from Environment Forum:
As if 2007 never happened?
If four years is a lifetime in politics, it's an eternity in climate change politics. Events in Washington this week might make climate policy watchers wonder if 2007 really happened.
At issue is the decision by American Electric Power to put its plans for carbon capture and storage on hold, due to the weak economy and the lack of a U.S. plan to limit emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide. Read the Reuters story about it here.
Carbon capture and storage, or CCS for short, has been promoted as a way to make electricity from domestic coal without unduly raising the level of carbon in the atmosphere. Instead of sending the carbon dioxide that results from burning coal up a smokestack and into the air, the plan was to bury it underground. But that costs money and requires regulatory guarantees, and neither are imminent in the United States. Legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions bogged down on Capitol Hill a year ago and has not been re-introduced.
Sarah Forbes of World Resources Institute called AEP's decision "a surprise, but not a shock."
"Given that U.S. climate legislation stalled last summer, companies have less incentive to move forward with CCS, which has proven difficult to advance at scale," Forbes said in a statement.
Compare that to what happened in 2007. Senators Barbara Boxer, John Warner and Joe Lieberman joined forces that year to focus attention on climate change and were able to shepherd a carbon-limiting bill to the Senate floor the next year, the farthest any such measure has gotten in the United States. Al Gore, the former vice president and perennial climate campaigner, shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the United Nations' Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change for bringing climate change to public attention.
On Groundhog Day of that year (why did they pick February 2?) the IPCC released its Fourth Assessment report on what was likely to happen in a warming world. The report forecast more severe weather, worse heat waves, dramatic droughts, wildfires and floods, rising seas and melting glaciers. It also famously said, with 90 percent certainty, that climate change was under way and that human activities contribute to it.
Amidst the shivering in Washington, the case for global warming
OK, it’s cold in Washington. It’s really cold. And snowy. And blizzardy. It’s hard to recall that long-ago moment — what was it, six days ago? — when you could go for a walk without cross-country skis and a flask of brandy. But just because it’s winter doesn’t mean global warming is a myth.
But the storms gave conservatives fresh fodder for mocking former Vice President Al Gore and his efforts on global climate change. Senator Jim DeMint tweeted “It’s going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries ‘uncle’,” Politico reported.
For decades, scientists have struggled to explain the difference between weather, which changes in the short term, and climate, which changes over the long term. There’s a good explanation at the new government Climate Service Web site called “Short term cooling on a warming planet.” The new site went up this week, between blizzards, and is supposed to guide consumers and businesses so they can adapt to climate change. The Climate Service itself is expected to be up and running by the start of the next U.S. fiscal year that begins on October 1.
The last decade was the warmest on record, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United Kingdom’s Met Office and the World Meteorological Organization. “The bottom line is that current temperatures are way above the long-term average,” NOAA’s David Easterling says.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is certainly not backing away from its 2007 report that global warming is occurring and human activity is causing it. But climate change skeptics have focused on what they see as problems with how some of the data that led to this conclusion were collected and reported. To most scientists, though, this is all beside the point.
One sign that the planet is getting warmer is what’s happening in the Arctic Sea. It’s not as icy as it used to be at this time of year, and that means there won’t be much thick, hardy sea ice at the beginning of the spring melt season — which in turn means there will be more open water exposed. Dark-colored water absorbs the sun’s rays, just as light-colored sea ice reflects them, so it’s likely to get even warmer up there. That’s important because the Arctic is one of the world’s biggest weather-makers.
But that still doesn’t explain the unusual weather patterns — putting it politely — that have hammered the U.S. East Coast this winter. However, part of the overall long-term forecast for a warmer world is for more severe weather events, and the current storms could qualify. So could the notable lack of snow at some venues of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Oddball weather can be a sign of climate change.
Pay tribute to Al Gore, the father of the global warming hoax, by sending “Fraudster the Snowman” (http://politickles.com/blog/?p=4008) to all your friends.
Healthcare and the holidays
It’s Christmas Eve and there is a lot more stirring than just a mouse. In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate just voted to approve a wide-ranging healthcare overhaul bill with Democrats and Republicans divided as they have ever been.
All 60 Democrats voted for the legislation while 39 Republicans opposed it (Republican Senator Jim Bunning was absent), ending a month-long marathon debate in the Senate with the first Christmas Eve vote in more than a century (1895).
In what some could interpret as a sign of just how important this legislation is to President Barack Obama’s agenda, his vice president, Joe Biden, presided over the session serving in his dual role of president of the Senate.
Now lawmakers will have the task early next year of trying to meld the two different versions of healthcare legislation that passed the Senate and House of Representatives, with Republicans vowing a tough fight.
“This fight is long from over. My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
With the Senate vote done, that cleared the way for senators to head home finally and Obama to head off to the sunny skies and warm sand in Hawaii where he will spend the holidays with his family. Luckily he has Air Force One to get him there as a major winter storm is moving through the Midwest which could snarl plans for many trying to make it home for the holidays.
Already a few flights out of one major hub for Northwest Airlines, Minneapolis-St. Paul, has been canceled this morning and that is expected to um, well, snowball down to Chicago and elsewhere.
Jeremy Pelofsky reported (on or about 1/5/10) an otherwise good story about the Yemeni detainee who lost his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
But Mr. Pelofsky made the curious statement: “The decision is one of a handful of cases to reach the appeals court. Dozens of detainees have sought release from the Guantanamo prison under the so-called habeas corpus doctrine.”
Jeremy, “so-called”? Where did you get that? Is this an editorial? The right of habeas corpus is embedded (that’s a term the press knows) in the First Article of the U.S. Constitution, Section 9, Clause 2. Your preface cheapens that right, it’s like saying our so-called constitution, or the so-called journalist Jeremy Pelofsky. This may be your editors fault, and if, so accept my apology and please pass along my complaint to them. Thanks
First Draft: cooling off
Let it snow. Why should London have all the fun? Washington weather calls for a few inches, just enough for a snowball fight for hearty Midwesterners like President Barack Obama.
But guard that snow gear. The New York Times says reports of stolen snowplows are up in cold-weather states as the economy declines.
Speaking of the declining economy, Obama doing separate interviews this afternoon with just about every TV channel in the vicinity of the White House — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX.
Could he possibly be trying to sell the stimulus package that House Republicans shunned last week?
He will also announce his pick for Commerce Secretary at 11 a.m.
No one is commenting on the record, but plenty of unnamed sources have named the choice as Sen. Judd Gregg.
The New York Times editorial page calls for Tom Daschle to withdraw his name from consideration as Obama’s health secretary.
Obama to shivering Washingtonians: Toughen up
President Barack Obama, steeled by Chicago’s harsh winters, had some unsolicited advice for shivering Washingtonians on Wednesday — toughen up. Obama took a joking dig at residents of Washington, his new adopted home, after his daughters’ school was closed because of icy streets and sidewalks in the nation’s capital. “My children’s school was canceled today, because of what? Some ice,” he said to laughter as he spoke to reporters while sitting down with corporate executives to discuss his economic recovery plan. As one of his girls, who both attend the private Sidwell Friends school, pointed out, Obama added, “in Chicago, school is never canceled. … You’d go outside for recess. You wouldn’t even stay indoors.” “We’re going to have to apply some flinty Chicago toughness,” he said in an amused tone. Asked whether was calling Washingtonians wimps, Obama — who moved his family from Chicago before his presidential inauguration last week — said, “I’m saying when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don’t seem to be able to handle things.”
For more Reuters political news, click here
Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama meets business leaders)
If Obama does not care about his children other people do care about theirs and they are much safer at home. Wished to heavens he had never got into the White House God only knows what is in store with him in charge.
The First Draft, Tuesday Dec. 30
Israel’s military operations in Gaza continue to dominate front pages of major newspapers and morning talk shows. Wall Street is looking for a positive start as oil and gold prices ease back from the price spikes that followed the onset of the Israeli strikes against Hamas.
President George W. Bush remains at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, while President-elect Barack Obama continues his vacation in Hawaii.
GMAC said it will resume financing auto loans following a $5 billion investment from the U.S. Treasury. The latest financial rescue also included a $1 billion loan to General Motors to purchase equity in GMAC.
Extreme weather and the weak economy also taking top spots in holiday week news cycles. A dismal shopping season could take down some malls struggling to service their debt.
Congress will take a closer look at what went wrong on Wall Street beginning next week with a hearing on financier Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud. Meanwhile, the Washington Post takes a close look at why insurance giant AIG needed so much government bailout money.
And for you history buffs – scientists have found out why the 1918 flu virus was so deadly. Three genes allowed it to invade the lungs and cause pneumonia.
The First Draft, Monday Dec. 29
WASHINGTON – Israeli air attacks in Gaza dominate morning talk shows and front pages of major U.S. newspapers. The attacks pushed up oil prices by more than $3 a barrel to over $40. Gold prices also moved higher. Nevertheless, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street in what is expected to be a light trading.
President-elect Barack Obama remains in Hawaii and President George W. Bush is at his ranch in Texas.
Winter weather extremes and dismal holiday shopping season featured on morning talk shows.
Those who really enjoyed 2008 — there must be a few of you out there — will be glad to hear that the year will last a little bit longer. The world’s timkeepers are preparing to add a special “leap second” on Wednesday just before the clock strikes midnight to take into account the slowing of the earth’s rotation.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (Israeli tanks move just outside the northern Gaza Strip)
we should understand what is happening, iran and syria would attack israel now, but they know they will get a pounding.,so they get the palestinians to what they are frightened to do them selves.if israel let down their defenses every country in the middle east would join in the frenzy.this an example to america if there is a perception of weakness like during the 90s under obama then look out.they only respect strenght.
The First Draft: Wednesday, Dec 17
President-elect Barack Obama is almost done with his first chore.
Obama, who takes office on Jan. 20, holds a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday to announce he has picked former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to head the agriculture department and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary.
With those selections, Obama moves closer to filling the last of the Cabinet posts in his administration, with nominees for transportation, labor and U.S. Trade Representative still to be named.
It is a rapid pace for the next president, who has moved faster than his recent predecessors in making Cabinet selections. He hoped to have most of them out of the way before he heads to Hawaii on vacation at the end of the week.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers hope Bush administration officials move as fast, as they wait for word on a bailout that could keep them solvent.
Senior Democratic lawmakers said on Monday they expected action from the Bush administration as early as Wednesday on financing that would likely take the stricken companies through early 2009.
Weather looks good for most of U.S. on Election Day
WASHINGTON – Election Day is finally here, the final opinion polls are in and now it’s time for Americans to make their way to the voting booth — but will weather be a factor?
According to the latest forecast maps, most of the country will not have adverse weather conditions, but there could be rain showers in two battleground states.
Good weather historically has helped Democrats.
Virginia, which has voted Republican since 1964, is now a toss-up state between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama and will likely see showers most of the day stretching from Newport News north to the suburbs outside Washington, D.C., and west toward Roanoke.
Parts of North Carolina, a state that has been leaning slightly toward McCain, will experience showers during the morning.
Meanwhile Florida, Ohio, Missouri and Pennsylvania, all battleground states critical to a McCain victory, should be clear. Other key states like Colorado and New Mexico, where Obama hopes to help his cause, are not expected to have bad weather.
Out West, Weather.com reported that showers are expected in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle.
Sunny skies on Nov. 4 could help Obama
The gods could be smiling on Barack Obama come Nov. 4.
Weather forecasters AccuWeather.com predict sunny skies across much of the country on Election Day, and good weather has historically helped Democrats at the polls.
A 2005 study found that lousy weather typically helps Republicans, as less-dedicated voters who typically favor Democrats tend to stay home rather than wait in line in the rain and snow.
To be precise, turnout drops by just under 1 percent for every inch of rain, or one-half percent for every quarter inch of snow, according to University of Pittsburgh professor George Krause, who co-authored the study.
So what’s the outlook for Tuesday? Unseasonably dry and warm across most of the Lower 48 states, according to AccuWeather.
Showers are forecast for the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest, where polls show Obama leading Republican rival John McCain by substantial margins.
But the widespread popularity of early voting could lessen any weather-related impact on Tuesday’s vote, Krause told Accuweather.
Ironic how global warming will be weighing in on election day to support the candidate who promises to fight it.
Why does no one talk about the fly ash slurry (water and coal ash waste)containment field that failed and flooded the town of Kingston, Tn.? The facts have been made public through the Freedom of Information Act.
Forty-some other coal fired power plants through out the U.S. are at risk for similar failure. Power plant and coal mine operators are concerned about their investments and would like to continue to mine and burn coal. However, to address the problems of excess CO2 and ignore the dangers of waste that is created is myopic at best and more likely a willful omission by government officials who stand to benefit financially from the preservation of these industries.
The nuclear power industry presents the same problem, what to do with the waste. Solutions that only address half of the problem are not solutions at all. They are an attempt to dupe the public into spending a lot of money for infrastructure that would in the short run allow the coal and nuclear industries to proliferate. In the end we will have ecological disasters like Chernobyl and Kingston all around the globe.