‘Green News Report’ – July 30, 2009

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IN TODAY’S AUDIO REPORT: China & the U.S., together again; Canada’s Tar Sands – still dirty!; the Gulf of Mexico’s Dead Zone – still dead! … PLUS: Cash for Clunkers … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!

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UPDATE:Shortly after airtime of the report above, which discusses the new “Cash for Clunkers” program, it was announced that the wildly popular program had already run out of the money Congress had allotted to it — after just four days! Details now here…

IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (links below): Rooftop solar power model pays back fast; “Deadliest Catch” fishermen not greedy; Details released on Nissan’s 2010 All-Electric Vehicle; Oil speculators to blame for price spike after all; Composting in the Office… PLUS: Cool-colored roofs save substantially on home energy costs …

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today’s episode follow below…

• U.S. and China sign memorandum on climate change (Reuters)
• China says wants climate deal this year -UN’s Ban (Reuters)
• Obama handles China delicately (Reuters)
• READ: U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment (U.S. Department of State)
• TRANSCRIPT: Signing Ceremony for the U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation in Climate Change, Energy, and the Environment (U.S. Department of State)
• Is The Gulf’s Dead Zone Shrinking? Not Really. (The New Republic)
• Dead Zone in Gulf Is Smaller Than Forecast but More Concentrated in Parts (NY Times)
• Global Ocean Surface Temperature Warmest on Record for June (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)
• Tar-Sands Oil Pollutes Less Than Thought, Report Says (Bloomberg)
• Oil Sands: Not Quite So Dirty? (Wall St. Journal) [emphasis added]:
  In other words, everything’s getting dirtier—so Canada’s oil sands don’t look so bad in comparison. The clean-energy think tank Pembina Institute responded: “Rather than lowering the bar by comparing oil sands to other pollution-intensive sources of oil, we should be assessing how the oil sands compare with technologies like advanced biofuels and electric vehicles.”
• Green Groups Urge Oil Co Holders To Ditch Tar Sands Over High Cost (Wall St. Journal) [emphasis added]:
  Research from consultancy Douglas Westwood last month showed that since the 1970s the U.S. economy has tipped into recession each time the total expenditure on oil has risen above 4% of gross domestic product, equivalent to around $80 a barrel in 2008 dollars.

  This puts the long-term oil price at which Canadian tar sands give a 10% return on investment, equivalent to $65-$80 a barrel in 2008 dollars, “close to the ceiling at which oil prices could be sustained by the economy,” the report said. “That is why 85% of non-OPEC oil project cancellations since October 2008 are tar sands projects,” it said.

• Less oil demand could throttle “tar sands” project
• Damning look at Canada’s tar sands tops enviro journalism awards (Grist.org)
• CASH FOR CLUNKERS INFO: www.CARS.GOV: Deadline is November 1st! (U.S. Dept. of Transportation)
• Here’s the quick read on the ‘cash for clunkers’ rules just published (USA Today)
• ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Database: See if your car qualifies for new government rebate program
  (San Jose Mercury News)
• Ford calls ‘Cash for Clunkers’ a ‘huge success’ (Detroit News)
• Cashing In That Clunker Is No Easy Ride (Wall St. Journal)
• REPORT: Nissan engineers tweaking vehicles to meet Cash-for-Clunkers requirements (AutoBlogGreen)

‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’: More green news not covered in today’s audio report… See below!

• Solar power that pays back fast (Greenbiz.com)
• “Deadliest Catch” seamen say fishermen not greedy (Reuters)
• The Most Cooked-Up Catch: Saving fisheries — and taking the edge off the dangerous derby of the sea (High Country News)
• Nissan’s 2010 EV in detail (Gizmag.com)
• In Break with Bush, Speculators Blamed for Oil Price Spikes (Truthout.org)
• Composting Options for Offices (Reuters)
• White Roofs Catch on as Energy Cost Cutters (NY Times) [emphasis added]:
  Studies show that white roofs reduce air-conditioning costs by 20 percent or more in hot, sunny weather. Lower energy consumption also means fewer of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.
  …
  Drawing on federal stimulus dollars earmarked for energy-efficiency projects, state energy offices and local utilities often offer financing for cool roofs. The roofs can qualify for tax credits if the roofing materials pass muster with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program.
  …
  If the roughly 5 percent of all roofs that are replaced each year were given cool colors, he said, the country’s transformation would be complete in two decades.