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IN TODAY’S AUDIO REPORT: Climate change a threat to national security; Heat wave in the Arctic leads to accelerated melting; Former Governor Sarah Palin, denied; EPA comes clean … PLUS: 230 miles per gallon? It’s on the way… All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (links below): Arizona’s economic future threatened by unabated groundwater use; Cement that Eats Carbon Dioxide; Dry cleaners leave a toxic legacy in Illinois, despite cleanup efforts; the Food, Energy and Environment ‘Trilemma’… PLUS: First U.S. “Power Tower” Lights Up California…
Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today’s episode follow below…
- Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security (NY Times)
The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.
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Recent war games and intelligence studies conclude that over the next 20 to 30 years, vulnerable regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia, will face the prospect of food shortages, water crises and catastrophic flooding driven by climate change that could demand an American humanitarian relief or military response. - Climate Change as Security Threat Is Nothing New (Greenbiz.com)
- Climate Change & National Security: A Tough Sell (Washington Post)
- Vast expanse of Arctic ice melting (Globe & Mail) [emphasis added]:
The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square kilometres of ice in a relentless summer of melt, with scientists watching through satellite eyes for a possible record low polar ice cap.
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Global average temperatures rose 0.6 of a degree in the past century, but Arctic temperatures rose twice as much or even faster, almost certainly in good part because of man-made greenhouse gases, researchers say. - Glacier melt accelerating, federal report concludes: Reviewing five decades of data on three ‘benchmark glaciers,’ researchers say that shrinking glaciers clearly result from global warming (LA Times)
- Climate change melting US glaciers at faster rate, study finds:US geological survey commissioned by Obama administration indicates a sharp rise in the melt rate of key American glaciers over the last 10-15 years (Guardian UK)
- Legislature overrides Palin’s veto on stimulus (Anchorage Daily News)
- Alaska Lawmakers Override Palin Veto (NY Times)
- EPA’s Chief Orders Full Staff Cooperation With Agency Auditors (Greenwire.com)
- G.M. Says Volt Will Get Triple-Digit City Mileage (NY Times)
‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’: More green news not covered in today’s audio report… See below!
- Unabated use of groundwater threatens Arizona’s future (Arizona Republic)
- Cement that Eats Carbon Dioxide Invented by British Scientists (EcoWorldly.com)
- Dry cleaners leave a toxic legacy: Despite cleanup effort, chemicals still taint hundreds of Illinois sites (Chicago Tribune)
- The Food, Energy and Environment ‘Trilemma’ (NY Times):
“In a world seeking solutions to its energy, environmental, and food challenges, society cannot afford to miss out on the global greenhouse-gas emission reductions and the local environmental and societal benefits when biofuels are done right,†the authors state. “However, society also cannot accept the undesirable impacts of biofuels done wrong.â€
- First U.S. “Power Tower” Lights Up California: Turning the sun’s heat into electricity–by concentrating it with thousands of mirrors onto a tower (Scientific American)
230 miles per gallon is better than a lot of cars get per tank….
The 230 mpg is based on city driving only — the new draft standards from the EPA are based on statistics showing that MOST Americans commute less than 40 miles per day, so if Volt owners are typical Americans with typical driving habits, they will rarely have to fill up.
The Volt’s small gasoline engine on board recharges the battery, so those driving farther than 40 miles in a day won’t get stranded. I’d also like to see info on how it works for long trips — if you’re driving cross-country, for example, how often would you need to fill up? Haven’t seen that info because I haven’t looked.
Also, based on the EPA draft standards, the new Nissan Leaf (out in late 2010, before the Volt) will get 360+ mpg.
Rachel Maddow covered the Volt with an automotive journalist, who pointed out that the really high mpg assumes hyper-efficient driving, and not using energy-draining systems like the air conditioner or heater, which would logically reduce the overall mpg.
Even with those details added to the story, it’s still impressive and long overdue for Americans to finally have some energy-efficient innovation!