Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1157

DA, Portland police clear Al Gore of charges

I am happy to pass on any comments you have to the Nobel-Peace-prize-winning former VP.

I wouldn't normally blog on this sort of thing, but you have no idea how many nasty comments (and emails) I have had to delete on this topic.

Portland's local TV station KOIN reports:

Portland Police and the Multnomah County District Attorney's office have cleared Al Gore of criminal wrongdoing in the sex assault case filed by masseuse Molly Hagerty.

"After evaluating the materials submitted by PPB I have...

Michigan oil spill harms wildlife, forces residents to evacuate

On Monday, a disastrous leak in one of the world's largest pipeline systems gushed over 1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River, located in southwest Michigan.  Think Progress has the story in this cross-post.

Already, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has declared the area a disaster zone, quickly activating State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) to ensure all state resources are devoted to oil spill response. "From my perspective, the response has been anemic," Granholm...

Big Oil showdown in California: Weekly Prop 23 news - Black carbon soot threatens Sierra snow and CA water supply; Prop 23 jeopardizes CA cleantech sector

We're starting a new (temporary) feature — a round-up of the latest news on the fossil fuel-funded Proposition 23 effort to repeal California's clean energy and climate laws.  We'll  also throw in some California-related global warming news, and a bonus NRDC video by the great Edward James Olmos.

Ohio coal company that backed Fiorina also gave to Prop. 23

Appalachian coal interests pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into political campaigns each election cycle, but hardly any of the...

Be wary of "Mission Accomplished" claims for BP disaster clean up

Back in early May, I interviewed experts on dispersants and oil spill clean up and wrote "Out of Sight: BP's dispersants are toxic — but not as toxic as dispersed oil."

Chemically dispersing oil spills "solves the political problem of visible oil but not the environmental problem," Robert Brulle, a 20-year Coast Guard veteran and an affiliate professor of public health at Drexel University, told me. These dispersants "do not actually reduce the total amount of oil entering the...

Video: Everything you wanted to know about climate science in under 10 minutes

James Powell, Executive Director, National Physical Science Consortium, has produced an excellent YouTube video summarizing the evidence for anthropogenic global warming

Powell is a former college and museum president.  "President Reagan and later, President George H. W. Bush, both appointed Powell to the National Science Board, where he served for 12 years."

Great for sending to any septics you may know:

Related Posts:

An illustrated guide to the latest climate scienceMust-read...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 30th: Solar-power industry hits magic number; Fight gears up on biomass; Fossil fuel subsidies are 12 times support for renewables — study

Solar-Power Industry Hits Magic Number

While some investors feel they're still waiting for the sun to rise on the solar energy industry, it's already high noon for some parts of the sector.

In some places in the U.S. today, solar photovoltaic, PV, technology—the iconic glass panels being deployed on home and business rooftops—already allows users to beat what their local utility charges for electricity generated from coal-fired power plants.

"It makes sense if you look at it as a [retail...

Politician behind the campaign to repeal California's clean energy laws calls global warming "a scam"

This is part of a series on the fossil fuel-funded Proposition 23 effort to repeal California's clean energy and climate laws. Read previous posts on Prop 23's economic impact, national repercussions, and funding from Texas oil companies.

In the California legislature, the loudest voice to kill the landmark clean energy climate change law AB32 has become Assemblyman Dan Logue (R-Chico). Described by Sacramento insiders as a "backbencher," Logue has built a powerful coalition of former ...

Both regular and 'shadow' RNCs brought to you by Big Oil

Our guest blogger is CAPAF's Joshua Dorner. This is a Think Progress cross-post.

Following scandal after scandal, many donors have abandoned the Michael Steele-led Republican National Committee in favor of other right-wing groups preparing to attack Democratic candidates in this fall's elections. The two biggest beneficiaries of the RNC's woes appear to be American Crossroads, the "shadow RNC" setup by Bush operatives Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, and the Republican Governors...

Nature Stunner: "Global warming blamed for 40% decline in the ocean's phytoplankton" - "Microscopic life crucial to the marine food chain is dying out. The consequences could be catastrophic."

Scientists may have found the most devastating impact yet of human-caused global warming — a 40% decline in phytoplankton since 1950 linked to the rise in ocean sea surface temperatures.  If confirmed, it may represent the single most important finding of the year in climate science.

The headlines above are from an appropriately blunt article in The Independent about the new study in Nature, "Global phytoplankton decline over the past century" (subs. req'd).  Even the Wall Street Journal

Lost in translation: In a Brazilian interview, Judith Curry incluir uma cena demasiado longa ou uma variação do tema de um programa de televisão indicando que este está com os seus dias contados

Judith Curry, tribal elder for the confusionists, has now jumped the shark in two languages.

http://climatechangepsychology.blogsp... 2010/ 07/ currygate-continues-judith-curry-has.html