013%20nations%20have%20urged%20the%20G8%20to%20tackle%20climate%20change.%3C/A%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3CA%20HREF=" nz="" stuff="" html="" class="Headline">The drought and dwindling southern hydro lakes are playing havoc with the nation's carbon footprint.</a><br /><br />Fossil-fuelled power stations in the North Island are every day burning thousands of tonnes of coal and up to a million litres of diesel oil to help conserve precious South Island hydro lakes and ensure the country has enough electricity. However, the effect of all that extra combustion from thermal stations running flat out, including Huntly and the country's back-up station at Whirinaki, is that since mid-March carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have soared and show no sign of falling. Figures for the week to Sunday show estimated CO2 emissions from thermal power stations have risen by about 75 per cent from about 125,000 tonnes a week in mid-March to 220,000 tonnes a week. The Government appears unperturbed by the rise in emissions, saying the long-term trend is what counts, but the National Party is calling it "a disaster" and says the increase continues the pattern set during Labour's term in office.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Story/tabid/209/articleID/58979/cat/41/Default.aspx" class="Headline">Enough gas to power a city wasted every day.</a><br /><br />With the price of petrol up again another six cents today, plus calls to save power echoing from the Beehive, it has emerged that a huge amount of energy is simply being wasted off the coast of Taranaki. The operators of the Tui oil field are burning off enough gas each day to power a small city. The gas is surplus to the oil that is underneath, and which is what the company is really after. Daily, close to 500,000 cubic metres of gas are being flared. But the Greens says it is an outrageous waste. "Its a huge amount of gas, and I think the whole country would wish we didn't waste one of our most important natural resources just heating up the air off the coast of Taranaki."<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/06/news/economy/gas_prices/?postversion=2008060615" class="Headline">Oil surges $11 to record $138.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200806110650/15bd7d2" class="Headline">New plantings of exotic forest are at their lowest level in almost 60 years.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10514176" class="Headline">Nasa exposed over climate censorship.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/nyregion/06climber.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all" class="Headline">2 men scale New York Times building hours apart on World Environment Day.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5758" class="Headline">China’s wind power development exceeds expectations.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10514482" class="Headline">Air NZ to use oil from jatropha nuts to fuel a test flight this year.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/31/carbonemissions.climatechange" class="Headline">Could US scientist's 'CO2 catcher' help to slow warming?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jF9oYr4VWMnC9Mttxae5XDAmI-OQ" class="Headline">The German lower house of parliament approved on Friday the first parts of a raft of measures aimed at reducing the country's carbon dioxide emissions by 36 percent by 2020.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCrlw4-4q990b4NNEWHtQaNuZoEA" class="Headline">Canada launches $92m program that will offer incentives including rebates on new vehicles, free transit passes, bicycles, membership in ride-sharing programs and $300 cash for scrapping pre-1995 cars. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4576968a7693.html" class="Headline">Wellington's leading taxi company has been reprimanded for misleading consumers over its "going green" campaign.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10513540" class="Headline">John Armstrong: Greens go after a real climate change.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00127.htm" class="Headline">Maori Party: Peak oil strategy would help Kyoto response.</a><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.together.com/us" class="Headline">A European campaign to raise consumer awareness of climate change has made its U.S. debut -The Together campaign.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetslayer/greenhouse_calc.htm" class="Headline">Prof. Schpinkees Greenhouse calculator.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/06/10/an-inconvenient-truth-the-opera/" class="Headline">Video: An Inconvenient Truth: The Opera.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/06/05/walk/" class="Headline">Video: A walker’s perspective of an environment made for cars.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/jun/10/climatechange.conservation" class="Headline">A new 'atlas' shows Africa's rapidly changing landscape through a series of before and after photographs.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-5862709832908013392008-05-29T15:57:00.000-07:002008-05-29T16:00:04.274-07:00Climate Snippets - 29 May<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQBAxZIpp5Y6JhtwcX9EO3DZiQt9BBLJZ61Fgey8DW8zqhTcY_6c_mGKwhFtpkY_4Bf8x_ZvEr08Opnr55ikbMZ9VjDqr3MJVknXLikQSsZSaFnYhyphenhyphenk6CJrNXLkzasppBDsEWZTDEAzlt/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigQBAxZIpp5Y6JhtwcX9EO3DZiQt9BBLJZ61Fgey8DW8zqhTcY_6c_mGKwhFtpkY_4Bf8x_ZvEr08Opnr55ikbMZ9VjDqr3MJVknXLikQSsZSaFnYhyphenhyphenk6CJrNXLkzasppBDsEWZTDEAzlt/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205938393514449794" border="0" /></a><br /><b><br /><br />Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20" class="Headline">Greens lay out bottom lines on ETS.</a><br /><br />The Green Party says farming and fuel will have to come under the emissions trading scheme (ETS) faster than the Government is proposing to win its backing. Their support is looking increasingly vital if the Government is to have any hope of passing the complex bill. But co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today said the Greens would not vote for the enabling legislation unless it was "significantly improved". Ms Fitzsimons said the Greens wanted to see parts of the agriculture sector brought into the scheme before 2013 and the start date for subsidy phase outs brought forward from the proposed date of 2018. The party also wanted petrol and diesel to come under the scheme from next year, as originally proposed -- albeit with a gentler phase in.<br /><br />Measures proposed by the Greens include:<br /><br />* bringing petrol and diesel into the ETS next year but at a rate of 2c a litre, rather than the 6-8c initially proposed;<br /><br />* bringing agricultural fertilisers under the ETS earlier than proposed;<br /><br />* immediately bringing new dairy farms on converted previous non-farm land under the ETS;<br /><br />* compensation for forests previously granted under Treaty settlements that will lose value under the ETS;<br /><br />* recycling windfall electricity profits into initiatives to make households more energy efficient.<br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121139527250011387.html" class="Headline">Energy watchdog warns.</a><br /><br />The world's premier energy monitor is preparing a sharp downward revision of its oil-supply forecast, a shift that reflects deepening pessimism over whether oil companies can keep abreast of booming demand. The Paris-based International Energy Agency is in the middle of its first attempt to comprehensively assess the condition of the world's top 400 oil fields. Its findings won't be released until November, but the bottom line is already clear: Future crude supplies could be far tighter than previously thought.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/26/climatechange.greenpolitics" class="Headline">Billions wasted on UN climate programme.</a><br /><br />Billions of pounds are being wasted in paying industries in developing countries to reduce climate change emissions, according to two analyses of the UN's carbon offsetting programme. Leading academics and watchdog groups allege that the UN's main offset fund is being routinely abused by chemical, wind, gas and hydro companies who are claiming emission reduction credits for projects that should not qualify. The result is that no genuine pollution cuts are being made, undermining assurances by the UK government and others that carbon markets are dramatically reducing greenhouse gases, the researchers say.<br /><br />The market for CDM credits is growing fast. At present it is worth nearly $20bn a year, but this is expected to grow to over $100bn within four years. More than 1,000 projects have so far been approved, and 2,000 more are making their way through the process. A working paper from two senior Stanford University academics examined more than 3,000 projects applying for or already granted up to $10bn of credits from the UN's CDM funds over the next four years, and concluded that the majority should not be considered for assistance. "They would be built anyway," says David Victor, law professor at the Californian university. "It looks like between one and two thirds of all the total CDM offsets do not represent actual emission cuts." A separate study published this week by US watchdog group International Rivers argues that nearly three quarters of all registered CDM projects were complete at the time of approval, suggesting that CDM money was not needed to finance them.<br /><br />The UK government defended the CDM. "We completely reject any assertions that [it] is fundamentally flawed," a spokeswoman said. "We've worked consistently for and seen improvement in CDM processes over the past few years of its operation. We believe the CDM is essentially transparent and robust, though we will continue to press for the environmental integrity of projects."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0805/S00062.htm" class="Headline">New climate change projections released for NZ</a><br /><br />The new projections represent the most up-to-date scientific knowledge about likely effects of climate change in New Zealand, including regional impacts. The new projections are based on the 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC, and the global climate modelling results produced for that report. The results are broadly consistent with NIWA’s projections for the first edition of the manual in 2004, which drew on the IPCC’s 3rd Assessment Report (2001). But the new projections use more, and better, information. “The evidence of climate change continues to mount, climate models are becoming more sophisticated, and scientific knowledge of the climate is improving all the time,” says Dr David Wratt,<br /><br />NIWA says evidence that New Zealand is already experiencing climate change includes:<br /><br />Increasing temperatures: about 0.9 ºC over the past 100 years.<br /><br />Reduced frost frequency over most of the country: Canterbury and Marlborough experience about 20 fewer frosts per year now than in the early 1970s.<br /><br />Retreat of major South Island glaciers: volume of ice in the Southern Alps reduced by almost 11% in the past 30 years. Twelve of the largest glaciers are unlikely to return to their earlier lengths without extraordinary cooling of the climate.<br /><br />The projections: overall picture:<br /><br />Temperature is projected to increase by about 2 ºC by 2090 for a mid-range scenario and NIWA is projecting fewer frosts and more hot days..<br /><br />Rainfall: NIWA says the overall picture continues to be for a drier climate in most of the east coast and north of the North Island, coastal Canterbury & coastal Marlborough, and for a wetter climate in the west and south of South Island. NIWA says heavy rainfall is likely to get heavier and/or more frequent. For a mid-range scenario, a 1-in-100 year event now could become a 1-in-50 year event by the end of the century.<br /><br />Snow: Based on air temperature and precipitation projections, it is likely that average snowlines would rise as the temperature increases, but snowfall is influenced by complicated atmospheric processes.<br /><br />Strong winds: A simulation using the regional climate model suggests an increase in the strongest winter winds over much of the country by 2100. The changes are fairly small for the most part (averaging out at a 2.3% increase over all land points in the model), but reach about 10% in some eastern locations.<br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtgl4mxaG1vkmqxaxgaZ30-dGwcAD90TGB9O0" class="Headline">Agreement on 2020 emissions target eludes G8 ministers.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00582.htm" class="Headline">Keeping warm a matter of life and death: Greens.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/950000forwaterheatinginnovation/tabid/423/articleID/57500/cat/64/Default.aspx" class="Headline">Government Spokesperson on Energy Efficiency and Conserv</a><a href="http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/950000forwaterheatinginnovation/tabid/423/articleID/57500/cat/64/Default.aspx" class="Headline">ation, Jeanette Fitzsimons, has announced that 31 projects with a combined value of $950,000 have been offered funding under the second round of a government fund to encourage smart innovations in solar water heating and heat pump water heating technologies.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10512781" class="Headline">Genesis Energy and environmental campaigner Greenpeace face off in the Supreme Court over a controversial gas-fired power plant north of Auckland, on the edge of the Kaipara Harbour at Rodney. Greenpeace says the case could have major impli</a><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10512781" class="Headline">cations for climate change in New Zealand.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080526153152.htm" class="Headline">Melting glaciers may release DDT and contaminate Antarctic environment.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/052308fealivclimate.2205395.html" class="Headline">Climate inaction to cost U.S. $3.8 trillion a year, study says.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7419724.stm" class="Headline">The UK government should go ahead with a system of personal "carbon credits" to meet emissions targets, MPs have said.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/26/gas.driving/" class="Headline">The US Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/airlines-in-a-tailspin-832868.html" class="Headline">Airlines in a tailspin.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7423527.stm" class="Headline">Scientists say an abrupt dip in global temperatures in the 1940s actually reflects a change in how temperatures were measured at sea. </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/05/27/majesty-we-have-gone-mad/" class="Headline">Monbiot: An open letter to King Abdullah of Sa</a><a href="http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/05/27/majesty-we-have-gone-mad/" class="Headline">udi Arabia.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7417123.stm" class="Headline">Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/05/27/sunday-night-viewing/" class="Headline">Blog: The Great Global Warming Swindle.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/05/29/carbon-fin-prints/" class="Headline">Blog: first carbon neutral country in the world</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-30521779491994256042008-05-22T15:21:00.000-07:002008-05-22T15:39:05.709-07:00Climate Snippets - 23 May<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXUGPf_R9zpxeUOINW3zPZ4mSu2zjtlSFN1jZQM9W-5fHi4LLwgUuzWnPssTgsByY-R7_qzEEhklnW2REsqWThO8-v7IuSBnGBcxZefXMC8Lr7eo3dIPugAAeLZb45slARzlHwx2Zx5zW/s1600-h/logo1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXUGPf_R9zpxeUOINW3zPZ4mSu2zjtlSFN1jZQM9W-5fHi4LLwgUuzWnPssTgsByY-R7_qzEEhklnW2REsqWThO8-v7IuSBnGBcxZefXMC8Lr7eo3dIPugAAeLZb45slARzlHwx2Zx5zW/s400/logo1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203332099985054562" border="0" /></a><br /><b><br /><br />Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4552661a10.html" class="Headline">Nats call for a delay to emission trading scheme law.</a><br /><br />National has called for a delay to the climate change emissions trading scheme saying more care needs to be taken. National Leader John Key told the National Party Lower North Island Regional Conference that he still supported an ETS, but Labour had embarked on a rushed process that put New Zealand at risk. "We believe that the current rushed timetable for the design of the ETS and the select committee process is reckless, given the importance of the issue," Mr Key said "Therefore, I'm calling for a delay in the passage of this legislation." Mr Key's announcement is another blow to the controversial legislation which has come under fire from business groups for its potential economic costs and environment groups for not going far enough. Climate Change Minister David Parker called Mr Key's announcement "pathetic" and said he had failed to show any leadership.<br /><br />In response:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/campaigns/climate/">More delay is the last thing we need: Greens.</a><br /><br />John Key's approach to climate change policy has all the urgency of a methane-emitting cow chewing its cud, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.<br />“He criticises Labour, fairly enough, for aiming at the moon and failing even to get airborne. So instead he has set a far off target - of a 50 percent reduction in 2050 - and isn't even aiming at getting airborne,” Ms Fitzsimons says.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00267.htm">National – weak in the face of anti-climate lobby: Greenpeace.</a><br /><br />Greenpeace climate campaigner Simon Boxer said it seemed Mr Key was caving in to big business. "Rarely has a piece of legislation been so heavily analysed and widely consulted over as the ETS. For National to now call `wait' says more about National's lack of commitment to tackling the issue than it does about the robustness of the legislation," Mr Boxer said. Mr Boxer said National's opposition to a moratorium on new thermal generation was equally unacceptable.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10511480">Peters plays it cool on NZ First support for global warming legislation.</a><br /><br />New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says his party will be talking to the Government in the next few weeks about support for its emissions trading scheme legislation. National still believes a trading scheme is the way to go, but says the legislation is poorly drafted and is being needlessly rushed. He criticised National leader John Key for not showing leadership on the issue. Mr Key had gone from being a "climate change denier to its number one activist in the country" and then had reneged on that position to see what Australia was doing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL2029325820080521" class="Headline">EU lawmakers call for faster climate change curbs.</a><br /><br />Global temperature rises should be kept well below the European Union's target of 2 degrees Celsius to avoid costly damage to people and their lifestyles, the European parliament said on Wednesday. Its members voted 566-61 in favour of a report which also said EU consumers must be given better information about the "carbon footprint" of goods they buy, including products imported into the 27-nation bloc. The bloc has adopted ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020 from 1990 levels, and Dimas said it was making good progress with CO2 down 8 percent since 1990.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/05/19/1211182695948.html" class="Headline">Radical climate action would change sky's colour.</a><br /><br />Scientist Tim Flannery has proposed a radical solution to climate change which may change the colour of the sky. But he says it may be necessary, as the "last barrier to climate collapse." Professor Flannery says climate change is happening so quickly that mankind may need to pump sulphur into the atmosphere to survive. The gas sulphur could be inserted into the earth's stratosphere to keep out the sun's rays and slow global warming, a process called global dimming. “It would change the colour of the sky," Professor Flannery said. "It's the last resort that we have, it's the last barrier to a climate collapse. We need to be ready to start doing it in perhaps five years time if we fail to achieve what we're trying to achieve."<br /><br />As well as the global dimming plan, Professor Flannery said carbon should be taken out of the air and converted into charcoal, then ploughed into farmers' fields. Wealthy people should pay poor farmers in tropical zones to plant forests - possibly through a direct purchase scheme such as the eBay website.<br />And all conventional coal-fired power stations - which did not have "clean coal" technology - should be closed by 2030. Capturing carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations and storing it underground - called carbon capture and storage - was a good idea, Professor Flannery said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/science/earth/21biofuels.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" class="Headline">More unintended risks from biofuels? </a><br /><br />At a United Nations meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday, scientists from the Global Invasive Species Program, the Nature Conservancy and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as other groups, presented a paper with a warning about invasive species. “Some of the most commonly recommended species for biofuels production are also major invasive alien species,” the paper says, adding that these crops should be studied more thoroughly before being cultivated in new areas. Controlling the spread of such plants could prove difficult, the experts said, producing “greater financial losses than gains.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature encapsulated the message like this: “Don’t let invasive biofuel crops attack your country.”<br />To reach their conclusions, the scientists compared the list of the most popular second-generation biofuels with the list of invasive species and found an alarming degree of overlap. They said little evaluation of risk had occurred before planting.<br /><br />“These are tough survivors, which means they’re good producers for biofuel because they grow well on marginal land that you wouldn’t use for food,” Dr. Howard said. “But we’ve had 100 years of experience with introductions of these crops that turned out to be disastrous for environment, people, health.”<br />Stas Burgiel, a scientist at the Nature Conservancy, said the cost of controlling invasive species is immense and generally not paid by those who created the problem. The Global Invasive Species Program estimates that the damage from invasive species costs the world more than $1.4 trillion annually — five percent of the global economy.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7414093.stm" class="Headline">Oil soars to new record over $135.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.greens.org.nz/index.php/2008/05/21/oil-from-perpetual-backwardation-into-contango/" class="Headline">Oil: from perpetual backwardation into contango.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/prius-sales-top.html" class="Headline">Prius sales top 1 million.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200805/CUL20080516a.html" class="Headline">Getting Their Message a Cross. Conservative Christians launch sceptical climate campaign.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/meat-emissions.php" class="Headline">Study finds meat and dairy create more emissions than miles.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24729484/" class="Headline">Biodiesel pirates steal cooking oil.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23718653-30538,00.html" class="Headline">The sun sets on Rudd's climate change credibility.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://earth.google.com/outreach/kml_entry.html#tClimate%20Change%20In%20Our%20World" class="Headline">Climate Change in Our World, a project from Google Earth and British environmental and meteorological offices that gives a visual representation of what we've got in store.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/audio/2008/may/19/science.extra.mohan.munasinghe" class="Headline">The IPCC's vice chairman Mohan Munasinghe warns against the economic and social consequences of global warming.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://election08.scoop.co.nz/gordon-campbell-interviews-russel-norman/" class="Headline">Gordon Campbell interviews Russel Norman - The cost of being green.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/14/climatechange.carbonemissions" class="Headline">Hollywood aiming for a neutral future.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/may/21/harrison.ford.chest.wax" class="Headline">Harrison Ford has chest waxed to help raise awareness of effect of deforestation on global warming.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://weblog.greenpeace.org.nz/climate-change/the-standover-group-ransom-note/" class="Headline">Greenpeace parody: GIvE uS tHe caSh or tHe CLiMaTe gETs it!</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714226042978051869.post-60992508148827309622008-05-15T19:05:00.000-07:002008-05-15T19:29:14.462-07:00Climate Snippets - 16 May<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP51Gm9nBJWiIvQ05cgZDGok1blrD2aZWQwqopuY2IXvBX_NSIAsXtiEDxyTsS5pl9prOEWtfnI2kR3kKjt9-S-l4N6xLJ-y679nbr1J-U09TQShxtDArxYOs6P46QSbqDibB_0d1u7Gy1/s1600-h/logo1ETS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP51Gm9nBJWiIvQ05cgZDGok1blrD2aZWQwqopuY2IXvBX_NSIAsXtiEDxyTsS5pl9prOEWtfnI2kR3kKjt9-S-l4N6xLJ-y679nbr1J-U09TQShxtDArxYOs6P46QSbqDibB_0d1u7Gy1/s400/logo1ETS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200797122429251714" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.</b><br /><br />To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/13/carbonemissions.climatechange" class="Headline">World carbon dioxide levels highest for 650,000 years, says US report.</a><br /><br />Scientists at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii say that CO2 levels in the atmosphere now stand at 387 parts per million (ppm), up almost 40% since the industrial revolution and the highest for at least the last 650,000 years. The figures, published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on its website, also confirm that carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than expected. The annual mean growth rate for 2007 was 2.14ppm - the fourth year in the last six to see an annual rise greater than 2ppm. From 1970 to 2000, the concentration rose by about 1.5ppm each year, but since 2000 the annual rise has leapt to an average 2.1ppm. Scientists say the shift could indicate that the Earth is losing its natural ability to soak up billions of tonnes of CO2 each year. Climate models assume that about half our future emissions will be reabsorbed by forests and oceans, but the new figures confirm this may be too optimistic. If more of our carbon pollution stays in the atmosphere, it means emissions will have to be cut by more than is currently projected to prevent dangerous levels of global warming.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1714226042978051869" class="Headline">Emissions Trading Scheme Watch</a><br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00217.htm">Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) must proceed - Parliamentary Commissioner For The Environment.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10509631">Colin James: Cheeseboard next on climate change menu.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/search.cfm?kw1=Fran%20O%20sullivan&kw2=&op=all&searchorder=2&display=20&start=0&thepage=1">Fran O'Sullivan: Who pays green tab?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4523882a11.html">The owners of New Zealand's only aluminium smelter have warned that the plant could close, putting 3500 jobs at risk, if the Government's emissions trading scheme passes in its present form.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4550863a1861.html">Trotter: Time to call Rio Tinto's bluff.</a></li><li><a href="http://news.google.co.nz/nwshp?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hl=en&tab=wn&ncl=1212090367&filter=0">ETS threatens to wipe out sheep and beef farming - Meat and Wool New Zealand.</a></li></ul><br /><a href="http://www.greens.org.nz/searchdocs/PR11830.html" class="Headline">Greens secure warmer, drier State homes. </a><br /><br />The Green Party has ensured that five years from now all State House tenants will be living in insulated homes. A Budget bid secured by the Greens will see a total of $53.4 million spent over five years on a variety of renovations that will make State houses warmer, drier and more energy efficient, Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says. In addition to insulating the remaining 21,000 uninsulated houses, the package includes draft-proofing windows and doors, wraps for hot water cylinders, efficient shower heads, lagging of pipes and, if appropriate, new energy efficient home heating.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0805/S00165.htm" class="Headline">NZ: heavy emitters influence climate policy most. </a><br /><br />Businesses with high greenhouse gas emissions are having the most influence on climate change policy, according to a new national survey. Seventy per cent of New Zealanders think the heavy emitters have most influence, 17% more than the next nearest top influencer, environmental groups. Green Party MPs rank third (37%), business organizations fourth (34%) – while those believed to have least influence are beneficiaries (3%) and the unemployed (2%). Of the parties represented in Parliament, ACT MPs are seen as the least influential on climate change policy, and MPs from Labour (23%) and National (11%) the most effective, according to a ShapeNZ national online poll, undertaken between 11.30pm May 6 and 5.30pm May 11, 2008.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=14631&channel=6" class="Headline">Estonia: Farmers to be charged for cattle emissions.</a><br /><br />Estonian farmers are to become the first to cough up for their cattle's belching and flatulence. The country's government has announced plans to charge a greenhouse gas tax for the methane and carbon dioxide produced by cows. Each cow produces around 350 litres of methane and 1,500 litres of CO2 per day and cattle are responsible for around 25% of Estonia's methane emissions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23681047-30538,00.html" class="Headline">Australia: Green groups divided over viability of 'clean coal'.</a><br /><br />Last month, a group of 25 environmental activists staged an impromptu demonstration outside the Sydney offices of yet another global organisation. But this time it wasn't a multinational mining or oil company that was the target, but the environment group WWF. They were protesting against WWF's decision to partner with the coal industry, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the environment think tank the Climate Institute in working to accelerate the development of carbon capture and storage technology, otherwise known as clean coal. This was just the latest exchange in the simmering brand war between Australia's two biggest green groups, WWF and Greenpeace, revealing the widening ideological divide between conservationists and activists of the founding denominations in the broad church of the environment movement.<br /><br /><br /><b> In Brief</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10509522" class="Headline">Taxpayers face having to pay an extra $200 million as part of the Government's buy-back of the national rail service.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/transpsortation-camels-oil-prices.php" class="Headline">Farmers in Rajasthan, India are forsaking their gas-guzzling tractors and returning to using their trusty camels for haulage.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24584438/" class="Headline">U.S. could get 20%of energy from wind by 2030, says DOE.<br /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1372707820080513" class="Headline">UNEP wants to plant 7 billion trees.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/13auto.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" class="Headline">Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by 2010.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=14642&channel=6" class="Headline">UK Government to miss 60% of eco-targets, think tank says.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7401940.stm" class="Headline">The US lists the polar bear as a threatened species but says the decision will not affect climate change policies.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://hot-topic.co.nz/2008/05/15/never-mind-the-bollocks/" class="Headline">Global Warming Swindle coming to New Zealand.</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b> Best of the Net</b><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.eatlowcarbon.org/Carbon-Calculator.html" class="Headline">Check out the low carbon calculator.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080509-sixdegrees-video-wc.html" class="Headline">VIDEO: What If Earth Warms 6 Degrees?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/nr/programmes/ourchangingworld" class="Headline">Radio NZ: our changing world.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script src=”http://scoopit.co.nz/api/check_url.js” type=”text/javascript”></script></div>garethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01060336680092801648noreply@blogger.com0