Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1258

Climate change: The new national security challenge

On August 6, 2001, President George W. Bush famously received an intelligence briefing titled, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Thirty-six days later, al Qaeda terrorists tragically turned threat into reality.

Today, scientists tell us we have a 10-year window — if even that — before catastrophic climate change becomes inevitable and irreversible.

This is our intelligence briefing — it tells us the threat is real and time is not on our side.

The national security threat posed by...

Energy and Global Warming News for May 21: Solar manufacturing makes good business sense for governments; NYC skyscraper earns highest environmental rating, LEED platinum

Solar Power Manufacturing Makes Good Business Sense for Governments, Study Finds

Canadian and provincial governments could spend $2.4 billion to build a large scale solar photovoltaic manufacturing plant and then give it away for free and still earn a profit in the long run, according to a financial analysis conducted by the Queen's University Applied Sustainability Research Group in Kingston, Canada.

Queen's University Mechanical Engineering Professor Joshua Pearce conducted the study — to be...

Mount St. Helens, glaciers, and climate change

This week is the 30th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, by far the 48 state's largest eruption and including the largest landslide in Earth's recorded history.  It was "the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States."  Many things about Mount St. Helens relate to all the Earth sciences including climate change, with several useful metaphors as well.

Our guest blogger is long-time commenter Richard Brenne.

Brenne is an...

NWF: BP cover-up begins to unravel - BP admits the obvious, sort of, and the smoking gun reappears

The news is coming fast and furious now — well, it's coming fast, and all of us should be furious:

BP Admits They Underestimated The Amount Of Oil Leaking As More Washes On Shore

A BP spokesman "said a mile-long tube inserted into a leaking pipe over the weekend is capturing 210,000 gallons a day – the total amount the company … [has:] estimated is gushing into the sea – but some is still escaping. He would not say how much."

Duh.  At least they can still do simple math.

BP Smoking Gun? Oil...

WashPost: Senate needs to act now on climate bill - Quotes IEA: "Every year the world fails to seriously deal with climate change raises the price tag by $500 billion -- a lot of which, no doubt, Americans will be on the hook for"

Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) have provided Congress with an opportunity. Their climate bill, released last week, is imperfect. But it offers a start, very much in the right direction. Contrary to popular wisdom, acting on global warming is not going to get easier after this year's election. Legislators should seize this moment.

Since its opinion pages have been quite dreadful on this issue, the Washington Post's editorial on the climate and clean...

What questions do you think the BP disaster commission should answer? - Investigation must be free, clear, and complete

CAP's Daniel J. Weiss, who first proposed the commission idea on May 4, offers his answer to the question of what areas the investigation should pursue.

A dead Portuguese Man-O-War floats on a blob of oil in the waters of Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana.  Source:  AP/Eric Gay

President Obama is likely to sign an executive order sometime during the next several days that would create an independent commission to investigate the causes behind the tragic BP oil disaster. A thorough independent ...

2,000 Hispanic business leaders urge support for clean energy and climate bill

Recent polls show Latinos strongly support action on climate change and clean energy jobs.  On Wednesday, a group of Hispanic business leaders from Florida headed to the Capitol to urge their Senators – Bill Nelson (D-FL) and George LeMieux (R-FL) – to support comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation.

The group brought a petition signed by 2,000 Hispanic business owners from South Florida to bolster their cause.  CAP intern JT McLain has the story.

Hispanic business leaders are ...

Canadian tar sands set to be top U.S. oil import - Let's not forget that other risky, dirty oil business BP is part of

Canada's large reserves of tar sands (or oil sands) are poised to become the number one source of U.S. crude oil imports in 2010, according to a new report from research firm IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

Oil sands imports could ultimately increase to account for 20 percent to 36 percent of U.S. oil and refined product imports by 2030 from the 2009 level of 8 percent, according to the report, "The Role of Canadian Oil Sands in U.S. Oil Supply."

I'm so glad the Houston...

Breaking: EPA demands BP use less toxic dispersant for oil disaster

The Environmental Protection Agency informed BP officials late Wednesday that the company has 24 hours to choose a less toxic form of chemical dispersants to break up its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to government sources familiar with the decision, and must apply the new form of dispersants within 72 hours of submitting the list of alternatives.

Well, better 600,000 gallons (!) late than never (see "Out of Sight: BP's dispersants are toxic — but not as toxic as...

Energy and Global Warming News for May 20: From stench to search — could manure power Google? Kansas could have 30,000 green jobs by 2012

JR:  Gives new meaning to GIGO.  Your jokes are welcome!

"The average cow makes enough waste per day to power a 100-watt light bulb."

One Moos and One Hums, but They Could Help Power Google

Hey diddle diddle. Guess what the cow has done this time?

America's dairy farmers could soon find themselves in the computer business, with the manure from their cows possibly powering the vast data centers of companies like Google and Microsoft. While not immediately intuitive, the idea plays on two trends...