‘Green News Report’ – November 21, 2013

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Impasse at the UN climate summit as developing nations walk out of negotiations; Just 90 companies responsible for most of man-made global warming emissions; ‘Apocalyptic’ rains strike again, this time in Sardinia; PLUS: Didja hear the one about the Polish environment minister who was fired in the middle of the UN climate summit in Poland? … All of those hot messes and more in today’s Green News Report!

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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Shell Oil’s self-imposed carbon pollution tax would crash coal; Superstorms cause spike in flood insurance rates; Jbets on hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars; ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign goes solar; 70 taken ill after California chemical plant leak; Tesla: “3 fires received more headlines than 250k gasoline fires”; ‘Digesting’ food waste turns trash into cash; Developed countries spent $35 billion on coal plants since 2007 … PLUS: BP back in the Gulf with largest-ever oil fleet … and much, MUCH more! …

STORIES DISCUSSED ON TODAY’S ‘GREEN NEWS REPORT’…

• “Apocalyptic” Rains Strike Again, In Sardinia:
• Italy declares emergency after Sardinia flood (Al Jazeera):
  At least 18 killed and several missing as flash floods submerge parts of Mediterranean island.
• VIDEO: Sardinia hit by deadly Cyclone Cleopatra and floods (BBC)
• Floods From Mediterranean Storm ‘Ruven’ Kill 18 in Sardinia, Italy (Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground)
• Will extreme weather like super typhoon Haiyan become the new norm? (Guardian UK): The strongest hurricanes are becoming stronger, fueled by warmer oceans caused by climate change
• VIDEO: SuperStorms have Flood Insurance Rates Skyrocketing (Climate Crocks)
• UPDATE: COP 19 UN Climate Talks in Warsaw:
• WATCH Live and On Demand: United Nations Climate Change Conference COP19/CMP9 Warsaw 2013 (UNFCC)
• UN climate talks in Warsaw: what you need to know (Guardian UK)
• New Partnership Between Governments And Industry To Reduce Methane (Climate Progress)
• 3 Countries That Are Bailing on Climate Action: Japan, Canada, Australia (Mother Jones)
• Thousands In Canada And Australia Protest Anti-Climate Policies (Climate Progress)
• Warsaw Talks to Thrash Out UN Climate Roadmap (Scientific American): The costs of reducing emissions may be flash points along the path toward a 2015 Paris treaty
• Climate talks: Should rich countries pay for damage caused by global warming? (Guardian UK) Developing nations have said the issue of loss and damage is a ‘red line’ which must be addressed for talks in Warsaw to progress.
• Developing Nations, NGOs Walk Out of UN Climate Summit:
• Why the U.N. climate talks keep breaking down, in five simple charts (Washington Post)
• Developing nations blame Australia for loss and damage talks ‘walkout’ (RTCC)
• 133 countries walk out of UN climate meeting over global warming compensation row (Russia Today):
  The G77+ China group of 133 countries walked out of the United Nations climate change conference in Warsaw on the Loss and Damage mechanism after developed nations refused to agree to terms. Loss and Damage is set to become a mechanism where the world’s developed economies provide financial assistance to the developing world as compensation for greenhouse gases caused by the industrialization of developed nations.
• EU climate chief: ‘backtracking’ at UN talks ‘not acceptable’ (RTCC)
• VIDEO: “Nature Does Not Negotiate”: Environmentalists Walk Out of U.N. Climate Summit in Warsaw (Democracy Now!)
• Environment Groups Walk Out Of Warsaw COP19 Climate Change Talks (DeSmogBlog):
  Losing patience with the Warsaw talks, the groups accused governments of putting the interests of the “dirty energy lobby” first and of failing to address a global “climate crisis”.
• US envoys told to block climate compensation plans at UN (RTCC)
• VIDEO: Leaked Memo Reveals US Plan to Oppose Helping Poor Nations Adapt to Climate Change (Truth-Out)
• Dirty Energy Subsidies Still 5x More Than Pledged Climate Aid, Activists Ask #WTF? (DeSmogBlog)
• Norway, UK, US chip in to help halt deforestation (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Poland: Unclear On The Concept of ‘Climate Change’?:
• ‘This Is Nuts’: Poland Announces ‘Radical Acceleration’ of Gas Fracking at UN Climate Summit (Common Dreams)
• Poland, hosting U.N. climate conference, fires environment chief (TH Online) [emphasis added]:
  {Polish Prime Minister Donald] Tusk clarified later that Korolec would continue representing Poland in the climate talks through the country’s stint in the rotating presidency that runs through the end of 2014. But climate change activists warned that Korolec’s loss of government backing undermines his clout in pressing delegates to commit to emissions reductions.
• Poland seeks to make ‘coal’ a less dirty word at U.N. climate talks (Reuters)
• U.N. Climate Chief To Industry Leaders: ‘Coal Must Change Rapidly And Dramatically’ (Climate Progress)
• Polish COP19 Presidency accused of putting coal over climate (RTCC)
• Fossil fuel lobbying at UN climate talks ‘harmful’ say NGOs (RTCC)
• Poland’s coal unions protest outside UN climate summit (RTCC)
• Climate Tracker: World On Track for 4C Temperature Rise:
• Climate Action Tracker: world on course for 3.7C warming by 2100 (RTCC):
  Weak government action on climate change will lead to a projected 3.7°C of warming by 2100, around 0.6°C higher than the original promises made in Copenhagen, says a new report.
• Warsaw’s widening climate chasm could lead to 4C warming (Guardian UK) [emphasis added]:
  At an average global temperature rise of 4C, the hottest days experienced would be 6C to 12C hotter, sea levels would rise by 80 cm or higher and the yields for key crops such as maize, wheat and rice would drop by as much as 40 per cent.

  “Those sorts of things would be absolutely devastating – they would be catastrophic,” she said. “There’s a widespread view that four degrees could be incompatible with organised global community and would inevitably lead to conflict and disruption and could potentially be beyond adaptation. Ecosystems are already being threatened – at four degrees we have irreversible impacts on ecosystems.”




• Just 90 Companies Responsible For 2/3rds of Man-Made Global Warming:
• Ninety Companies Responsible For Two-Thirds Of Global Warming Emissions (Climate Progress):
  According to the research, 90 companies on the list of top emitters produced 63% of the cumulative global emissions of industrial carbon dioxide and methane between 1751 to 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatons of CO2 emissions. Aside from seven cement manufacturers, the rest of the emitters were [large] energy companies producing oil, gas, and coal.
• Just 90 companies caused two-thirds of man-made global warming emissions (Guardian UK)
• INTERACTIVE: Which fossil fuel companies are most responsible for climate change? (Guardian UK)
• BHP Billiton ranked in top carbon polluters (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Emissions of CO2 driving rapid oceans ‘acid trip’ (BBC)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (Stuff we didn’t have time for in today’s audio report)…

• Shell Oil Self-Imposes Carbon Pollution Tax High Enough To Crash Coal, Erase Natural Gas’s Value-Add (Climate Progress):
  That carbon pollution price, if it were a national carbon tax, would add about $0.35 a gallon to the price of gasoline. More importantly, it would add $0.04 a kilowatt hour to the price of coal power, which would have a huge impact. Overall, that price level might cut U.S. CO2 emissions more than 20% below current levels, which are already more than 10% below 2005 levels. The vast majority of that CO2 reduction would come from a drop in coal use.
• VIDEO: SuperStorms have Flood Insurance Rates Skyrocketing (Climate Crocks)
• Toyota unveils hydrogen car for 2015 at Tokyo auto show as competition steps up in fuel cells (Washington Post)
• How Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work (How Stuff Works)
• ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign to go solar (Las Vegas Review Journal)
• Climate change: Dear grandchildren, I can only say sorry (Sydney Morning Herald):
  I don’t have grandchildren but I’m hoping for some, someday, so this column is for them. I want you to know that although, in the mid-teens of this century, Australians elected a government that wasn’t genuine in its commitment to combating the effects of climate change, and that even abolished the main instrument economists invented for that purpose, I never accepted this complacency.
• About 70 taken ill after California chemical plant leak (Reuters):
  People in the Carson area complained of throat and nose irritation and vomiting after being exposed to an “apparent sulphuric acid release in the air from a neighboring business,” Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Robert Diaz said.
• Musk: “3 fires, with no serious injuries, received more headlines than 250,000+ gasoline fires” (Treehugger)
• Coverage bias in the HadCRUT4 temperature record (Cowtan & Way, Univ. of York, Dept. of Chemistry)
• ‘Digesting’ Food Waste Can Turn Trash Into Money (Climate Progress)
• Developed countries spent $35 billion on international coal plants from 2007 to 2012 (Climate Progress)
• Feds Give Navy Green Light to Kill Whales and Dolphins (NRDC Switchboard)
• BP Dips Back Into The Gulf With Its Largest-Ever Oil Fleet (Climate Progress)
• Seaweed shuts down Scottish nuclear reactor (Guardian UK): Seawater cooling system of Torness in East Lothian has become clogged with seaweed for the second time this year
• The New Science of Disaster Prediction (New Yorker):
  Disaster prediction—like disaster science, disaster economics, disaster-response technology, disaster art, disaster cinema, disaster lit—is a growth industry. All indications suggest a growth curve that will continue to steepen well into the next century. Disaster is big business, and its prophets will profit.
• How Renewable Energy Can Transform New York State (EcoWatch)
• ANGA’s Tax Forms: Fracking Lobby Gives Big Bucks to Media Outlets, “Other ALECs” (DeSmogBlog):
  If ANGA’s latest 990 forms prove anything, it’s the “golden rule.” Just not the one you’re taught as a kid. That is, when it comes to money in politics, “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
• Denier Group Makes Holocaust Reference About UN Climate Process In Poland (DeSmogBlog):
  After writing that “there simply is no parallel” between the horrors of Nazi concentration camps and current UN efforts to address climate change, CFACT President David Rothbard went ahead and drew the parallel anyway.
• George W. Bush Says Keystone XL Pipeline A ‘No-Brainer’: ‘Build The Damn Thing’ (Huffington Post Green)
• Oil’s Future Draws Blood and Gore in Investment Portfolios (Bloomberg News) [emphasis added]:
  Last month 70 investors representing $3 trillion of assets under management sent letters to oil-and-gas companies asking them to disclose plans for adapting to a world that may be edging closer to peak fossil fuels. That’s the point when humans stop increasing their annual burn – either because the environmental danger makes it too costly or because buildings and cars run more efficiently. Bloomberg New Energy Finance says peak demand could happen in 2030.
• Faux Pause: Media Ignore Study Finding Globe Is Warming Twice As Fast As Thought (Media Matters)
• A Carbon Tax Would Cut The Deficit By $1 Trillion (Climate Progress):
  A carbon tax of $25 per ton of emissions would cut the deficit by $1 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
• MAP: What Our Coastline Will Look Like After We Melt All The World’s Ice (Climate Progress):
  The best science suggests that on our current CO2 emissions path, by 2100 we could well pass the tipping point that would make 200+ feet of sea level rise all but unstoppable – though it would certainly take a long time after 2100 for the full melt-out to actually occur.
• Why we don’t care about saving our grandchildren from climate change: (TIME’s Eco-Centric Blog) [emphasis added]:
  A new study shows that human beings are too selfish to endure present pain to avert future climate change. That’s why we need win-win solutions now….The Nature Climate Change study also underscores why “win-win” climate policies – like innovation investments that can lead directly to cheap clean energy, rather than policies that make dirty energy more expensive – are likely to be the most effective ones.

FOR MORE on Climate Science and Climate Change, go to our Green News Report: Essential Background Page

• Video Proof That Global Warming is a ‘Hoax’!: NASA Temperature Data 1888-2011 (The BRAD BLOG):



• NASA climate change video: This is the U.S. in 2100 (NASA).