Former Vice President Al Gore in his home office in Nashville, TN. (Time magazine)
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Syndication: 
Another Climate Denial Myth Answered August 26, 2010 : 5:57 PM
Climate deniers often cite the expanding sea ice in the Southern Ocean as evidence that the climate crisis is not occurring. It turns out the opposite is true:
“Unlike the Arctic, where much of the sea ice is — at least for now — year-round, the Southern Ocean’s sea ice is thin and seasonal. And during the latter half of the 20th century, its winter surface area has increased. Climatologists say the expansion doesn’t change long-term projections of Antarctic melt, but skeptics have used it to attack their forecasts.”
“Ice is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap,” read one Fox News story on the expansion.”
“Indeed, global warming appears to have been protective. By combining temperature and precipitation records with simulations of Southern Ocean climate, Curry and Liu linked the 20th-century warming of .36 degrees Fahrenheit in the Southern Ocean’s upper waters to increased regional snowfall. The finding makes intuitive sense: Rising temperatures increase the amount of moisture in the air, which eventually becomes snow. And for the last few decades, that snow kept surface waters from warming even more, added bulk to sea ice, and reflected sunlight.”
“But as the Antarctic continues to warm, Curry and Liu’s models show snow becoming rain (see image below), even as total precipitation rises (see image above). By the century’s end, they predict snowfall retreating to the Antarctic continent’s edge. The Southern Ocean at large will be rainy. Sea ice will contract. Continental ice will continue to melt.”
Race Around the World August 25, 2010 : 5:04 PM
A fascinating race began yesterday in Geneva:
“Drivers in Geneva on Monday set off for a round-the-world rally in solar-powered vehicles to showcase the potential of electric vehicles.”
“The challenge is see whether the four teams can complete the 80-day trip emissions-free, according to Zero Race organizer Louis Palmer, who drove his own "solar taxi" through 38 countries over 18 months.”
“The typical look of a solar car is more like that of a spaceship than of a sedan, being only a few feet off the ground, oval-shaped, and covered with solar cells. The two-passenger vehicles in the Zero Race are more familiar, because they are electric vehicles powered by solar and wind power, according to the race organizers.”
David and Charles Koch August 24, 2010 : 4:03 PM
Today in The New Yorker Jane Mayer has a profile of the Koch brothers who have given more than $100 million dollars to right wing causes, including those that seek to mislead the public about the scientific consensus about global warming. As Mayer reports, “Their combined fortune of thirty-five billion dollars is exceeded only by those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests…”
I would encourage you to read the entire article.
Prop 23: Killing California Job Growth August 19, 2010 : 6:27 PM
From Grist:
"Proposition 23 will kill markets and the single largest source of job growth in California in the last two years," declared Vinod Khosla, a leading green tech investor, referring to the clean energy economy. "Not only that, it'll kill investment in the long term for creating the next 10 Googles."
“Chipped in Weihl: "For California, we can either lead in this and invest in it and participate in this huge growth sector or cede that to China, India, and other places. It would be crazy for us to sit back and let others take that opportunity."
“Underwritten by Texas oil companies Tesoro and Valero and other out-of-state fossil fuel corporations, Prop 23 would suspend California's global warming law -- popularly known as AB 32, as in Assembly Bill 32 -- until the unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters. (In other words, never.) AB 32 requires California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, which most likely would be accomplished through a cap-and-trade market.”
The Result of Inaction August 18, 2010 : 2:37 PM
The failure of Congress to act is already costing our nation billions of dollars:
“Alternative energy investment prospects have shriveled in the United States after the U.S. Senate was unable to break a deadlock over tackling global warming, a Deutsche Bank official said.”
"You just throw your hands up and say ... we're going to take our money elsewhere," said Kevin Parker in an interview with Reuters.”
“Parker, who is global head of the Frankfurt-based bank's Deutsche Asset Management Division, oversees nearly $700 billion in funds that devote $6 billion to $7 billion to climate change products.”
The Movement We Need August 17, 2010 : 3:54 PM
Around the world, when politicians fail to act to solve the climate crisis, people are taking action:
“Tens of thousands of protesters - and a few skeptics - have taken to the streets across Australia to urge the major political parties to take action on climate change.”
“Both Labor and the coalition have failed to take decisive action to cut Australia's pollution levels in the run-up to the federal election, Walk Against Warming rallies in Australia's capital cities heard on Sunday.”
It is my hope we see activism like this here in the United States. A special thanks goes out to those I trained in Australia to give my slide show. They played a major role in the events:
“In Sydney, Al Gore's Climate Project presenter, Nell Schofield, attracted huge cheers when she said Australia's lack of political action on climate change was "not only embarrassing, it is morally reprehensible".
Clean vs. Dirty Energy Subsidies August 14, 2010 : 5:41 PM
The problem with our energy policy summed up very succinctly:
“The financial consultancy, based in London, estimated that around $45 billion or so was doled out in subsidies for renewable energy sources like wind and solar power in 2009, noting how this compares to the most recent International Energy Agency estimate of global subsidies propping up fossil fuels. For 2008, the agency reported last month, such supports totaled around $557 billion — which was a big jump from the $342 billion in 2007. The I.E.A. concluded that “phasing out such subsidies would send a price signal to create incentive for more efficient use.””
It is insane that we're subsidizing fuels that pollute our air, harm our planet and destabilize our security.
100 Square Miles August 13, 2010 : 7:11 PM
A giant iceberg has broken off from Greenland:
“A giant ice island has broken off the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland.”
“A University of Delaware researcher says the floating ice sheet covers 100 square miles – more than four times the size of New York's Manhattan Island.”
“Andreas Muenchow, who is studying the Nares Strait between Greenland and Canada, said the ice sheet broke off early Thursday. He says the new ice island was discovered by Trudy Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service.”
“Not since 1962 has such a large chunk of ice calved in the Arctic, but researchers have noticed cracks in recent months in the floating tongue of the glacier.”
As politicians in Washington continue to delay action, more and more events like this will occur with catastrophic consequences for our planet.
Update from Speaker Pelosi on Renewable Energy Funding August 11, 2010 : 4:45 PM
Earlier this week, I spoke out about the $3.5 billion that has been taken away from the renewable energy and transmission loan-guarantee program. Speaker Pelosi, who is a true leader on these issues, put out a statement yesterday through her spokesperson which said, “The Speaker has been assured by the Obama Administration that it will work to restore these funds so that loans planned for later this year can move forward.”
Inspiring Call with Activists August 11, 2010 : 12:16 PM
Last night, I spoke with 10,000 activists around the country who are part of the Alliance for Climate Protection’s Repower America campaign. We had a chance to talk about the prospects for legislation this year and the challenges we have ahead. It has been a summer of unprecedented events: the terrible fires in Russia, the calving of ice off of Greenland several times the size of Manhattan, flooding and extreme downpours in many locations around the world--from my hometown, Nashville, to faraway places like Pakistan. Unprecedented temperatures have brought new all-time record highs to 17 countries during the first 7 months of 2010. Scientists have noted that these events are consistent with what we can expect from a warmer world.
We have so many allies, from state and local governments that have already begun to cut emissions of global warming pollution to companies that are developing the technologies that will solve the climate crisis. Together, we can Repower America.
