WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. industry executives from the wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass sectors pushed on Tuesday for a federal renewable energy standard, which they said would foster growth and create jobs.

This could also spur these industries at a time when China is moving swiftly into this area, said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association.

Some 30 countries — including China and the European Union countries — and 29 U.S. states already have the hard targets mandated by a renewable energy standard, Bode said in a telephone news briefing.

While 2009 was generally a year of expansion for renewable U.S. energy firms, Bode said one “game changer” was China’s leap into the lead, ahead of former leader Germany, as the world’s biggest builder of wind turbines and also in the amount of new generating capacity added last year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A proposed new U.S. NOAA Climate Service is meant to help businesses adapt to the impact of climate change, and to spur development of new technologies to cope with it, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday.

“Even with our best efforts, we know that some degree of climate change is inevitable and American citizens and businesses, and American governments … must be able to rise to environmental and economic challenges that lie ahead,” Locke told reporters in announcing the move.

He said new private second industries could develop from information generated by the new service, just as industries based on data from the National Weather Service and U.S. Census Bureau have done.

In addition to dealing with climate change, Locke said, “In the process, we’ll discover new technologies, build new businesses and create new jobs.”

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – A proposed new U.S. government climate information service is meant to help businesses adapt to the impact of climate change and spur new technologies to cope with it, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday."Even with our best efforts, we know that some degree of climate change is inevitable and American citizens and businesses, and American governments … must be able to rise to environmental and economic challenges that lie ahead," Locke told reporters in announcing the move.He said new private industries could develop from information generated by the new service, just as industries based on data from the National Weather Service and U.S. Census Bureau have done.In addition to dealing with climate change, Locke said, "In the process, we’ll discover new technologies, build new businesses and create new jobs."The new service — its website is www.climate.gov — means a reorganization at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is part of the Commerce Department and includes the National Weather Service.NOAA already offers data to businesses ranging from agriculture and energy to fisheries and transportation, as well as to the billion-dollar weather-forecasting industry, Locke said. But information about climate change is scattered across the agency.Locke said concentrating NOAA’s expertise and information on climate change in one place would help these industries and others including renewable energy like wind power, infrastructure and architecture planning and disease prevention and control. INFORMATION ON SEAS, GROWING SEASONSNOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said the new service would offer information to help plan for sea level rise, coastal erosion, longer growing seasons, increases in heavy downpours and other severe weather events — all predicted consequences of climate change.The Commerce Department is working with Congress, which must approve the transfer of existing funds to the new service; Locke said he hoped it would be operating by the start of the 2011 fiscal year.U.S. legislation aimed at curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change was narrowly approved by the House of Representatives last year; Senators John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, are working on a Senate measure.The NOAA announcement brought quick praise from Sierra Club President Carl Pope: "As polluters and their allies continue to try and muddy the waters around climate science, the Climate Service will provide easy, direct access to the valuable scientific research undertaken by government scientists and others." (Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scant ice over the Arctic Sea this winter could mean a “double whammy” of powerful ice-melt next summer, a top U.S. climate scientist said on Thursday.

“It’s not that the ice keeps melting, it’s just not growing very fast,” said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

In January, Arctic sea ice grew by about 13,000 square miles (34,000 sq km) a day, which is a bit more than one-third the pace of ice growth during the 1980s, and less than the average for the first decade of the 21st century.

Arctic ice cover is important to the rest of the world because the Arctic is the globe’s biggest weather-maker, sometimes dubbed Earth’s air-conditioner for its ability to cool down the planet.

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Scant ice over the Arctic Sea this winter could mean a "double whammy" of powerful ice-melt next summer, a top U.S. climate scientist said on Thursday. "It’s not that the ice keeps melting, it’s just not growing very fast," said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. In January, Arctic sea ice grew by about 13,000 square miles (34,000 sq km) a day, which is a bit more than one-third the pace of ice growth during the 1980s, and less than the average for the first decade of the 21st century. Arctic ice cover is important to the rest of the world because the Arctic is the globe’s biggest weather-maker, sometimes dubbed Earth’s air-conditioner for its ability to cool down the planet. More melting Arctic sea ice could affect this weather-making process; it is unlikely to lead to rising sea levels, any more than an ice cube melting in a glass of water would make the glass overflow. If Arctic ice fails to build up sufficiently during the dark, cold winter months, it is likely to melt faster and earlier when spring comes, Serreze said by telephone from Colorado. "We’ve grown back ice in the winter, but that ice tends to be thin and that’s the problem," he said. "You set yourself up for a world of hurt in summer. The ice that is there is also thinner than it was before and thinner ice simply takes less energy to melt out the next summer." With less of the Arctic sea covered in ice in winter, and with the existing ice thinner and more fragile than before, "you’ve got a double whammy going on," Serreze said. This more perishable thin ice is prone to early melting, and when it does, the heat-reflecting light-colored sea ice is replaced by heat-absorbing dark-colored ocean water, which accelerates spring and summer melting in the Arctic. This winter, there were unusually warm December temperatures in the Arctic due to a weather pattern known as the Arctic oscillation, so ice grew more slowly than normal. In January, that pattern shifted to produce cooler Arctic temperatures. The ice extent — the area the ice covers — was below normal over much of the Atlantic sector, including the Barents Sea, part of the East Greenland Sea and in the Davis Strait. There was above-average ice extent on the Pacific side of the Bering Sea, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported. The last three years — 2007, 2008 and 2009 — had the lowest level of ice extent since satellite records began in 1979. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Extreme winter weather in the northern United States shows that climate change can have severe effects, even when it doesn’t warm things up, the National Wildlife Federation reported on Thursday.

Climate change is expected to bring shorter, milder winters overall, but some U.S. areas will have more intense snows, with more disruption to such activities as skiing and ice fishing, which depend on predictable conditions, the report said.

“More oddball winter weather is terrible news for skiers,” the federation’s Chip Knight, a former U.S. Olympic slalom skier, told reporters.

Mountain snow sports that require reliable snow conditions provide about $66 billion to the U.S. economy; without them, local communities are vulnerable, Knight said.

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Extreme winter weather in the northern United States shows that climate change can have severe effects, even when it doesn’t warm things up, the National Wildlife Federation reported on Thursday. Climate change is expected to bring shorter, milder winters overall, but some U.S. areas will have more intense snows, with more disruption to such activities as skiing and ice fishing, which depend on predictable conditions, the report said. "More oddball winter weather is terrible news for skiers," the federation’s Chip Knight, a former U.S. Olympic slalom skier, told reporters. Mountain snow sports that require reliable snow conditions provide about $66 billion to the U.S. economy; without them, local communities are vulnerable, Knight said. He pointed to extreme efforts under way to get snow to sites at the Vancouver Winter Olympics as "a startling example of what’s at stake." In the northern United States, spring now arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did 20 years ago. However, some areas are expected to have more heavy snowfalls as winter storm tracks shift northward. For example, reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes is likely to result in more lake-effect snows. Strange winter weather is likely to strain local budgets if overall milder winters are interrupted by heavy snowstorms that require snow removal and road maintenance, said Sheldon Drobot of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Extreme variability from one winter to the next makes planning for maintenance difficult, he said. The current season has offered sudden temperature swings that, among other things, stranded a flock of brown pelicans that failed to migrate south during a mild period in late fall. They’re spending the winter indoors in Maryland after suffering frostbite, said the federation’s Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist. Cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that spur climate change is "an essential first step," Staudt said. However, she added that climate change is already occurring and must be dealt with. "It’s clear that we’re already seeing some impacts and we need to start preparing for the new climate realities," she said. "We can’t continue to plan based on what the historical trends have been." Curbing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions has been one of the Obama administration’s top priorities, and one carbon-cutting bill passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate. President Barack Obama called for climate change legislation in Wednesday’s State of the Union address, and a trio of senators are working on a compromise measure.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two key U.S. senators on Wednesday renewed their commitment to passing a climate change law backed by President Barack Obama, saying they would continue to seek a compromise cap-and-trade bill this year.

“In this area, the opportunity exists this year, in a bipartisan fashion, to get something…,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said of a bill to tackle climate-warming emissions.

But he said the measures now on Capitol Hill had no chance of earning the 60 votes needed for approval in the Senate.

“There will never be 60 votes for climate change legislation as it exists today,” Graham told a forum on clean energy, jobs and security. “And it would be a shame if that is the end of the story.”

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Two key U.S. senators on Wednesday renewed their commitment to passing a climate change law backed by President Barack Obama, saying they would continue to seek a compromise cap-and-trade bill this year. "In this area, the opportunity exists this year, in a bipartisan fashion, to get something…," Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said of a bill to tackle climate-warming emissions. But he said the measures now on Capitol Hill had no chance of earning the 60 votes needed for approval in the Senate. "There will never be 60 votes for climate change legislation as it exists today," Graham told a forum on clean energy, jobs and security. "And it would be a shame if that is the end of the story." Obama, who ran for office on a promise to control climate change, strongly supports a U.S. cap-and-trade law to curb greenhouse emissions and a global agreement to do the same. [ID:nN25187295] Under cap-and-trade, utilities, oil refineries and factories would be required to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases over the next 40 years. Companies would have to obtain permits for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit and those permits would be traded on a regulated exchange. The House of Representatives narrowly passed a cap-and-trade bill last year, but similar measures failed to pass in the Senate and the prospects dimmed after an electoral setback for Obama’s Democratic Party. Without U.S. legislation, the United States had a weak hand at international climate talks in Copenhagen in December, and no binding carbon-limiting targets were reached there. GAS EMISSIONS Graham is working with Senator John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, to write a bipartisan measure to lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Kerry, speaking to the same group as Graham, denied a report in The New York Times that advocates of a cap-and-trade bill were scaling back their efforts. "Our goal remains exactly what it was before: to price carbon and to create a target for reduction of emissions that is real," Kerry said. "So we have not scaled back our goals, they are the same," Kerry said. "We have not recalibrated some lesser approach that is only energy or only this or that … We have to price carbon in order to get the marketplace moving properly." Graham rejected earlier versions of a carbon-capping bill as not friendly enough to business and not able to create enough jobs. But he said doing nothing would allow China to own "the most exciting economic opportunity of the 21st century — the green economy." Key to crafting a bipartisan bill, Graham said, was inclusion of more nuclear power and responsible exploration for offshore oil and gas. Prospects for a comprehensive cap-and-trade measure were hit by a surprise election loss by Democrats last week which robbed them of a critical majority in the U.S. Senate. Scott Brown, who won the Massachusetts seat and eliminated the Democrats’ ability to overcome opposition procedural blocks, opposed a federal cap-and-trade bill in his campaign. (Editing by David Storey)

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Senator John Kerry, a key U.S. lawmaker trying to craft a cap-and-trade bill, denied a report on Wednesday that advocates of this plan to curb climate change were scaling back their efforts. "Our goal remains exactly what it was before: to price carbon and to create a target for reduction of emissions that is real," the Massachusetts Democrat told a forum on clean energy, jobs and security. "So we have not scaled back our goals, they are the same," Kerry said. "We have not recalibrated some lesser approach that is only energy or only this or that … We have to price carbon in order to get the marketplace moving properly." Kerry was responding to a New York Times report that said prospects for a comprehensive cap-and-trade measure were dimming after a surprise election loss by Democrats last week robbed them of a critical majority in the U.S. Senate. Scott Brown, who won the Massachusetts seat and eliminated the Democrats’ ability to overcome opposition procedural blocks, opposed a federal cap-and-trade bill in his campaign. Kerry has been working with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent, to put together a bill to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Graham was quoted in the report as saying cap-and-trade bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are "going nowhere" because they aren’t "business-friendly" enough and fail to lead to energy independence. Graham was scheduled to address the clean energy forum later in the day. Kerry noted Graham’s position, but said the issue under discussion was how to put a price on carbon, not whether to do it. "Cap is on the table, trade is on the table, all these things are on the table, and we’re having a lot of conversations about it," Kerry said. "And you simply won’t get the impact of the reductions (in climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions) you need unless you do it." Kerry said defense review being released by the Pentagon next week will for the first time list climate change as an instability factor that affects U.S. troops "and may in fact wind up costing us lives down the road." (Editing by David Storey)