Tar Sands Devastation

Comprehensive Report Spell Out Devastation From Tar Sand Operations. OilandSands.org, January 10, 2008. "The Pembina Institute and WWF Canada released [on January 10, 2007] Under-Mining The Environment, Oil Sands Mine Environmental Report Card -- the most comprehensive comparative assessment of 10 of Alberta's operating, approved or applied-for oil sands mines. The mines, for the most part, get a failing grade. The current and proposed oil sands mining projects are ranked on 20 different environmental indicators in five categories: environmental management, land impacts, air pollution, water use, and management of greenhouse gases... With the exception of the existing Albian Muskeg River Mine, no operation has voluntary targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions... Despite more than 40 years of oil sands development, not a single hectare of land has been certified as reclaimed under Government of Alberta guidelines." Summary of Report (PDF, 4 pp); Full Report (PDF 72 pp).

Rapid Increase in Antarctic Ice Melt

Antarctic Ice Disappearing

WASHINGTON - Climatic changes appear to be destabilizing vast ice sheets of western Antarctica that had previously seemed relatively protected from global warming, researchers reported yesterday, raising the prospect of faster sea-level rise than current estimates.
While the overall loss is a tiny fraction of the miles-deep ice that covers much of Antarctica, scientists said the new finding is important because the continent holds about 90 percent of Earth's ice, and until now, large-scale ice loss there had been limited to the peninsula that juts out toward the tip of South America. In addition, researchers found that the rate of ice loss in the affected areas has accelerated over the past 10 years -- as it has on most glaciers and ice sheets around the world.
"Without doubt, Antarctica as a whole is now losing ice yearly, and each year it's losing more," said Eric Rignot, lead author of a paper published online in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Northeast Winters Warming FAST!

Northeast Winters Warming Fast. By Michael Hill, AP, January 12, 2008. "Signs that winters in the Northeast are losing their bite have been abundant in recent years and now researchers have nailed down numbers to show just how big the changes have been.A study of weather station data from across the Northeast from 1965 through 2005 found December-March temperatures increased by 2.5 degrees. Snowfall totals dropped by an average of 8.8 inches across the region over the same period, and the number of days with at least 1 inch of snow on the ground decreased by nine days on average. 'Winter is warming greater than any other season,' said Elizabeth Burakowski, who analyzed data from dozens of stations for her master's thesis in collaboration with Cameron Wake, a professor at the University of New Hampshire's Institute for the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space."

Cap and Trade Scheme Flawed

Cap-and-Trade Scheme to Reduce Airline Emissions is Flawed. Commentary by Dan Hamilton, SFChronicle, January 13, 2008. "There's a big hole in the Kyoto Protocol: Airline emissions aren't covered. This emission omission has officials in California and Europe worried, so each acted recently to plug the hole. In December, ministers from 27 different countries agreed to cap carbon emissions from aircraft flying to and from the European Union. California joined a host of other U.S. states and municipalities to petition the EPA to institute a similar system on all aircraft flying to and from American airports. The new EU system, slated to go into effect in 2012, would cap carbon dioxide emissions for European and foreign airplanes alike, while allowing airlines to buy and sell pollution credits on the EU carbon market... The pollution credit scheme could mean windfall profits for some companies and major losses for others. It is a unilateral approach to a global problem. Undaunted, EU activists are pressing ahead, and have found American allies - not in Washington, but in California and a host of other states. The states have petitioned the EPA to impose a cap-and-trade system, similar to that of the EU, on domestic and foreign aircraft departing or landing at American airports... Activists on both sides of the Atlantic are hoping that their newfound partnership can set the stage for U.S. action at home and abroad, should the policy door open in Washington following the November elections. They will be better able to walk through that door, however, if they use the time they have now to fix the flaws in their cap-and-trade plans for aviation." Dan Hamilton is a professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University.

Seeking Friendlier Skies

NRDC Launches Campaign Against Airlines Using Fuel from Tar Sands, Coal and Shale. NRDC, January 10, 2008. "The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) today urged 15 major U.S. and Canadian airlines and The Boeing Company to publicly oppose the use of jet fuel made from highly polluting sources including liquefied coal, oil shale, and so-called 'tar sands,' and called on the airlines to join a campaign seeking increased investment in cleaner fuels throughout the airline industry. 'The aviation industry is under tremendous pressure to cut emissions and reduce their fuel bills. Using tar sands, coal, and shale to make fuels won't help. In fact, it would be a giant step backward,' said Liz Barratt-Brown, NRDC senior attorney. 'There are better, safer, cleaner solutions that cost less and won't pollute the friendly skies. We want to work with them to make it happen.' Production of oil from these controversial sources generates between two and five times the heat-trapping global warming pollution compared with producing conventional oil."

Wartime Mobilization Against Climate Change

'Wartime Mobilization' Against Climate Change: Lester Brown's Plan B. By Bryan Walsh, Time, January 10, 2008. "After detailing just how screwed our overpopulated, overconsuming world is -- thanks to an economic system that rewards production without regard for environmental impact -- Brown [president of Earth Policy Institute] lays out an alternate path that could save us from the worst consequences of climate change. At the heart is a call to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions 80% by 2020 -- far more aggressive than anything you'll hear from political leaders or even most activists. It's an ambitious plan, one that is less concerned with political feasibility than the survivability of the planet. 'This is... wartime mobilization, an all-out response proportionate to the threat that global warming presents to our future,' [Brown says]."

Fossil Fools Day

Fossil Fools Day, April 1st: International Day of Action Against the Fossil Fuel EmpireFind a fossil fool in your community and pull a prank that packs a punch. Check out our website for the call-to-action and to download our new April 1st Action Guide to Fossil Fooleries zine. [read more]

Stop Idling

Utah Moms Fight Idling. By Elaine Jarvik, Salt Lake Deseret Morning News, January 5, 2008. "On a typical afternoon you'll see Dana Clark knocking on the window of some car idling in front of the school across from her house. Politely, Clark will explain that turning off an idling engine is something that moms can do to help clean up Utah's filthy air. But what's really needed, says Clark, is a more systematic approach — not just a few moms knocking on a few windows but a whole state full of moms lobbying for change. Clark is one of the co-founders of Utah Moms for Clean Air, begun seven months ago... Utah Moms for Clean Air is lobbying for public transportation as a priority over construction of the Mountain View Corridor and will lobby the state to adopt stricter car-emission standards. The group has also been working with the Environmental Protection Agency and local school districts to retrofit diesel school buses so they run more cleanly, and has called for a moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants in Utah and elsewhere."

Presidential Candidates on Climate Change

Presidential Candidates on Climate Change. E Magazine, January 6, 2008. "The outcome of the 2008 presidential election could very well have a big impact on a wide range of environmental issues, especially climate change. All of the Democratic candidates -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich -- support reducing carbon dioxide emissions nationally upwards of 80 percent by 2050 in order to stave off global warming. Likewise, each would like to see fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks raised to at least 40 miles per gallon within the next few decades. Meanwhile, only one of the major Republican contenders, John McCain, has even articulated a position on the issue of global warming, with most favoring expanding our base of greenhouse gas-spewing coal-fired power plants... As for specific track records, Clinton has an impressive record of introducing pro-environment legislation into Congress, and for her time in the Senate scores a 90 (out of 100) on green voting from the... League of Conservation Voters. Obama is newer to the politics of the environment, but scored a 96 for his two years in the Senate from LCV, and has garnered kudos from environmental leaders for the aggressive climate and energy plan he unveiled in October 2007." [For the other candidates' climate and energy plans: Clinton; Edwards; Richardson; Kucinich; McCain.]

Keep Up to Date on the Coal Plant Issue

(1) Sierra Club's National Coal Rush Website - This website maps and tracks all coal plants that have been proposed across the country since 2005. We also post recent news articles on coal plants. http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/coal/

(2) Call to Governor Mike Beebe to Halt SWEPCO's Proposed Coal Power Plant in Southwest Arkansas - http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nocoalpp/petition.html

Ice Pioneer Eyes Farthest Glaciers

By CHARLES J. HANLEY – 1 day ago
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — For 5,000 years, great tongues of ice have spread over the 3-mile-high slopes of Puncak Jaya, in the remotest reaches of this remote tropical island. Now those glaciers are melting, and Lonnie Thompson must get there before they're gone.
To the American glaciologist, the ancient ice is a vanishing "archive" of the story of El Nino, the equatorial phenomenon driving much of the world's climate.
More than that, the little-explored glaciers are a last unknown for a mountaineering scientist who for three decades has circled the planet pioneering the deep-drilling of ice cores, both to chronicle the history of climate and to bear witness to the death of tropical glaciers from global warming.
"No one knows how thick these remaining glaciers are," Thompson said of Puncak Jaya, or Mount Jaya. "We do know they are disappearing."
The unknowns on this wild, Texas-sized island extend even to the local climate.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggTWKG3NvM4gbUOp-UjylzHyw2vAD8TVREIG0

Sign the Stop-the-Coal-Plant Petition

Sign the Petition

To: Governor Mike Beebe
We believe that the Arkansas Public Service Commission made a mistake when it approved Swepco's plans for a new coal-fired electric generating plant to be built near Texarkana. Far from being "clean," this plant will spew five million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere every year, increasing our states' global warming emissions by 8 percent. These emissions are equivalent to the annual emissions from half of the cars and light trucks in Arkansas. This is especially ironic when the Arkansas legislature earlier this year voted overwhelmingly to establish the Governor's Commission on Global Warming with the goal of establishing, by the time of the 2009 legislative session, a reduction goal and a plan for achieving it. There are better solutions: energy efficiency, renewable energy resources such as wind, and, if necessary, natural gas (which is far cleaner than coal, and emits only half as much global warming pollution as coal). Furthermore, all of these solutions will provide more jobs for Arkansans than will be provided by the planned coal plant. We call on you to issue a moratorium on all physical preparations for construction at the Texarkana plant until the Governor's Commission on Global Warming has reported to the Arkansas legislature.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned

Sign the Petition

Co-founder of IPCC Dies

Bert Bolin, Swedish Co-Founder of IPCC Dies. By Malin Rising, AP, January 3, 2008. "Bert Bolin, a Swedish climate scientist and co-founder of the Nobel Peace-winning U.N. panel on climate change, has died at age 82. As early as the 1950s, Bolin produced research about the circulation of carbon in nature that remains relevant to the debate on climate change. He played a key role in communicating the dangers of climate change and served as the first chairman of the U.N.'s IPCC from 1988 to 1998... Visiting Sweden in December after accepting the Nobel Prize in Norway, [former VP Al] Gore said: 'Bert, you set up the framework for the IPCC and without your contributions we would not have come to where we are today. Thank you for starting the process.' When he learned he had won the Nobel, Gore first called IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri, and then Bolin, he said. Bolin died Sunday in a Stockholm hospital from stomach cancer, but was active until three days before his death, said his colleague Henning Rodhe, a professor in chemical meteorology at Stockholm University. 'He was an eminent organizer and leader and played an important role internationally in establishing links between scientists and decision-makers,' Rodhe said Wednesday in announcing Bolin's death."

CO2 Trapping Capacity Cut by Warm Fall

CO2 trapping capacity cut by warm fall
QUEBEC CITY, Quebec, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A new study says warmer autumn temperatures are reducing the ability of Canada's northern forests to remove carbon dioxide from the environment.
Related Headlines
That sucking sound? CO2 pulled out of air (November 21, 2007) -- Emerging technologies could take direct aim at global warming by sucking carbon dioxide from the air, U.S. scientists said. Columbia University ... > full story
More trees won't solve climate problems (November 17, 2007) -- A U.S. report says planting more trees won't solve the problem of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The State of the Carbon Cycle ... > full story
Study: 320 million trees killed by Katrina (November 16, 2007) -- U.S. researchers say the millions of trees killed or severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 have become a major source of carbon dioxide ... > full story
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Study: Human-generated ozone damages crops (October 30, 2007) -- U.S. scientists said increasing ozone levels from the use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, seriously affecting the world's ... > full story
Ocean CO2 levels can influence climate (October 24, 2007) -- A Swiss-led study has found the concentration of carbon dioxide in the world's oceans has a significant influence on the Earth's global ... > full story
The report, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, said autumn temperatures in northern latitudes have risen by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past two decades.
Using computer modeling to integrate forest canopy measurements and remote satellite data, researchers found that autumn warming greatly increases soil decomposition and significantly reduces carbon dioxide uptake.
Researcher Philippe Ciais of the Global Carbon Project said the potentially rapid decline in the future ability of northern terrestrial ecosystems to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide would make stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentrations much harder than currently predicted, the report said.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Green Drinks tonight!

YOU'RE INVITED TO GREENDRINKS!

What: GreenDrinks happy hour --- this month with a BONUS!: an organic wine tasting sponsored by Barb Willett from Liquor Mart

When: Wednesday, January 2nd from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm (the 1st Wednesday of every month)

Where: Smilin' Jack's (262 N. School Ave. in Fayetteville)

Details:
---GreenDrinks is a casual social opportunity for people from different professional and personal walks of life who are interested in participating in creating a "greener" local environment and economy to get together to meet one another, talk about ideas and see what comes out of it. This is a community event that is open to anyone interested in participating and takes place on the 1st Wednesday of every month.

---If you haven't been there yet, Smilin' Jack's is great! It is an organic & natural food sandwich shop right off Dickson on School (behind Dickson St. Book Shop; across School from the WAC Rose Garden). As far as drinks go, he serves organic beer and wine (and other beer choices) as well as organic smoothies, water, coffee and sodas. He is committed to developing and running a sustainable business and promoting it to his customers and is happy to offer up his place as a "home" for our GreenDrinks event.

Sponsors:
University of Arkansas Net Impact
Green Valley Net Impact
Bentonville/Rogers Net Impact
Ozark Headwaters Group Sierra Club
Western Arkansas Chapter U.S. Green Building Council
Sustainable NWA
NWA Sustainability Center
Audubon Arkansas

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or comments. Also, if you already get this message from your organization, let me know and I'll take you off my list so you won't get double messages. Hope to see you on the 2nd!

Karen

Karen McSpadden
University of Arkansas Net Impact
479.225.2077 cell
kmcspadd@uark.edu
This email was sent by
NWASC
PO Box 4796
Fayetteville, 727201

How Green is Your Candidate

How Green is Your Candidate? Grist.org, December 6, 2007. ''Interviews and info on the presidential candidates' energy plans and environmental positions"

Beyond the Point of No Return

Beyond the Point of No Return. By Ross Gelbspan, Grist Magazine, December 11, 2007. "As the pace of global warming kicks into overdrive, the hollow optimism of climate activists, along with the desperate responses of some of the world's most prominent climate scientists, is preventing us from focusing on the survival requirements of the human enterprise... To keep ourselves afloat, we need to change the economic and political structures that determine how we behave... We need, in the face of this oncoming onslaught, to reorganize our social structures to reflect our most humane collective aspirations... We are crossing a threshold into uncharted territory. And since there is no precedent to guide us, we are left with only our own hearts to consult, whatever courage we can muster, our instinctive dedication to a human future -- and the intellectual integrity to look reality in the eye."

350 is the NUMBER Every Person Needs to Know

350 Is the Number Every Person Needs to Know. Commentary Bill McKibben, The Washington Post, December 28, 2007. "This month may have been the most important yet in the two-decade history of the fight against global warming. Al Gore got his Nobel in Stockholm; international negotiators made real progress on a treaty in Bali; and in Washington, Congress actually worked up the nerve to raise gas mileage standards for cars. But what may turn out to be the most crucial development went largely unnoticed. It happened at an academic conclave in San Francisco. A NASA scientist named James Hansen offered a simple, straightforward and mind-blowing bottom line for the planet: 350, as in parts per million carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It's a number that may make what happened in Washington and Bali seem quaint and nearly irrelevant. It's the number that may define our future... 450 parts per million... [is what] the European Union and many of the big environmental groups have been proposing in recent years, and the economic modeling makes clear that achieving it is still possible, though the chances diminish with every new coal-fired power plant... But the data just keep getting worse. The news this fall that Arctic sea ice was melting at an off-the-charts pace and data from Greenland suggesting that its giant ice sheet was starting to slide into the ocean make even 450 look too high. Consider: We're already at 383 parts per million, and it's knocking the planet off kilter in substantial ways. So, what does that mean? It means, Hansen says, that we've gone too far. 'The evidence indicates we've aimed too high -- that the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2is no more than 350 ppm,' he said after his presentation... The last time the Earth warmed two or three degrees Celsius -- which is what 450 parts per million implies -- sea levels rose by tens of meters, something that would shake the foundations of the human enterprise should it happen again. And we're already past 350. Does that mean we're doomed? Not quite. Not any more than your doctor telling you that your cholesterol is way too high means the game is over. Much like the way your body will thin its blood if you give up cheese fries, so the Earth naturally gets rid of some of its CO2each year. We just need to stop putting more in and, over time, the number will fall, perhaps fast enough to avert the worst damage... the weaning has to happen now, and everywhere. No more passing the buck. The gentle measures bandied about at Bali, themselves way too much for the Bush administration, don't come close. Hansen called for an immediate ban on new coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon, the phaseout of old coal-fired generators, and a tax on carbon high enough to make sure that we leave tar sands and oil shale in the ground. To use the medical analogy, we're not talking statins to drop your cholesterol; we're talking huge changes in every aspect of your daily life. Maybe too huge. The problems of global equity alone may be too much -- the Chinese aren't going to stop burning coal unless we give them some other way to pull people out of poverty. And we simply may have waited too long. But at least we're homing in on the right number. Three hundred and fifty is the number every person needs to know." Bill McKibben is a scholar in residence in environmental studies at Middlebury College and the author of the forthcoming "Bill McKibben Reader."