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05/19/2012 06:39 AM
Open Thread Plus Toles Cartoon Of The Week
A cyber-penny for your thoughts. Related Post: Cartoonist Tom Toles slams GOP denial: “They have turned their faces away from climate change in a way that is simply and utterly unforgivable.”

05/18/2012 12:21 PM
Half Of U.S. Nonresidential Construction To Be ‘Green’ By 2015: Firms Must Embrace Sector ‘To Stay Competitive’
This may come as a big surprise: The U.S. commercial construction sector is facing a shortage of skilled workers. After a period of steep decline in commercial construction stemming from the 2008 financial crisis — forcing mass layoffs throughout the industry — that seems like an absurd notion. But activity is picking back up. By [...]

05/18/2012 10:25 AM
Public Opinion Snapshot: Americans Still Support Environmental Protection
by Ruy Teixeira Given today’s economic problems, you’d think the public would be in a surly mood about environmental protection, seeing it as a secondary and perhaps conflicting priority to jobs and economic growth. That’s certainly what conservatives are hoping as they continue to push their environment-wrecking agenda. Turns out, though, the public didn’t get [...]

05/18/2012 09:45 AM
Asthma, Baby, Asthma: House Energy Committee Eliminates Protection From Smog
by Jackie Weidman and Daniel J. Weiss Last year, the House Republican majority cast 191 votes to weaken safeguards for our air, land, water, and climate. Their efforts to shred these protections continued yesterday when the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed two bills that would block protections from air pollution while allowing more oil [...]

05/18/2012 08:43 AM
Energy Apathy: The Price And The Cure
by Elaine Gallagher, via Rocky Mountain Institute Where does your energy come from? Although I live in Colorado now, I grew up in East Tennessee, where many people still assume their power is fairly clean, dominated by 90-year-old hydroelectric plants. In truth, more than 50 percent of my family’s electricity was generated from coal, and [...]

05/18/2012 07:57 AM
Study: Extreme Rain Storms In Midwest Have Doubled In Last 50 Years
Research via the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization Devastating extreme rain events are part of a growing trend in the Midwest, according to a new report looking at 50 years of storm data. Over the last five decades, the types of deluges that washed out towns in Iowa, forced the Army Corps of Engineers to intentionally [...]

05/18/2012 06:21 AM
May 18 News: Vermont Becomes First U.S. State To Ban Fracking
A round-up of the top climate and energy news. Please post other links below. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday signed into law the nation’s first ban on a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique that involves blasting chemical-laced water deep into the ground. [Associated Press] Shumlin said the increased amounts of natural gas obtainable [...]

05/17/2012 04:38 PM
Department Of Commerce Slaps Large Tariffs On Chinese Solar Modules
In a long-awaited decision, the U.S. Commerce Department has issued a preliminary decision to apply tariffs to Chinese-made solar modules being imported into the U.S. The tariffs range from 31 percent to 250 percent. The preliminary tariffs were issued after a lengthy investigation by the Commerce Department into whether Chinese companies are “dumping” solar panels [...]

05/17/2012 04:09 PM
While Leading Effort To Prevent Life-Saving EPA Standards, Inhofe Says Mercury Is A ‘Real Pollutant’
The Environment Protection Agency’s landmark mercury and air toxics standards, announced in December, would reduce pollutants from coal power plants, saving 11,000 lives, prevent 130,000 asthma attacks and avoid 4,700 heart attacks. But Sen. James Inhofe has found the required 30 Senators to bring the rule to a Senate vote. In an event with FreedomWorks, [...]

05/17/2012 02:54 PM
Arctic Death Spiral: More Bad News About Sea Ice
by Michael D. Lemonick, via Climate Central The sea ice that blankets the Arctic Ocean each winter peaked in early March this year, as usual, and is now in retreat, en route to its annual minimum extent in September. How low it will go is something scientists worry: Ice reflects lots of sunlight back into [...]

05/17/2012 12:26 PM
A National Clean Energy Standard Is Good Policy — And Good Politics
by Richard W. Caperton Do anti-clean energy senators have any idea what Americans want?  If this morning’s hearing on the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 is any guide, they don’t.  The truth is that Americans support a clean energy target for this country.  Senators should listen to the American public and pass this bill. [...]

05/17/2012 10:22 AM
Support Climate Scientists And Look Cool Doing So!
By Scott Mandia via his blog Help the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) raise money to cover the costs of Dr. Mann’s legal defense as well as other scientists who face similar challenges. To help raise money and reward those that contribute, we have rounded up some cool designs and gifts. CSLDF thanks Nicole Martinez and Lunchbreathwho [...]

05/17/2012 09:31 AM
A Million People tell EPA to Adopt Proposed Carbon Pollution Rule
Make your voice heard by clicking HERE to submit a favorable comment to the EPA today! by Jackie Weidman As of this morning, more than one million comments supporting carbon pollution limits have been submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).    In the first month of the commenting period these statements from families and individuals [...]

05/17/2012 08:37 AM
Fulfilling API’s Wish List, Colorado Republicans Offer More Bills To Throw Open Public Lands To Drilling
By Jessica Goad Yesterday, the House Natural Resources Committee passed three bills to mandate and encourage oil and gas drilling in the West.  All of the bills throw open more public lands to drilling, mirroring the wishes of the oil lobby, the American Petroleum Institute (API). Just two days ago, API released a report outlining [...]

05/17/2012 07:36 AM
Op-Ed From Republican Business Owner: ‘Wind Is An American Success Story In Iowa’
It must have been the attack ads criticizing clean energy that caused Republican Rob Hatch to speak up. A 10-year veteran of the wind industry, Hatch, who calls himself a former “Iowa farm boy,” has expanded his wind business to 28 employees. And now he’s defending his livelihood from the “oil billionaires spending millions of [...]

05/17/2012 06:18 AM
May 17 News: Countries Need To Ensure Timely Action On Durban Plan, Says Climate Chief
A round-up of the top climate and energy news. Please post other links below. Countries which agreed to sign a deal in 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions should set milestones this year to ensure the necessary work is done on time, the United Nations’ climate chief said on Wednesday. [Reuters] The growing number of [...]

05/16/2012 02:51 PM
Heartland CEO Joe Bast Calls Bill McKibben and Michael Mann ‘Madmen’
The Heartland Institute is doubling down on its widely-condemned effort to label leading proponents of climate science as “murderers, tyrants, and madmen.” CEO Joe Bast has sent a letter to one of the scholars who “have expressed trepidation about continuing their long-time associations with us.” Not to worry, says Bast, we’re still into wacky hate speech, [...]

05/16/2012 01:15 PM
Obama’s Biggest Climate Decision Of The Year May Be … Palm Oil?
by Glenn Hurowitz The Obama administration is poised to make one of the biggest climate policy decisions of its entire administration – and it’s not about coal, oil, or gas, but rainforests.  EPA is deciding whether or not palm oil should be included in the Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates that American motorists use 36 [...]

05/16/2012 11:54 AM
The Wettest Drought On Record: Torrential Rain Can’t Bring Much Of England Out Of ‘Exceptional’ Dry Conditions
Even with the wettest April on record, some areas of England are still facing “exceptional” drought conditions. After two years of dry winters — including the fifth-driest March — the ground hasn’t been able to soak up the heavy rainfall that hit in April. The situation in the country illustrates the cruel reality of “rollercoaster” [...]

05/16/2012 10:27 AM
What If The Fossil Fuel Industry Gets Its Way? A Look At The Year 2030
by Jorge Madrid The fossil fuel industry is aggressively pushing its drill-everywhere-drill-anything agenda, which would open up every square inch of America to extraction. So what would happen if we gave the industry what it wants? Today, the Center for American Progress released “America’s Future Under ‘Drill, Baby, Drill,’” describing where we may be in [...]