To tackle pollution, China to Drop Pursuit of "Growth at All Costs" reports David Stanway at World Environment News, steering local governments towards economic growth balanced with environmental needs, and beef up their powers to punish polluters to start reversing the environmental damage. Way to Go, China!! Thank goodness the leaders are acting!!
Smog shrouds the Forbidden City in Beijing. Credit Brian Jeffrey Beggerly via wikimedia
High on Frack: Congress Members Bankrolled by the F Industry is increasing dramatically, a new report finds, reports Molley Redden at Mother Jones. As the fracking industry has grown dramatically in the past decade, so, too, have the donations to record levels, especially to Republicans, not surprisingly, situated in fracking districts. It wouldn't surprise me that the fracking pollution occurring there will cost far more for taxpayers to clean up, eventually.
Congresspeople supported by the fracking industry. Courtesy Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Civil Society Walks Out of Climate Conference... But Will Return reports Probir Sarker at the Dhaka Tribune. In an unprecedented move, non-government organisations and civil society movements, part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as observers, walked out of the negotiations, noting "Enough is enough", complaining of the hot air rhetoric and little real action on climate change. Other NGOs stayed, to continue to exert pressure from the inside - does this sound like a giant hot air balloon, or what?
Credit 350 org
Historic CO2 Emissions Require Immediate Cuts say two scientists in Nature Climate Change, report Tim Radford at Climate Central, arguing that as carbon dioxide continues to rise, as it did to record levels in 2012 and is set to do in 2013, it will commit future generations to even more warming.
The Top Ten Clean Energy Stories to be Thankful for in 2013 list is published by the Sierra Club here, in case you were wondering if the the entire planet was being led solely by a bunch of foolish turkeys. Take pride, gobble some turkey, but then roll up your shirt sleeves, because we've got a lot more work to do....
Credit Mary Ellen Harte
Renewable Investment To Hit $630 Billion Yearly In 2030, As Fossil Fuels Become Risky, reports Joe Romm at Climate Progress. The trillion dollar question is: will investments turn around fast enough to allow civilization to survive climate change? Stay alive, green, and tuned in, folks! Going clean makes money sense.
☼☼☼ On the Bright Side ☼☼☼
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(>(>(> PEOPLE SPEAK OUT
OO Thousands Rally Across Australia For National Day Of Climate Action
OO Climate Change Rallies Staged Across Canada
OO Thousands In Canada And Australia Protest Anti-Climate Policies
OO Poor Countries Walk Out Of UN Climate Talks As Rich Nations Balk At Climate Compensation
OO 'Clean Up Your Act,' UN Climate Chief Urges Coal Industry
OO Youth Activists Forge A 'Bridge' In Final Hours Of UN Climate Talks
OO UN Secretary Urges Leaders to Make "Bold Pledges" to Cut Emissions by Fall 2014
OO 14 Aid Agencies Say Typhoon Haiyan Shows Need for Action on Global Warming
OO World Bank Urges Better Cookstoves In Developing States To Curb Deaths
LCV has played pivotal roles in promoting clean energy leaders in Congress.
OO Green Group Starts $1M Campaign to Tout US Lawmakers' Clean Energy Work
OO Minnesota Wind Energy Advocates Urge Renewal of Federal Tax Credit
OO More Than 100 Lawmakers Push Obama on Energy Efficiency Extension
For more news on clean energy, click here.
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OO Obama Touts Clean Energy Agenda
OO Democrats Disparage House Republicans' Pro-Drilling Bills
OO Green Group Voices Concern with Oil Sands Shipments on the Great Lakes
OO California Congresswoman Capps Seeks Offshore Fracking Ban
OO Washington: People Vote and Coal Loses
OO Keystone Opponents Seek to Block Oil Sands Exports by Rail
☼☼☼Acting Like You Care: The XL Keystone pipeline will make possible far more climate change, but President Obama might okay it anyway. Credo, 350 org and others are asking people to stand up and be counted as nonviolent resisters or help in other ways. I did. If you ever wanted to do something big for your future, now's your chance - here. 
☼☼☼ BRIGHT IDEAS ☼☼☼
OO The Battery Storage System That Could Close Down Coal Power
OO Look How Dramatically Intelligent LEDs Can Cut Energy Consumption
OO GE Promises More Wind Power Without New Turbines
Mangrove in Puerto Rico. Wikimedia Commons
OO Mangrove Plantings Helped Limit Typhoon Damage
OO UC Berkeley 'Innovative' Housing With Rooftop Farms Planned
OO Minnesota: Using Software to Make Solar Power Cheaper
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OO Alaska: Army Of Volunteers Compiles Possible Evidence Of Climate Change
OO A Framework For A Distributed, Interactive Energy Future - and some real-world examples.
OO Solar Water Pumps Big Aid to Farmers in Emerging Economies
Credit Dennis Schroeder/NREL
OO Solar Panels Facing West, Not South, Reduce Summer Peak Electricity Demand 50+ %
OO The Next Big Innovation in Renewable Energy Will Be Financial
For more information, check out Pear Energy and Ethical Electricity.
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OO India's Informal Environmental Army: The Waste Pickers
OO Guatemala's Ambitious Project To Capture 1.8 Million Tons Of Carbon with a forest reserve.
☼☼☼ BRIGHT DEVELOPMENTS ☼☼☼
OO China: Beijing Looks To Markets To Fix Pollution
OO UK To End Finance Of Coal Projects Overseas
OO New Partnership Between Governments And Industry To Reduce Methane
One of the many gifts of carbon-storing forests. Credit Rhett Butler at www.mongabay.com
OO Norway, Britain, US Pledge $280M To Slow Deforestation For Agriculture
OO REDD+ Program To Cut Deforestation Gets Final Approval In Warsaw
OO US, China Find Convergence On Climate Issue
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OO Australian Company Wins UN Prize For Bringing Solar Power To India's Poorest
OO Iowa: Wind Energy Cuts 8.4 Million Tons Of Carbon Pollution Yearly
Credit: Wave Farmer at surfinoregonorg
OO Shell Oil Self-Imposes High Carbon Pollution Tax - enough to crash coal and even natural gas in the marketplace, when considering projects -- but it doesn't prevent them from continuing to drill, baby, drill, ironically.
OO US Firm's Invests $100 Million In Japanese Solar Power
☼☼☼ BRIGHT SIDE, STATE SIDE ☼☼☼
OO US Feds Give 9 Tribal Nations $7 Million To Fund Clean Energy Projects
OO Google, KKR Invest $400 Million In 6 US Solar Power Plants
OO US Solar Technology Could Lead Global Energy Storage Race with molten salt storage.
OO Future National Energy Legislation Depends on an Efficiency Bill
OO LEED's Stunning Growth--and What's Behind It
OO EPA Proposes Reducing Ethanol Requirement for Gas Mix
OO More Evidence That America May Have Reached 'Peak Car' -
"We now have fewer light-duty vehicles, we drive each of them less, and we consume less fuel than in the past."
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OO Colorado Proposes Historic Air Pollution Regulations
OO Nebraska to Nearly Triple Wind Energy Capacity By 2015
OO New York: Bloomberg's Hidden Legacy: Climate Change And The Future Of New York City
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OO Pennsylvania: Philly 'Green' Expo Shows Game-Change in Construction Industry
OO Rhode Island Gov to 'Flip Switch' on New Solar Power Array
OO Texas Expands Clean Energy Jobs
OO A Trio of US Markets Ready for Grid-Scale Energy Storage Success - California, Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. (alright, so they can't count...)
☼☼☼ BRIGHT SIDE, WORLDWIDE ☼☼☼
OO IKEA Fulfills One Third of Its Energy Use with Clean Energy, Keeps Going
OO Consumers Want Green Energy From the Utility if the Price Is Right
OO Bank of America Raises $500M for Renewable Energy Projects
*****Ready to Invest Your Bucks in Solar? Check out Mosaic opportunities here!
OO Pay-As-You-Go Solar Energy Finds Success in Africa
OO Why China's Solar Building Boom Is Good for the United States
OO Electricity Generated Using Solar Mirrors to Double in 2013
OO Halving EU Emissions By 2030 Is Affordable, Says Britain
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The flag flies, May 21, 2013.
At Moore, OK, the day after a huge tornado demolished it.
Credit Major Jon Quinlan/defenseimagery mil
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***** US Climate Change News *****
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OO 4+ Million US Homes At 'High Or Extreme Risk' From Wildfires
OO Dire Drought News Dominates US Winter Outlook
OO Steep Hike In Flood Insurance Rates Strikes Rural Areas
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OO Why Dengue And Yellow Fever Could Be Coming To A City Near You
OO Report Outlines Climate Change Impact In Southeast - more fiercely hot days, more floods and drought -- the Southeast already is being affected by climate warming, which will cause a cascade of trouble, from more disease to fewer trees and crops and less water.
OO Most Americans Uninformed on Fracking - study; they're too busy eating turkey.
For more, click here.
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OO Industry-Backed Studies Exaggerate Fracking Job Estimates - report.
OO Water Shortages Could Dry Up Shale Gas Craze
OO Coal Seen As New "Tobacco", Sparking Investor Backlash
OO Solar Energy Shakeout: Concentrating vs. Photovoltaic and PV is winning.
<><><><>
OO Alaska: Yup'ik Villages Ravaged By Fierce Storms
OO Arizona: Internal GOP War Over Arizona Solar Power
OO Arkansas: Exxon Gets Relatively Tiny Fine For Massive US Tar Sands Spill - an economic pin-prick on its wrists...
For more in-depth coverage of the issues, click here.
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OO California: Must Adopt Aggressive Climate-Change Policies, report says
OO Florida's South Faces Ominous Prospects From Rising Waters
OO Illinois: Chicago Mayor Vows Crackdown on Refinery Petcoke Waste Pollution
Tornadoes battered the midwest, devastating the community of Washington, Illinois. Wikimedia commons.
OO Illinois, Midwest: Fast Killer Storm, Tornadoes Batter Midwest, $1 Billion Damage
OO Michigan: Lake Erie Is Dying Again, Now Due to Climate Change
OO Montana: Climate Threatens Big-Game Animals
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OO New Jersey: Underwater Destiny For Many Towns
OO Texas Rice Farmers May Go 3rd Year Without Water
OO Texas: TransCanada Has Already Fixed 125 Dents, Sags, In South Keystone Pipeline - imagine what they're missing...
Credit Wikimedia commons
OO Texas: Massive Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes , Causing Big Evacuation
OO Washington: Flooding Undermines Seattle's Flower Farmers
<><><><> GOPPING IT UP <><><><>
OO House Passes Bills To Fine Drilling Protesters, Squelch Federal Oversight Of Fracking
OO Tea Party Republicans Are Biggest Climate Change Deniers - new pew poll.
Even elephants can't survive on oil. Credit: Mary Ellen Harte
OO House Votes to Accelerate Natural Gas Pipeline Approval Process
OO House Cuts Funds for Green Energy Permitting from Energy Bill
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Via the University of East Anglia Climate Change webpage
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<<<< Climate Change Round the World >>>>
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OO Global Damage From Extreme Weather, Disasters Set To Break $200 Billion A Year
OO Globe Continues on a Hot Streak for 344th Month
OO Just 90 Companies Caused Two-Thirds Of Man-Made Global Warming Emissions
Global temperature departures from average for October 2013, which was the seventh-warmest October on record, notes Brian Kahn at Climate Central. Credit NOAA
OO Shale Revolution Spreads With Record Wells Outside US
OO High Resolution Global Maps Show Increasing Forest Loss In Tropics
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OO Nitrous Oxide 'Is Potent Double Threat', Could Double by 2050 - UNEP
OO UN Climate Talks Shun Carbon Budget Shareout As Too Radical - just how radical must extreme weather get?
OO Australia, Japan Likely To Offset Climate Gains In US, China study finds.
When the magnificent biodiversity of a carbon-storing rainforest is destroyed for growing oil palms, which produce an unhealthy cooking oil, the climate future of our children suffers. Wikimedia commons.
OO Photos Expose Palm Oil Giant's Deforestation In Indonesia
OO Jordan's Farmers Struggle To Weather Climate Change
OO How Climate Change Could Impact the World's Food Supply
For more of the science, facts and impacts of climate change covered by scientists and journalists, click here.
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OO Insurance Shortfall Hits People Most Vulnerable to Climate Change
OO Brazil Blames Organized Crime For Deforestation Rise
OO One billion Africans Threatened by Climate Change
Climate change will make droughts worse in Africa. Wikimedia commons
OO Drought Threatens Small-Scale Zambian Maize Farmers
OO Botswana Secretly Fracks Large Wildlife Preserve, Kicks Out Natives
OO Italy: Sardinia Hit By 'Apocalyptic' Storm - as 17 Inches of rain fell in 90 minutes; many people died.
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OO Philippines: Typhoon Deaths Top 5,200, Cost up to $6 Billion
OO Philippines: A Crippled Nation Battles A Tide Of Desperation
OO Philippines Typhoon Crop Damage Worth $110 million: FAO - showing how climate change will dent future food production.
Cyclone Helen was the second cyclone in 6 weeks to hit India's eastern coast. Wikimedia commons
OO India: Second Cyclone In Six Weeks To Hit Coast
OO China: Oil Pipeline Explodes, Killing 35, Setting Ocean On Fire
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Ten Global Warming Indicators. Credit NOAA
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(((((((( Seeking the Science ))))))))
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OO Sea Level Rise Experts Worry About 'High-End'
OO Sea Level Rise 'Locking In' Quickly
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OO Climate Change May Magnify Toxic Chemical Dangers
OO Research: Geoengineering Could Weaken Vital Monsoon Rainfall - study.
OO The Myth Of The Global Warming 'Pause - when previously overlooked Arctic temperatures are included in temperature records, no "pause" in increasing global surface temperatures is seen.
Hurricane Sandy broke a seasonal record, occurring later than another other US hurricane on record. Credit: NOAA.
OO All Over The World, Hurricanes Keep Setting New Intensity Records
OO Hot US West Droughts Likely To Persist - study.
OO Climate Change Is Messing Up Butterfly's Flight Seasons
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OO Satellites Reveal Browning Mountain Forests
OO Montana, Dakotas: As Bakken Shale Oil Production Sets In, Pollution Starts To Migrate
OO Gulf Of Mexico Deep Sea May Need Decades To Recover From Oil Spill - study.
Credit: Kathleen Ruhland.
OO Tiny Algae Signal Big Changes For Warming Arctic Lakes
OO Australia Is On Track For Its Warmest Ever Year says study.
OO Warming Climate Puts US Trout In Jeopardy
<><><><>
@@@ Climate Change in the Media @@@
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@@ LIVING ON EARTH @@ PRI's Environmental News Magazine, covers climate change and other fascinating topics as well. Check it out!
@@ Video: Using Finance to Balance Our Environmental Budget
@@ Create Green Insulation With Mushrooms!
!!!! Want to Save Energy & Help the Planet? Check out these helpful EPA Climate Change youtubers here! !!!!
@@ At Last, a Green Radio Show to counter the Lush Bimbaugh wasteland. Check out On the Green Front with Betsy Rosenberg at Progressive Radio Network to keep updated on climate change, and other green topics.
@@ Video: America's Dangerous Pipelines - the title says it all; compelling . . .
To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out!
Every day is Earth Day, folks, as I was reminded by this turkey, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. It's right around Thanksgiving that we see these creatures actually strutting around on the roads in our suburban neighborhood. You can get so close to them that you can see the long eyelashes some have, and as a biologist, I'm fascinated that the males have those "horsetails" hanging out front. They're ours to protect, sustain - and enjoy.
Making the U.S. a global clean energy leader will ensure a heck of a lot more jobs, and a clean, safe future. If you'd like to join the increasing numbers of people who want to TELL Congress that they will vote for clean energy candidates you can do so here. It's our way of letting Congress know there's a strong clean energy voting bloc out there. For more detailed summaries of the above and other climate change items, audio podcasts and texts are freely available.
