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MultimediaNews
- Planet in Peril Show (CNN News)
Provides video until the show is presented. "This October, CNN´s Planet in Peril will take viewers around the world in a two–part, four–hour documentary that examines our changing planet. This worldwide investigation looks at four key issues: climate change, vanishing habitats, disappearing species and human population growth." 08-07
Papers
- -01-17-07 U.S. House Takes on Big Oil (Christian Science Monitor)
"A bill to be voted on Thursday would cut federal benefits by a third and give them to renewable-energy programs." 01-07
- -01-24-07 Report: Global Warming Cause and Effects (CBS News)
"The study traces global temperatures and so-called greenhouse gases going back thousands of years. It shows a gradual variation until the Industrial Revolution begins, when fossil fuel use skyrockets, as do temperatures, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports." 01-07
- -02-02-07 N.D. Criticized for Using Oil Well Wastewater to De-Ice Roads (CBX News)
"For about 40 years, state workers have been dumping saltwater left over from oil production on some North Dakota roads. That's news to the health department, which wants the practice stopped." 01-07
- -02-07-07 Broader Audience Now Listening on Global Warming (ABC News)
"This time around, far more people are ready to listen."
"This sea change comes after two years of TV and cinema documentaries and specials, unseasonable weird weather extremes, heat spikes and downpours, backyard bugs, birds and flowers out of synch, disappearing mountain glaciers and ski seasons, as well as a rapidly growing chorus of alarmed politicians." 02-07
- -02-25-07 Australia's Losses from Global Warming (ABC News)
"Could what's happening in Australia be the 'canary in the coal mine' for the rest of the world?"
"Yes, in more ways than one. We've got about 95, maybe 98 percent of our population living along the coastline. [With the ice sheets at the poles and Greenland melting] the sea levels will be 100 meters (330 feet) higher than they are today. Forget Venice. I mean we're talking about sharks in the middle of (downtown) Sydney." 02-07
- -02-25-07 Investors to Limit Development of Power Plants (Christian Science Monitor)
"The environmentally tinged takeover of TXU Corp. illustrates global warming's increased financial relevance."
"A consortium of private investors announced Monday they would pay almost $45 billion to acquire TXU Corp., which generates electricity in the state of Texas. What makes the deal more than just another gigantic financial transaction is that the buyers of the company consulted with environmental groups and agreed to sharply scale back plans to build new coal-fired power plants." 02-07
- -02-27-07 Five States Band Together to Fight Global Warming (RedOrbit.com)
"Five Western U.S. states have formed the latest regional pact that bypasses the Bush administration to cut emissions linked to global warming through market mechanisms, according to Oregon's governor." 02-07
- -03-20-07 Japan Vows to Lead in Fight Against Global Warming (USA Today)
"Japan aims to play a leading role in the post-Kyoto battle on global warming and will seek the full engagement of the USA and China, the world's top two polluters, officials said Tuesday."
"Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will ask his cabinet ministers to develop a package of proposals to present to next year's Group of Eight summit of world leaders which Japan will host, they said." 03-07
- -04-02-07 Five "Far Out" Ways to Reduce Global Warming (MSNBC News)
Provides five projects to reduce global warming. 04-07
- -04-02-07 Supreme Court Rejects Bush's Position on Pollution (ABC News)
"For the first time in its history, the U.S. Supreme Court has waded into the political debate on global warming."
"Under the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA has argued that carbon dioxide and the like aren't pollutants under the Clean Air Act, and therefore, the agency has no power to regulate them."
"In a sweeping 5-4 decision released Monday, the Supreme Court rejected that position, declaring that Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars." 04-07
- -04-06-07 Climate Change Will Hit the Poor the Hardest (PBS News)
"The negotiations were long, stretching late into the night. This morning, scientists outlined a grim picture at a news conference." 04-07
- -04-19-07 Graphic Depiction of Effects of Global Warming (Time Magazine)
"The latest study from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released this month predicts that most regions of the world will witness a variety of negative effects of global warming including increased human mortality, shifts in crops and agriculture production, and further degradation of local ecosystems. Click below to see predicted climate change impacts on the environment and the people living there." 04-07
- -04-19-07 Report: Conflicts Over Water and Food Could Intensify (Christian Science Monitor)
"For years, the debate over global warming has focused on the three big 'E's': environment, energy, and economic impact. This week it officially entered the realm of national security threats and avoiding wars as well."
"As quoted in the Associated Press, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who presided over the UN meeting in New York April 17, posed the question 'What makes wars start' The answer:"
" 'Fights over water. Changing patterns of rainfall. Fights over food production, land use. There are few greater potential threats to our economies ... but also to peace and security itself.' " 04-07
- -04-19-07 Walmart Aims to Cut Energy Use and Costs (MSNBC News)
"The major environmental overhaul includes finding ways to make its thousands of trucks more efficient, building new stores with strict energy conservation goals and pushing its suppliers to reduce packaging."
"Wal-Mart’s shift, if successful, should mean more than just token moves. The company is so big, and the network of companies that supply its products so vast, that experts see the potential for Wal-Mart to have a tangible impact on problems such as greenhouse gas emissions." 04-07
- -05-18-07 Perth May Be the First Casualty of Global Warming (BBC News)
"The Australian of the year 2007, environmentalist Tim Flannery, once predicted that Perth in Western Australia could become the world's first ghost metropolis, its population forced to abandon the city due to lack of water." 05-07
- -05-27-07 Restaurants Moving Away from Bottled Water (ABC News)
"The newest wave in dining chic is something as common as dirt. It's water -- and not just any water. Tap water. This accessible liquid is back and is being served at some of the finest tables in America." 05-07
- -05-30-07 Hypermilers (MSNBC News)
Hypermilers "almost exclusively drive hybrid vehicles, and their goal is simple: squeeze every mile they can out of each drop of gas." 05-07
- -06-02-07 Texas Leads in Carbon Emissions (MSNBC News)
"America may spew more greenhouse gases than any other country, but some states are astonishingly more prolific polluters than others — and it’s not always the ones you might expect." 06-07
- -06-14-07 Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger, Environmental Heroes? (Christian Science Monitor)
"They're also doing big things. Specifically, they're doing big things that Washington has failed to do. In a time of federal policy paralysis, when partisanship-on-crack has made compromise almost impossible, when President George W. Bush's political adviser is a household name but his domestic policy adviser was unknown even in Washington until he was arrested for shoplifting, cities and states are filling the void. Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger happen to be the best examples of this phenomenon as well as the best known. Bloomberg is 65; the Last Action Hero is turning 60; they've got better things to do than bicker and posture. 'These are two exceptional and forceful guys who don't need the job at all; they had pretty damn good lives before they got into politics,' says their mutual friend Warren Buffett. 'They're in office to get things done. And they're doing that a lot better than anyone in D.C.' " 06-07
- -06-14-07 Study: Birds Are Declining (Christian Science Monitor)
"New data show the populations of some of America's well-known birds in a tailspin, thanks to the one-two punch of habitat fragmentation and, increasingly, global warming." 06-07
- -06-18-07 Democrats Propose to Support Renewable Fuels (New York Times)
"Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would take billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits from the oil industry to underwrite renewable fuels." 06-07
- -06-18-07 Green Concerns Over the Energy Bill (Time Magazine)
"Environmental groups are anxiously watching three votes this week that could significantly water down the energy bill currently before the Senate. The outcome of the votes will determine whether or not the environmental community supports the legislation drafted by Senate Democrats." 06-07
- -06-22-07 Senate Passes Fuel Efficiency Bill (BBC News)
"The US Senate has approved a bill that would require vehicles sold in the US to burn 30% less fuel by the year 2020." 06-07
- -06-22-07 World's Largest Freshwater Lake "Disappearing" (CBS News)
"At first glance it's hard to believe Lake Superior could be said to be 'disappearing.' It's huge. But all along its 1,800-mile coast, you can see land where there used to be water, CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports." 06-07
- -06-27-07 China Becomes Leader in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Wikipedia.org)
"On June 19, 2007, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency announced that a preliminary study indicated that China's greenhouse gas emissions for 2006 had exceeded those of the United States for the first time." 06-07
- -06-29-07 Live Earth Event for 7-7-07 (LiveEarth.org)
"Live Earth will use the global reach of music to engage people on a mass scale to combat our climate crisis." 06-07
- -07-06-07 Live Earth Concert Schedule (LiveEarth.org)
"Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms - TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels."
"Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organizations to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance and Partner of Live Earth."
"Live Earth is a project of the SOS campaign , which is using a powerful multimedia platform - films, television, radio, Internet, books, wireless and others - to move people to combat the climate crisis." 07-07
- -07-06-07 Live Earth in the USA (BBC News)
"Washington DC has been added as a venue for the series of Live Earth concerts, organised by former US Vice-President Al Gore to highlight climate change."
"Country couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will be among the artists performing on The Mall in the US capital on Saturday."
"Nine cities will stage gigs, including Sydney, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Hamburg, New Jersey and Rio de Janeiro." 07-07
- -07-06-07 New Oil Sources May be Unattractive Options (Christian Science Monitor)
"Oil-sand, oil-shale, and coal-to-oil projects – alternative fuel sources that could enhance US energy security – have always faced one hurdle. They look good only when oil prices are high. Now, they have another challenge: global warming."
"California has enacted new climate-change policies that make energy companies responsible for the carbon emissions not just of their refineries but all phases of oil production, including extraction and transportation. If that notion catches on – at least two Canadian provinces have already signed on to California's plan – then the futures of oil-sand, shale, and coal-to-oil projects may look less attractive." 07-07
- -07-31-07 Study: Climate Problem the Top Concern Worldwide (USA Today)
"Pollution and other environmental problems increasingly are seen as the leading threat the world faces, according to a massive survey of global public opinion released Wednesday. The United States is given much of the blame for those problems and the responsibility to respond to them."
"In 34 countries, the proportion of those who said they had 'a lot of confidence' in Bush to 'do the right thing' was in single digits." 07-07
- -08-03-07 Only 10% of Life on Earth Discovered (MSNBC News)
" 'We’ve only touched the surface of understanding animal life,' said entomologist Brian Fisher of the California Academy of Sciences. 'We’ve discovered just 10 percent of all living things on this planet.' " 08-07
- -10-08-07 Largest Environmental Settlement in Justice Department History (CNN News)
"In the largest environmental settlement in Justice Department history, American Electric Power has agreed to install $4.6 billion in equipment to sharply reduce emissions at coal-fired power plants in five states, sources said."
"Government lawyers and scientists say 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions each year and 30 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions are produced by electric utility plants."
"Environmental scientists have linked emissions from coal-fired power plants to forest degradation, waterway damage and reservoir contamination." 10-07
- -10-24-07 How to Cool the Globe (New York Times)
"If we could pour a five-gallon bucket’s worth of sulfate particles per second into the stratosphere, it might be enough to keep the earth from warming for 50 years. Tossing twice as much up there could protect us into the next century." 10-07
- -10-27-07 Algae Cause Severe Water Problem in China (BBC News)
"China is to spend millions of dollars in an effort to clean up one of its largest lakes, which has been severely polluted by years of waste dumping."
"An algae infestation earlier this year in Lake Tai, in Jiangsu province, led to a public panic and the suspension of water supplies from the lake." 10-07
- -10-27-07 Power Revolution (US News)
"The high-rolling risk takers who brought you personal computing, the telecommunications revolution, the commercialization of the Internet, and, of course, Google now aim to do nothing less than save planet Earth—and make billions while doing it."
"But Khosla, through his own Khosla Ventures and often working alongside the legendary VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he maintains an affiliation, is in the vanguard of entrepreneurs and financiers who believe their Silicon Valley success stories can be repeated in green energy. They are pouring money and ideas into a new generation of alternatives to fossil fuel—'technologies that scale,' in their words. That is, options that can ramp up to serve a large share of the nation's energy needs because they'll cost less than coal or oil. One estimate is that venture capital funds nearly tripled their investment on green energy last year, putting $2.4 billion to work." 10-07
- -10-30-07 Fishermen Find Conservation in the Koran (Christian Science Monitor)
"An experiment in Tanzania is emerging as an Islamic model for spreading environmental ideals." 10-07
- -11-30-07 Congressman Dingle, Champion of the Auto Industry (New York Times)
"Under terms of the auto mileage deal, the cars and trucks sold in the United States must meet a fleetwide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The Senate passed a bill with this standard in June, but the House version of the legislation, passed in August, did not include any new mileage mandate because of opposition led by Mr. Dingell."
"Speaker Pelosi supported the new mileage standard and vowed that she would restore it in the final bill. She appears to have prevailed but Mr. Dingell won some important concessions." 11-07
- -12-18-08 Obama: Time to Deal With Global Warming in a Serious Way (CNN News)
"With former Vice President Al Gore at his side, President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday it's time the issue of climate change is dealt with in a 'serious way.' " 12-08
- -12-20-07 E.P.A. Stops Clean Air Rules of States (New York Times)
"The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday. Mr. Johnson said California had failed to make a compelling case that it needed authority to write its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks to help curb global warming."
"The decision immediately provoked a heated debate over its scientific basis and whether political pressure was applied by the automobile industry to help it escape the proposed California regulations. Officials from the states and numerous environmental groups vowed to sue to overturn the edict." 12-07
- -12-20-07 New Energy Law Passed (MSNBC News)
"Gas guzzlers could become relics of the past and farmers may rival oil companies in producing motor fuels under a new energy law. Consumers also will save electricity — and money — from more efficient refrigerators, furnaces and dishwashers."
Editor's Note: The Bush administration has used passage of this law to nullify more stringent vehicle standards already passed by states. 12-07
- -12-22-07 Schwarzenegger: Bush Administration Position on Pollution Is Flawed (Time.com)
The federal E.P.A. agency ruled that states cannot have standards against pollution that are stronger than federal standards. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: "When I look at that, the Environmental Protection Agency is the Environmental Destruction Agency. The name says it protects the environment. How can that protect the environment when you don't want to let anyone really move forward with this agenda? And [as for] the excuse that it is a national issue and therefore it must be handled at a national level — I say to myself, 'Wait a minute, let me think this through for a second,' which we always do, we think a little bit. If you have a national problem with hunger and starvation, do I say, 'Stop feeding people at the local level. We can't get involved. We have to have a policy nationally. No, we don't.' " 12-07
- -Editorial: How to Save Biodiversity in the Face of Global Warming (International Herald Tribune)
"So as we start thinking seriously about how to stop messing it up any further, let's also start thinking about how to help all life forms adapt."
"I would propose three strategies to minimize the impact of climate change on biodiversity." 02-07
- -Editorial: What Live Earth Really Meant (Time Magazine)
"Live Earth's success will be measured not by the number of trees the initiative plants or the number of energy-efficient light-bulbs sold as a result, but by whether it motivates concertgoers to make climate-change their generation's political priority, and press their leaders to act on it." 07-07
- -McCain's Nuclear Plan (CNN News)
"John McCain's call for a big push into nuclear power can certainly be met - if the country is willing to pay more for power and tolerate the safety risks."
"It costs between $6 billion to $8 billion to build a new nuclear reactor, according to Steve Kerekes, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute. That's about four times the cost of building a new similar-sized coal plant."
"But statistics from security tests done in the 1990s, the most recently available, are not reassuring."
"Of the 81 security tests done between 1991 and August 2001, nearly half turned up lapses that could lead to core damage and probable radioactive release, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission."
"Kerekes said those tests were designed to turn up failures, and they are now corrected." 08-08
- 01-15-07 Asia Pacific Nations Going Green (MSNBC News)
"Asian and Pacific leaders signed an agreement Monday to help reduce their dependence on conventional sources of energy and promote the use of biofuels, while urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions." 01-07
- 01-15-07 Clinton's Global Initiative Pledges $4 Billion for Rnewable Energy (TreeHugger.com)
"The total of 4 billion in Clinton Initiative commitments is on the same plane as the US Federal Government’s collective budgetary allocation for research into mostly coal and nuclear energy alternatives, as was also announced this week (huge pdf file at link). Besides the focus on renewability, what most distinguishes the Clinton commitment from the US Department of Energy's plan is the phrase 'while getting returns on capital invested.' The Green Fund is seeding not merely money but a philosophy of pragmatism and near-term outcomes." 01-07
- 01-15-07 Recycling Queen China's Richest Person (Bloomberg.com)
"U.S. trash has made Zhang Yin China's richest person."
"Zhang in 1990 started collecting wastepaper in Los Angeles and shipping it to China to make the cardboard needed by growing export industries. Her company, Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Ltd., is now China's biggest packaging maker. Nine Dragon's stock has risen fourfold since its March initial public offering, pushing Zhang's fortune to $4.7 billion." 01-07
- 01-15-07 Top Ten EDGE Species (MSNBC News)
"Scientists launched a bid Tuesday to save some of the world’s rarest and most neglected creatures from extinction."
" 'We are focusing on EDGE species — that means they are Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered,' said Zoological Society of London scientist Jonathan Baillie. 01-07
- 01-29-07 Scientists Gather to Finalize Report on Global Warming (USA Today)
"Scientists from around the world gathered Monday in Paris to finalize a long-awaited, authoritative report on climate change, expected to give a grim warning of rising temperatures and sea levels worldwide." 01-07
- 01-29-07 Senators Propose Market-Based Ways to Fight Global Warming (Christian Science Monitor)
"Four Senate bills offer market-based ways to reduce emissions of greenhouse emissions." 01-07
- 01-30-07 U.S. House Hearings to Determine if Bush Administration Misled Public on Global Warming (ABC News)
"Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and the House Government Reform Committee he chairs will hear from government scientists who will testify that their work on global warming was distorted or suppressed by the Bush administration." 01-07
- 01-31-07 Gore's Army (Time Magazine)
"There are several ways to send a message. You can be bold and yell from a rooftop. You can be subtle and mention a theory in passing. Or if you really mean business, you can make a motion picture and, in order to reach even more people, organize an army to disseminate its message." 01-07
- Congressman Dingle, Champion of the Auto Industry (Grist.org)
"Meet the man who may determine the fate of climate policy in the next two years: Rep. John Dingell."
"The formidable Democrat from Michigan, now 80, has served 51 years in the House of Representatives -- the second-longest of any congressional career in history. During that time, he played a key role in pushing through many of America's cornerstone environmental laws, including the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the original Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) system that has defined America's automotive energy-efficiency strategy since 1975."
"But despite these achievements, environmentalists are not uniformly overjoyed that Dingell will soon take the helm of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees most energy-related bills. As they see it, his record has a sizeable hitch: as representative for a district that includes suburban Detroit, Dingell is a dogged defender of the U.S. auto industry. Though he helped author CAFE rules 30 years ago, in the midst of the Arab oil embargo, he has since staunchly opposed ratcheting up fuel-economy standards, on the grounds that it could imperil the American economy." 11-07
- Declining Honeybees Threaten Food Supply (MSNBC News)
"Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet." 05-07
- Editorial: Meet Al Gore (Time.com)
"He leads from the front, and if some sheep in the family stray, he's not stressed. He's not a zealot. Leaders often shout orders; generals bark; bellicose preachers, to save our souls, get gothic on our asses. But Al speaks in measured tones. He shows slides. He has an almost embarrassing faith in the power of facts to persuade both believer and skeptic. His enduring and overarching trait is, as it turns out, the pursuit of truth ... scientific truth, spiritual truth. That — and grace. Right now, he is an America the world needs to meet."
Gore: "The north polar ice cap, according to the best scientists in the world, fell off a cliff this fall. The signs that the world is spinning out of kilter are increasingly difficult to misinterpret. The question is how to convince enough people to join a critical mass of urgent opinion, in the U.S. and the rest of the world."
"I think we're making progress; it's just that nothing has matched the scale of the response that is truly needed. The unprecedented nature of this crisis does make it difficult to communicate. We naturally tend to confuse the unprecedented with the improbable. But we have become capable of doing catastrophic damage without realizing it. We've quadrupled population in less than a century, amplified the power of technology many thousands of times over, and we haven't matched those changes with a shift in our thinking that lets us take into account the long-term consequences of our actions." 12-07
- ABC News: Seven Continents, Seven Ways to Save the World (ABC News)
"In a world waking up to the importance of protecting the environment and the threat of global climate change, ABC News is marking Earth Day 2007 with a daylong look at the state of our planet." 04-07
- U.S. Stuck in "Reverse" on Fuel Economy (MSNBC News)
“These cars sold in Europe meet or exceed U.S. safety standards, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be made available to U.S. consumers,” said CSI President Pam Solo."
" 'We have to face the unpleasant facts here: America is needlessly losing the race to develop the best fuel-efficient technology and then deliver it to the American consumer,' Solo said. 'U.S. consumers say they are willing to buy these cars, so the big U.S. automakers are actually going backwards at a time when it’s possible to make cars that are more fuel efficient.' " 04-07
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