Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1096

Ken Ward, Jr. is the Ultimate Game Changer In Green

Huffington Post is having an online voting contest:  Who Is The Ultimate Game Changer In Green?

There are a number of good choices, though I wouldn't have included Stephen Colbert — he does sometimes air some very clever environmental messaging, but he's happy to ridicule environmentalists or environmental themes if it can get a laugh.

The guy you should vote for is Ken Ward, Jr (click here).  Here's why:

Changed the game by … raking muck while covered in coal. West Virginia isn't an area that...

NOAA reports 2010 hottest year on record so far - Summer 2010 the second warmest on record; hottest August in RSS satellite record*

Following fast on the heels of NASA reporting the hottest January to August on record, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center  has released its State of the Climate: Global Analysis for August.

NOAA reports the details (and the graphic):

The first eight months of 2010 tied the same period in 1998 for the warmest combined land and ocean surface temperature on record worldwide. Meanwhile, the June–August summer was the second warmest on record globally after 1998, and last month was the...

NOAA: 2010 hottest year on record so far - Summer 2010 the second warmest on record, Arctic sea ice continues its 14-year decline

Following fast on the heels of NASA reporting the hottest January to August on record, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center  has released its State of the Climate: Global Analysis for August.

NOAA reports the details (and the graphic):

The first eight months of 2010 tied the same period in 1998 for the warmest combined land and ocean surface temperature on record worldwide. Meanwhile, the June–August summer was the second warmest on record globally after 1998, and last month was the...

Tea-Totaled

Cartoonist Tom Toles on the Republican roadblock:

Related Posts:

Best Toles cartoon ever
Toles' "last rant about the climate" and Tom Tomorrow on conservatives, "Reality: Who needs it!"

Looks like women are smarter than men after all - Study: "Women exhibit more scientifically accurate climate change knowledge than do men" -- even though men think they know more

I suspect the results of "The effects of gender on climate change knowledge and concern in the American public" will come as no surprise to at least half of my readers.  Or perhaps it will, since the Population and Environment study finds that:

While women exhibit greater assessed climate change knowledge than do men, men report greater perceived understanding than do women….

Yet, women nevertheless underestimate their climate change knowledge more than do men.

Don't you just love sociological ...

Why the victory of the Tea Party extremists (backed by Big Oil) over the slightly less extreme GOP establishment (also backed by Big Oil) is good for progressives, but bad for climate and clean energy

"They are beginning to resemble the bar scene from Star Wars," said Democratic strategist Peter Fenn in POLITICO's Arena, referring to the GOP candidates this year. "They are purging the conservative voices in their party who have any sort of pragmatic perspective and substituting true kooks."

The Republican party is self-destructing, and they will probably take a livable climate with them.  While the rise of the Tea Party is probably good for progressive politicians, the extreme...

Energy and Global Warming News for September 15th: States are climate battlegrounds; Turning everyday garbage into gasoline

States are climate battlegrounds

The nation's premier state-led climate programs are under attack by a growing coalition of industry, tea party and conservative activists.

Opponents to limits on greenhouse gas emissions see the fights in California and New Jersey as the next step in the fight over global warming policy after the demise of federal cap-and-trade legislation on Capitol Hill.

"This is definitely a new battlefield worth reconsidering in light of threat No. 1 being shelved,"...

Climate action goes local - Cities confront the global challenge, embrace clean energy

While national and international action will ultimately be needed to avert catastrophic climate change, serious action on both fronts is not imminent.  In the meantime, local action will be crucial for identifying and testing best practices.  Michael Coren has a good update at the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media on those who take to heart the dictum, think globally, act locally

Humans have officially made their home in the concrete jungle. Ours is the first generation in which...

Exclusive: Scientists track sharp drop in oldest, thickest Arctic sea ice. - 2010 melt season ends, likely setting the record for lowest volume

Last week, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) director Mark Serreze said, "Every bit of evidence we have says the ice is thinning."  Monday, NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve sent me this figure from a forthcoming article using data provided by J. Maslanik and C. Fowler (click to enlarge):

This is the end-of-winter sea ice extent in the Arctic Basin, broken down by age.  Stroeve explains:

This figure would support thinning of the icepack over the last couple of decades since older ice...

Senate approps Dems prepare to kill EPA climate rules

This Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee may vote to block the Obama administration from moving forward with global warming pollution rules.  Brad Johnson has the story.

While the Senate dithered and let Republicans kill climate legislation passed last year by the House of Representatives, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun rolling out rules to limit greenhouse gas pollution in the coming years. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) attempt to kill the finding that...