global warming

ALEX MILLS: Let's get whole truth on global warming (The San Angelo Standard-Times)

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:36:00 -0800

SAN ANGELO, Texas —Could it be true that some scientists, who support the theory that humans cause global warming, have tried to intimidate and even blacklist scientists with opposing views?The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reported recently that e-mails from prominent climate scientists were leaked and posted publicly on the Internet. The e-mails, which were obtained from the ...

Ski resorts fight global warming; Utah gov unsure (AP via Yahoo! News)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:02:31 -0800

Ski resorts across the country used the Thanksgiving weekend to jump start their winter seasons, but with every passing year comes a frightening realization: If global temperatures continue to rise, fewer and fewer resorts will be able to open for the traditional beginning of ski season.

Ski resorts fight global warming; Utah gov unsure (San Francisco Chronicle)

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:09:49 -0800

Ski resorts across the country are using the Thanksgiving weekend to jump start their winter seasons, but with every passing year comes a frightening realization: If global temperatures continue to rise, fewer and fewer resorts will be able to open for the... Global warming - Utah - Skiing - Climate - Ski resort

'Science as a Contact Sport' probes global warming battle (Lawrence Journal-World)

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:05:10 -0800

Stephen H. Schneider, winner of one of those $500,000 genius grants, has written a witty, informative and impassioned account of perils he sees in global warming and what to do about them...

Whazzat? Global warming's all about moolah? (Independent Online)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:55:55 -0800

Global warming? I'm just glad the previous week's unseasonal cold snap ended before I had to drag out the winter duvet, let alone bring all the cats and young Cedric into my freezing bed. Now it's hot again.

Australia's answer to global warming - breed a burp free sheep (Times Online)

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:34:28 -0800

The Australian government's plans to enact a law for an emissions trading scheme are in chaos and the opposition Liberal party is in meltdown over the climate change legislation. But Australian scientists have their own cunning plan to stop global warming - breed a sheep that doesn't burp.

'Climategate' alleges global warming hoax (Newsday)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:25:58 -0800

Leaked emails from key research scientists uncover "trick" to "hide the decline" in global warming.

Global warming is a farce! (Mountain Home News)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:37:19 -0800

Global warming is a farce, fairy tale and a big fat lie! Come on, people, start researching it. Study it! Look at what the scientist are trying to say. In the past years, as Al Gore and his disiples spread their global fairy tale, people lapped it up like desert rats thirsting for water.

Nepal cabinet to meet on Everest to highlight global warming threats (BBC News)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:01:11 -0800

Nepal will hold a cabinet meeting on Mount Everest to highlight the threat global warming poses to Himalayan glaciers.

Politics of global warming in U.S. (ZDNet)

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:55:47 -0800

Global warming beliefs are aligning with long-standing political divide. Distrust government and disbelieve global warming--goes hand-in-hand. by Harry Fuller

Impact of global warming felt by entire world - PM - Ceylon Daily News

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:35:35 -0800

The Daily Star

Impact of global warming felt by entire world - PM
Ceylon Daily News
Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said much change in the atmosphere was taking place and the impact of global warming was felt by the entire world but it was ...
PM stresses 'distinct' climate fund Bangladesh News 24 hours
PM demands separate climate fund for Bangladesh The Daily Star
PM Hasina arrives in Port of Spain, attends inauguration of C?wealth summit ... Trading Markets (press release)

all 6 news articles »

McCartney in meat-free Monday drive - The Press Association

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:00:20 -0800

BBC News

McCartney in meat-free Monday drive
The Press Association
Sir Paul McCartney has appealed for "people power" to make the difference in the fight against global warming. In an article he says cutting out meat ...
Sir Paul to tell EU: 'Less meat means less heat' Independent
Big Macs set to face off over vegetarian debate Irish Independent

all 68 news articles »

Despite momentum, no smooth path to climate deal - Reuters

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:01:30 -0800

Globe and Mail

Despite momentum, no smooth path to climate deal
Reuters
At the same time, developing countries, including tiny island states which risk disappearing if ocean levels continue to rise through global warming, ...
Commonwealth: push for Copenhagen deal The Witness
Global climate change deal on track Sunday Vision
Australia's carbon laws face delay, poll possible Reuters UK
The Australian - AFP - Bangladesh News 24 hours
all 1,857 news articles »

Copenhagen summit: It's money that matters in the backroom talks - guardian.co.uk

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:30:28 -0800

The Associated Press

Copenhagen summit: It's money that matters in the backroom talks
guardian.co.uk
Vast sums will be needed to lubricate the settlement rich and poor nations must achieve to combat global warming. John Vidal considers the prospect of the ...
Upfront money needed to ease UN climate deal The Associated Press
Climate talks remain alive, but so do many obstacles Washington Post
Emerging nations unite on climate change: China state media AFP
Kent News - Scotsman - New Europe
all 329 news articles »

Charlatans Destroy All Trust in Science and Global Warming - Gather.com

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:07:29 -0800

Charlatans Destroy All Trust in Science and Global Warming
Gather.com
"SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming ...

and more »

Media Silent on Global Warming Scandal - FOXNews

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:45:03 -0800

New York Daily News

Media Silent on Global Warming Scandal
FOXNews
A hacker revealed confidential e-mails exposing attempts by global warming apostles to manipulate embarrassing info that countered their warming claims. ...
Hacked global warming e-mails – what's new? Christian Science Monitor
GOP puts heat on global warming 'trick' Boston Herald
Congress may probe faked global warming data TG Daily
Wall Street Journal - Examiner.com - David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog (blog)
all 1,367 news articles »

Ed Begley Jr. ClimateGate Global Warming Rant (Video) - Right Pundits

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:20:04 -0800

Post Chronicle

Ed Begley Jr. ClimateGate Global Warming Rant (Video)
Right Pundits
By MCCAIN Here is the video of global warming crusader Ed Begley Jr. ranting on FoxNews. He has no defense for the Climate-Gate emails that have stunned the ...
Ed Begley Jr. FOX News (Video) Outburst On Global Warming Hoax Post Chronicle
Climategate: The Silence is Deafening from the Corporate Media Prison Planet.com
Dakota Voice Week in Review, Ending Nov. 28, 2009 Dakota Voice
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph.co.uk
all 9 news articles »

Ski resorts fight global warming; Utah gov unsure - The Associated Press

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:40:48 -0800

Ski resorts fight global warming; Utah gov unsure
The Associated Press
But even as world leaders descend on Copenhagen next month to figure out a way to reduce carbon emissions blamed in global warming, the industry is still ...

and more »

CRU scientists admit they threw away key data used in global warming calculations - Examiner.com

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:01:32 -0800

The Age

CRU scientists admit they threw away key data used in global warming calculations
Examiner.com
... of East Anglia Climate Research Unit have admitted that they threw away much of the raw temperature data used in their predictions of global warming. ...
Let the Great Global Warming Cover-Up Begin! Canada Free Press
Global Warming Fraud and the Future of Science American Thinker
Detroit News: Climategate prof raked in $22.6 million in grants Daily Mail - Charleston
The AtlanticWire (blog) - First Things - New Zealand Herald
all 89 news articles »

Intrigue and Plot Twists in Global Climate Talks - New York Times

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:00:31 -0800

Telegraph.co.uk

Intrigue and Plot Twists in Global Climate Talks
New York Times
“However, now that they are in the public domain, lawmakers have an obligation to determine the extent to which the so-called 'consensus' of global warming, ...
Global Warming Partisan Divide ABC News
'Science as a Contact Sport' probes global warming battle Lawrence Journal World
Climategate Fall Out Heats Up Global Warming Debate OilFiredUp
Examiner.com - Toronto Sun - TheNewsTribune.com
all 665 news articles »

ALERT! Protest Ill-Conceived Industrial Biochar Geoengineering

Dr. Glen Barry — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:53:40 -0700

TAKE ACTION! Industrial scale "biochar" [search] is the latest dangerous geoengineering proposal (replacing now discredited ocean iron fertilization [search] as the flavor of the month) to save the Earth and humanity from climate change without personal sacrifice or social change. Biochar (charcoal) enthusiasts intend to burn biomass to produce and bury charcoal, in order to manipulate land use and the biosphere on a vast scale. As if the world's land, 25% of which is already becoming seriously degraded, does not have enough pressures from deforestation, industrial agriculture and sprawling human settlements. Charcoal proposals forestall sufficient climate change measures such as ending the use of coal, protecting and restoring old forests, and reforming industrial agriculture. Express concern on the matter to
leading scientists, industrialists and negotiators supporting the idea of burning ecosystems to save them.TAKE ACTION!

Climate, Rainforest and Other Environmental Impacts of Corn Ethanol Gaining Prominence

Dr. Glen Barry — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:18:54 -0700

Over a year ago, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring massive increases in the production of ethanol and other biofuels. The Renewable Fuel Standard [search], passed as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, requires the nation to produce 36 billion gallons of biofuels [search] by 2022. At the moment, most of this comes from ethanol produced by corn, and in the future plans are to power vehicles from forests and other biomass.

Thankfully the ecological science and advocacy is catching up with the hype and hucksterism. Reasonable questions are being raised [ark] regarding the sustainability of corn-based ethanol, and even 2nd generation industrial plantation based biofuel and biochar production given finite land, fertilizers and water; and in the face of exponential increases in population and demand for energy.

Our recent alert with Rainforest Rescue has already led to partial success, as the decision on whether to increase the corn ethanol blend from 10% to 15% has been delayed for a year. It is highly likely this ongoing agrofuel protest was instrumental in delaying what had appeared to be certain approval for the proposal. Let's use this reprieve to continue organizing to resist agrofuels at the expense of food, people, ecosystems and climate. In addition to health and economic concerns, we are successfully making with others the point that "If using one acre of corn to make ethanol leads to just one-tenth of an acre of rainforest clearing, then all the benefits of avoided gasoline for the first 30 years are wiped out."

Blog entry with Rainforest Rescue

RELEASE: Global Civil Society Opposes Charred Earth Policy

Dr. Glen Barry — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:26:05 -0700

147 organisations from 44 countries warn against 'biochar' (large-scale charcoal) as a dangerous new false solution to climate change

TAKE ACTION: Tell Leading Climate Scientists, Industrialists and Negotiators to Stop Promoting Industrial Scale Biochar

By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

(Earth) -- An international declaration was today launched by 147 organisations, including Ecological Internet, opposing the growing hype and political support for Biochar. The groups signing the declaration "strongly oppose the inclusion of soils in carbon trade and offset mechanisms, including in the Clean Development Mechanism. The groups further assert that "the 'biochar' initiative fails to address the root causes of climate change. [1]

Those issuing this warning range from small farmers associations and forest protection groups to international environmental networks and human rights advocates. Further organizations are being invited to sign the declaration. Ecological Internet has independently organized a protest alert questioning whether enough "waste biomass" and "degraded and marginal" lands exist to carry out geoengineering of the Earth's land and climate at the scale proposed, and without intensifying industrial tree plantations and all their attendant problems. [2]

This International declaration "Biochar, a New Big Threat to People, Land and Ecosystems" has been launched as UN and government delegates are meeting in Bonn this week to discuss a post-2012 climate change agreement. One of the proposals [3] which they will be discussing is to allow carbon credits for using charcoal as a soil additive in the hope that this will create a permanent 'carbon sink' and help to reduce global warming, and reclaim degraded soil. They will also discuss whether to generally include agricultural soils into carbon trading.

Civil society groups have called for caution on Biochar in view of serious scientific uncertainty. Many share concerns that this technology would lead to vast areas of land being converted to new plantations, thus repeating the unfolding disasters which agrofuels cause. They point out that large scale financial incentives for biochar or other soil sequestration could result in large scale land conversion and displacement of people.

Helena Paul from EcoNexus states: "Including biochar and agricultural soil in carbon markets would turn soils into a commodity that could be sold to offset pollution elsewhere. It would endanger smallholder farmers and indigenous peoples who cannot compete with governments and large companies and who are at risk of being displaced if the ground is literally sold out from under their feet."

Stella Semino from Grupo de Reflexion Rural, Argentina adds: "The idea that charcoal will rescue a burning planet is absurd. Some biochar proponents call for quantities of charcoal which would require over 500 million hectares of industrial tree and crop plantations. We know already that industrial agriculture and tree plantations are a major contributor to climate change and displace people and biodiversity. We need to protect ecosystems, not grow vast new monocultures and burn them! This is a farce.

Almuth Ernsting from Biofuelwatch states: "Large-scale support for biochar is premature and dangerous. Claims that biochar is retained permanently in soils and increases fertility are based on Terra Preta soils in Amazonia, which were made by indigenous peoples hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Those farmers used biodiverse organic residues and compost, as well as charcoal. Modern biochar is not the same. Some companies are making biochar out of municipal waste and tyres, others promote using biochar to scrub flue gases from coal burners and then using this combination as a fertilizer. Some plan to use giant microwave ovens to char trees justifying this by pointing to ancient Amazonian soils is absurd." [4]

CONTACTS:

Rachel Smolker (U.S.): rsmolker@riseup.net
- Tel +1 802-482-2848 or +1-802-735-7794
Almuth Ernsting (UK): info@biofuelwatch.org.uk
- Tel 0044-1224-324797
Helena Paul (UK): h.paul@econexus.ino
- Tel +44(0)207431-4357
Stella Semino (Denmark): stella.semino@mail.dk
- Tel +45(0)463-25328

NOTES:

[1] The declaration and organizations can be found at http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/news.php?id=1226
Further Organizations wishing to add their name to the declaration should contact: biochar_concerns@yahoo.co.uk

[2] TAKE ACTION: Tell Leading Climate Scientists, Industrialists and Negotiators to Stop Promoting Industrial Scale Biochar http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=industrial_biochar

[3] The governments of Belize, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, have called for the inclusion of biochar into the Clean Development Mechanism, i.e. into carbon trading. This is also supported by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

[4] For further information and references regarding biochar, see Biochar for Climate Change Mitigation: Fact or Fiction? http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/biocharbriefing.pdf

###ENDS###

Ecological Internet provides the world's largest and most used climate and environment portals at http://www.climateark.org/ and http://www.ecoearth.info/ . Dr. Glen Barry is a leading global spokesperson on behalf of environmental sustainability policy. He frequently conducts interviews on the latest climate, forest and water policy developments and can be reached at: glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

Abrupt Climate Change Assured, Time to Prepare for Struggles Ahead

Dr. Glen Barry — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:51:25 -0700

Human political and economic system failures mean world will not meet 2C warming target [ark]. Most climate scientists now agree that given soaring emissions and political constraints, an average rise of 4-5C by the end of this century is more likely. This will disrupt food and water supplies, exterminate innumerable species of plants and animals, trigger massive sea level rises, and otherwise lead to ecological and social collapse [search].

The climate change movement's [search] struggle has now gone from trying to minimize impacts to continue living largely as we have, to just maintaining a climate and biosphere that are operable and will allow for continued shared survival. It is not time to give up. Just the reverse, it is time to redouble our efforts in order to maintain a habitable Earth. We have the answers -- ending coal, old forest logging and industrial agriculture -- to continued human being. And despite escalating police brutality against lawful protest [ark], we must wage an escalating Stewardship Revolution if we and all Gaia's creatures are to survive.

Governments have until Copenhagen to lead at which point they may need to be replaced. Simultaneous to massive protest, I urge you to begin preparing yourself to adapt and survive. A piece of land you are willing and able to defend is critical. Abrupt deadly change may come next year, or there may be a lull, but have no doubt, the global ecosystem is collapsing. If you have not already, I urge you to read EI's recent Earth Meanders, which further explains the stakes and options. I beseech you to start preparing and steeling yourself for coming struggles. Be part of a New Earth Rising.

RELEASE: United States Starts Down Long, Difficult Road to Sufficient Climate Change Policy

Dr. Glen Barry — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:19:20 -0700

By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

(Earth) -- Ecological Internet (EI) welcomes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ruling today that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases "may endanger public health or welfare", a finding that opens the door to future regulation of such emissions under the Clean Air Act. EI continues to demand that emission cuts be fast and large, that Congress not weaken planned E.P.A. carbon regulation, and that Congress abandon cap and trade legislation for a simple, highly effective, carbon tax. And that the U.S. leads at Copenhagen or feel the consequences.

The E.P.A said in its proposed endangerment finding that "based on rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific analysis of six gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride that... these gases are at unprecedented levels as a result of human emissions, and these high levels are very likely the cause of the increase in average temperatures and other changes in our climate." Human health and welfare was thus threatened by increased severity and intensity of storms; more frequent drought, heatwaves, and forest fires; rising sea levels; and harm to water resources, agriculture, wildlife and ecosystems.

"We are thrilled to see President Obama dismiss President Bush's years of criminal climate science obstruction, and to rejoin the world of civilized nations making public policy based upon ecological science, and needs of Earth and her humanity. We encourage the President to follow through with rigorous efforts to immediately begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including phasing out the use of coal and tar sands, ending old forest logging, committing further to energy efficiency and renewables, and resisting the siren song of industrial agrofuels," says Ecological Internet President, Dr. Glen Barry.

Ecological Internet has provided leadership for years in the movement to have carbon dioxide regulated. EI's global Earth Action Network publicly and successfully worked with others to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act and that the EPA had the right to regulate CO2 emissions [1]. Earlier this year several thousand global citizen activists from around the world, organized by EI, urged the new President to "immediately start regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act [2]." President Obama listened.

Dr. Barry warns, however, that "Earth has already passed a critical threshold whereby there are too many people consuming too much, not enough terrestrial ecosystems remain intact, and there is too much carbon in the atmosphere. Maintaining the biosphere and achieving global ecological sustainability depends critically upon social change and personal transformation at a previously unknown scale. Humanity simply must stop burning and cutting Gaia to death, and embrace an age of ecological protection and restoration. This E.P.A. announcement is an important start."

###ENDS###

[1] U.S. Supreme Court Must Rule for Carbon Regulation

[2] Urge President Obama to Say No to Canada's Filthy Tar Sands

ALERT! Join Bushfires and Scientists Condemning Australian Climate Change Policy

Dr. Glen Barry — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:22:47 -0700

Australia must stop being a climate change laggard. Given severe drought and massive wildfires, the Rudd Government's target to reduce carbon emissions by 5% by 2020 is dangerously insufficient.

TAKE ACTION! The Australian government is failing to establish and implement a rigorous climate change policy adequate to respond to the global climate emergency. The Rudd Governments emissions trading scheme (ETS) [search] aims to cut emissions by 5 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050. The Governments cowardly response to its greatest challenge has been explicitly condemned by climate scientists and implicitly condemned by devastating bushfires which killed 200 people.

Australia's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are among the highest in the world, and their economy is based heavily upon the deadly coal fossil fuel industry which exerts undue political influence. Unsustainable Australian lifestyles including native forest clearing and wasteful water use threaten their continent's fragile ecosystems, and the drought and intensified bushfires are a precursor of Australian and global ecosystem collapse to come.

Given imminent strengthened regulation of greenhouse gases in the United States and Europe, it is time for Australia to embrace sufficient climate change policies including committing to ambitious targets that will require ending its use and export of coal, and stopping native forest clearing. TAKE ACTION!

Biofuel from Corn Ethanol Is Not Renewable, Does Not Address Climate Change

Dr. Glen Barry — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:15:31 -0700

TAKE ACTION! Let California Air Resources Board know all industrially produced biofuel crops from live biomass [search], edible or not, still require land, soil, water, fertilizer and other finite inputs. It is clear that industrial biofuels are not "renewable energy" given that these inputs are all in limited supply, and indirect land uses lead to destruction of soil and forest carbon sinks elsewhere.

Regulators at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are poised later this week to declare that biofuel from corn ethanol [search] cannot help the state address climate change. In assessing the true environmental cost of corn ethanol, it was found this biofuel is worse than petroleum when total greenhouse gas emissions are considered. This is because as with all monocultures, corn ethanol for biofuels lead to numerous other indirect land use changes. Increased industrial agriculture results in rising land pressures and the loss of soil and forest carbon sinks elsewhere. Such a declaration disallowing corn ethanol biofuel from counting as emissions reductions would be a considerable blow to the corn-ethanol industry in the United States and would likely set a national precedent.

Ecological Internet and Rainforest Rescue are concerned with America's growing ethanol industry, and the precedent it sets for massive agricultural industrialization of the world's remaining rainforests and other natural wildlands. Please call upon the CARB to heed the overwhelming evidence that agrofuels worsen climate change through further deforestation and the destruction of other soils and ecosystems, drive food prices up, force more people worldwide into hunger, malnutrition and landlessness; and decimate biodiversity and ecosystems. TAKE ACTION!

VICTORY! California Leads in Saying No to Deforestation Biofuels

Dr. Glen Barry — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:01:11 -0700

California is setting the precedent of regulating greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuels [ark]. The regulation requires producers, refiners and importers of gasoline and diesel to reduce the carbon footprint of their fuel by 10% over the next decade. And it launches the state on an ambitious path toward cutting its overall heat-trapping emissions by 80% by mid-century.

Critically, as our recent alert demanded, biofuel's indirect land use impacts [search], starting with corn ethanol, are to be considered when determining a fuel's net impact upon emissions. Looking at the full inputs to corn ethanol -- including energy used in planting and transport, land pressures leading to increased deforestation, and coal for distillation -- shows it clearly has a sum negative impact upon climate. Careful examination of the inputs and indirect land impacts of other biomass based fuels such as cellulosic biofuels will clearly show the same thing.

Earth has no spare biomass to power our vehicles. Progress is being made on the global campaign to stop fuel production from biomass, particularly at the expense of food and ecosystems. The Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are past their carrying capacity, and rather than increasing pressures upon primary productivity, the human enterprise must power down and enter an era of ecological restoration. Rainforest Rescue and Ecological Internet's alert objectives were met and, along with many others, we helped counter the energy industry's extreme pressure. These regulations must now go global and continue to be strengthened.

ALERT! Forest and Crop Biomass Can Never Ecologically Sustainably Power Industrial Society

Dr. Glen Barry — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:01:00 -0700

By Rainforest Rescue with Ecological Internet

No Biomass/No Burning! Truly renewable energy must be defined as including no energy production or climate mitigation claims from food based agrofuels, live plants and ecosystems, or burning biomass of any type.

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW! As the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is belatedly gaining recognition within the United States, a suite of policy initiatives, including the Markey-Waxman "American Climate and Energy Security Act 2009" (ACESA), are being considered that promote biomass such as tree plantations, and forest and agricultural 'waste', as renewable energy. Given well known issues of sustainability regarding industrial agriculture and land mismanagement, the need to more clearly define just what "renewable" means is clearly shown. It is vitally important that renewable energy be defined, within the context of federal energy and climate policy, in strictly ecological sustainability terms, including renewable energy and low carbon fuel standards.

In an alarming trend, burning and refining of plant biomass and also toxic municipal waste (or for that matter anything that burns) is being falsely promoted as renewable and of benefit to reducing emissions that cause climate change. Humans already consume a large amount of the energy represented in annual biological growth. To try to consume more of Earth's primary productivity is clearly unsustainable land use. Even partial replacement of fossil fuels with fresh plant biomass energy is absolutely impossible for more than a few years. Trying will denude Earth and make a very different planet, that is hostile and uninhabitable to human life. TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Global Warming Twice As Bad as Forecast

Dr. Glen Barry — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:27:42 -0700

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology forecast that global warming's effects [search] this century could be twice as extreme as estimated [ark] just six years ago. They found that Earth's median surface temperature could rise 9.3 degrees F (5.2 degrees C) by 2100 compared to a 2003 study that projected a median temperature increase of 4.3 degrees F (2.4 degrees C). The new study, published in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, said the difference was due to improved economic modeling and data. The paper calls for "rapid and massive action".

What fascinates me about these predictions is rarely do they project out further than the end of the century. If this much global heating occurs in under 100 years, what do the next 200-500 years hold? And what if increased average temperatures is combined with increasing "global weirding", or climate variability, as is almost certainly the case. It is not inconceivable, particularly with feedbacks, that Earth will become uninhabitable. Are we to sit passively by and allow this to happen? Says something about the lack of moral fiber of modern, comfortable humans.

RELEASE: Geo-Engineering and Biochar: White Roofs, Black Dust and Slippery Slopes

Dr. Glen Barry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:02:21 -0700

PRESS/SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE

- Climate Engineers Seek Techno-fix As Global Negotiations Get Underway

June 2, 2009
By ETC Group, Biofuelwatch and Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu's speech last week advocating painting rooftops and roadways white to reflect sunlight may be yet another attempt to test the international waters on the controversial subject of geoengineering [search].[1] "We need an unequivocal statement from the White House that the U.S. Government is not green-lighting geoengineering in the run-up to Copenhagen," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, an Ottawa-based civil society organization monitoring new technologies. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets in Denmark this December; UNFCCC subsidiary bodies are meeting this week and next in Bonn, Germany. "Benign as a new planetary paint job may appear, white rooftops may be the thin edge of the wedge - a technology that seems harmless but that opens the door to riskier geoengineering schemes," suggests Mooney.[2] Geoengineering refers to the intentional, large-scale manipulation of the earth's environment, primarily to counteract the effects of climate change.

Geoengineering is likely to be a hot topic behind the scenes - if not in open sessions - this week, as governments sit down to negotiate the post-Kyoto climate plan in Bonn. Rulemaking for planetary manipulation of the biosphere, using risky and untested technologies, is far more controversial than white paint suggests. Already, the draft negotiating texts for Copenhagen are replete with references to "enhancing technology" and "private sector cooperation." Advocates for climate techno-fixes are eager for financial and policy backing to move forward with real-world testing, even when critical decisions about technology oversight have yet to be made.

"Participants in the climate change negotiations must be aware of the slippery slope that opening the door to geoengineering will put them on. Once governments opt for a techno-fix to the climate change quagmire, it will be very difficult to refocus attention and resources on the need to cut emissions in wealthy countries," says Diana Bronson from ETC Group. "Politicians will be all too eager to say they have found a technological solution that allows us to keep driving our cars and consuming so-called 'cheap' food from heavily subsidized industrial agriculture. But these technologies have not been thoroughly examined, no governance mechanisms are in place to oversee them, and the public does not have access to the information it needs to distinguish science from 'green' whitewashing."

The geoengineering lobby (corporate and scientific) has gathered strength over the past year, free-riding on the growing - and legitimate - sense of urgency about the inadequacy of the multilateral response to the climate crisis. Unfortunately, democratic and multilateral decision-making risks being hijacked by those seeking to profit from speculative technofixes.

Biochar is a case in point. The highly influential International Biochar Initiative, which seeks funding via the Clean Development Mechanism, is a hybrid of academics and industry. Biochar, essentially charcoal from burning plant material under low oxygen conditions, is being touted as a new way to sequester carbon in soil.

Indeed, the draft negotiating texts for the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December already include support for biochar. [3] "Even if biochar did sequester carbon effectively, which is far from clear, to contribute to mitigating climate change, we would need to char vast quantities of wood and plant matter, a demand that threatens the earth's remaining biodiversity as well as communities living on so-called marginal lands," argues Almuth Ernsting of Biofuelwatch.[4] "Biochar, like other forms of black carbon, actually contributes to warming when it becomes airborne. In one recent Quebec field test, 30% of the biochar dust blew away during transport and as it was being spread over the fields and tilled into the soil.[5] This hasn't been thought through at all."

"Given geoengineering's potential for unilateral execution and unpredictable impacts, civil society groups need to demand clear answers from their governments. Peasant farmers, indigenous peoples, countries and communities who will be hardest hit by the climate crisis have the absolute right to participate in decision-making about what technologies get funded and deployed," says Pat Mooney of ETC Group. "In the absence of basic democratic processes and multilateral debate, geoengineering is nothing short of geo-piracy."

-30-
Diana Bronson (Montreal, Canada) diana@etcgroup.org
Phone: +1 514 273 6661 Cell: +1 514 629 9236

Pat Mooney (Ottawa, Canada) etc@etcgroup.org
Phone: +1 613 241 2267 Cell: +1 613 240 0045

Rachel Smolker, Biofuelwatch (USA) rsmolker@riseup.net
Phone : +1 802 482 2848 Cell: +1 802 735-7794

Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch (UK) muthbernstinguk@yahoo.co.uk
0044-1224-324797 Cell (in Bonn): 00 44-7931-636337

Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

Notes:
1. Steven Chu spoke at the St James's Palace Nobel Laureate Symposium in London held on May 26-28, 2009

2. Painting surfaces white falls into a category of geoengineering technologies known as solar radiation management (SRM) that seeks to diminish the effects of climate change by reducing the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth, either by blocking it or reflecting it back to space. SRM aims to mitigate the effects of global warming without actually reducing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - addressing symptoms rather than cause. Other, bolder SRM geoengineering techniques include cloud whitening, space sunshades, sulphates in the atmosphere, space mirrors and genetically modified trees with extra shiny leaves.

3. Paragraph 134 in the draft text on long-term cooperative actions includes "Consideration should be given to the role of soils in carbon sequestration, including through the use of biochar and enhancing carbon sinks in drylands." Available on the internet at: http://unfccc.int/documentation/documents/advanced_search/items/3594.php?rec=j&priref=600005243#beg

4. http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/

5. BlueLeaf: Solutions for the Environment, Preliminary Evaluation of Biochar in a Commercial Farming Operation in Canada, 2009, p 8. Available on the internet at: http://www.blue-leaf.ca/main-en/report_a3.php

### ENDS ###

ALERT! NO BIOMASS/NO BURNING CAMPAIGN: Uproar as Massachusetts Poised to Destroy Forests for "Renewable" Electricity

Dr. Glen Barry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:45:33 -0700

By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Portal with Rainforest Rescue

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Burning forests to produce electricity threatens to destroy and further diminish many of America and the world's forests. Protection and regeneration of forests, soils, freshwater, climate and biodiversity are urgent global imperatives, and creating massive new demands for any natural plant material is misguided and will further degrade ecosystems. Achieving global ecological sustainability [search] requires that renewable energy be defined as "no biomass/no burning".

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

A campaign is growing in Massachusetts, and across the United States and world, against burning wood and other biomass in giant incinerators to produce electricity. This northeast U.S. state claims to be a leader in renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions yet is fast-tracking three large biomass plants to generate 135 megawatts of power in Western Massachusetts, with other plants under discussion. There is no scientific evidence that incinerating wood or trash is clean and green. Biomass burning is exempt from greenhouse gas accounting regulations, yet the plants generate 50% more CO2 per megawatt than burning coal. Shockingly, MA's plants are being billed as an antidote to global warming as part of the state's "renewable portfolio standards" under its "Global Warming Solutions Act". In fact, the proposed biomass would establish incinerators that would immediately increase carbon emissions, making global warming much worse, and also set the stage to eventually deforest much of the region.

Anything that furthers the cutting of dwindling ecosystems, and pollution associated with burning, in the production of electricity should not be considered clean, green or renewable. Protecting and regenerating forests, ecosystems and soils is the most important step we must take if we are to stabilize the global climate. As policy makers seek to expand mandates for renewable energy, it is essential that the focus remain upon true renewables such as wind, solar and ocean derived technologies; and excludes burning or refining plant biomass, garbage or landfill gases. Support the growing U.S. coalition in demanding no biomass/no burning in definitions of renewable energy.

TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=biomass_wood

ALERT! Hillary's Choice: Urge Secretary of State Clinton to Reject Deadly Tar Sands Oil Pipelines

Dr. Glen Barry — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:12:07 -0700

By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Climate Change Portal

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Alberta Canada's tar sands development [search] is the most ecologically destructive project in the world; destroying vast natural boreal ecosystems, perpetuating global addiction to fossil fuels, and ensuring abrupt climate change [search]. Tar sands and their pipelines must be stopped using all means necessary. Please start by protesting for disapproval of massive pipelines which will facilitate continued fossil fuel dependency. TAKE ACTION!

ALERT! Copenhagen (and You) Must Cut Carbon Emissions by at Least 10% During 2010

Dr. Glen Barry — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:59:22 -0700

By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Climate Change Portal

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Urge all Earth's citizens and tribes to pursue a 10:10 pledge, protect and restore all old forests, and pursue other ambitious, short-term actions -- both personally and at Copenhagen -- as a start to avert abrupt climate change and global ecological collapse. Stewardship Revolution starts here as global ecological sustainability depends upon dramatically reducing greenhouse emissions in the short term. TAKE ACTION!

ALERT! No to Copenhagen 'Carbon Logging': GOOD REDD Fully Protects and Restores Old Forests as a Global Climatic Imperative

Dr. Glen Barry — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:56:44 -0800

By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Climate Change Portal

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Copenhagen climate talks [search] must not provide Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) carbon market funds for old, natural forest logging, or for conversion of natural or semi-natural forests and other ecosystems to plantations. Ending deforestation and degradation of old and relatively ecologically intact primary and old growth forest ecosystems, and the ecological restoration of late-successional old growth forests, are keystone responses to maintaining the global climatic system. TAKE ACTION!