TOP STORY
U.S. EPA criticizes DOT over fuel-economy standards
Officials at the U.S. EPA have criticized their counterparts at the U.S. Transportation Department lately over the DOT's proposed fuel-economy standards for vehicles of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015. The EPA has said the DOT used an unreasonably low figure for future gasoline prices -- $2.42 a gallon in 2016 and a high of $3.37 a gallon -- which skewed the final cost-benefit figures in favor of lower fuel-economy standards; the 2007 energy bill mandates that automakers meet a standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but the legislation allows the DOT to set the interim standards. "EPA has several concerns with the methodology used to determine the relative benefits and costs of the alternatives analyzed," said EPA's Susan Bromm in flawless bureaucratese (the shared language of all U.S. federal agencies). The EPA also criticized the DOT for putting what it said was too low a value on the societal benefits of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, saying that the DOT calculated only the costs to the U.S. and not to other nations of the world that are also impacted by climate change.
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
source: Associated Press
TODAY'S NEWS
Energy and climate get brief nods at Republican convention
After getting off to a slow and sedate start, the Republican National Convention featured its first big speeches last night. President Bush, speaking by satellite, made a joke about voters "trading up" for John McCain and praised the candidate for supporting offshore drilling. Democrat-cum-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) urged Democrats and independents to vote for "maverick" McCain. "If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do something about global warming," said Lieberman. "But he did!" And on the topic of global warming, the newly approved GOP platform acknowledges it but cautions against "no-growth radicalism" and "doomsday climate-change scenarios." Stay tuned to Grist for more RNC news.
Oil platforms off La. fare OK under hurricane; wetlands, not so much
Louisiana's people and property fared better under Hurricane Gustav than had been feared, but acres of valuable wetlands were likely irrevocably destroyed. "The last thing on anyone's mind during a hurricane is how the wetlands are going to do," says activist Aaron Giles. But since happy and healthy wetlands act as storm barriers, "wetlands are a critical piece of keeping coastal Louisiana safe." Heavy storms toss around fauna in marshes and deposit saltwater where it ain't supposed to be. Louisiana's wetlands have been severely eroded by natural disaster and development; some estimates hold that healthier wetlands could have knocked Gustav's 12-foot tidal surge down by three feet. The hurricane shut down oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, but at first look it seems the storm has not caused any serious structural damage or significant spills on offshore platforms, leading President Bush to reiterate Tuesday, "This storm should not cause members of the Congress to say, 'Well, we don't need to address our energy independence.' We need more domestic energy. One place to find it is offshore America.'' Oil and gas companies are still assessing damage however, and have said it could take weeks to determine the full extent of the storm's impact since most of the gulf's 717 drilling platforms haven't been examined up close yet.
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
sources: USA Today, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Hill, San Francisco Chronicle
see also, in Grist: Coverage of the Gustav-addled Republican National Convention
Offshore wind power in U.S. poised to take off
There are no offshore wind turbines generating electricity in U.S. waters yet, but that's expected to change soon if wind-power advocates and wind developers have their way. The first U.S. offshore wind turbines could be spinning in as little as three to five years if all goes well. The U.S. Interior Department is already conducting environmental impact studies for offshore wind farms at 10 sites in federal waters off the U.S. East Coast, and the agency is expected to finalize its rules for offshore alternative-energy production by the end of the year. For their part, wind-energy companies are especially excited about the offshore potential of the East Coast due to its high electricity prices, high winds, proximity to plenty of energy-hungry population centers, and relatively shallow offshore waters. Yet, despite the momentum and the offshore industry's promise, the forecast offshore wind-power boom could potentially slow to a crawl if the current federal tax breaks for wind-power projects aren't renewed before they expire at the end of the year.
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
source: The Wall Street Journal
Stick It to 'Em
Conclusions of 'hockey stick' graph stand up to further scrutiny
The infamous "hockey stick" graph, which shows the Northern Hemisphere beginning to rapidly warm around the industrial age, has been backed up by new research. Michael Mann, who helped develop the 1998 graph that climate skeptics love to hate, is the lead author of the new study to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Ten years ago the estimates for earlier centuries were really primarily reliant on just one sort of information: tree ring measurements," he says. For the new study, researchers perused coral reef skeletons, glaciers, ice sheets, sea-floor sediment, stalagmites, and stalactites. Thus, says Mann, "we now have enough other sources that we can achieve meaningful reconstructions back a thousand years without tree ring data, and we get more or less the same answer" -- that is, that "the current warmth is anomalous."
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
sources: National Geographic News, Arizona Daily Star, Canwest News Service, BBC News, Christian Science Monitor, Mongabay
see also, in Grist: "Hockey stick" climate study largely holds up to collegial scrutiny -- way back in 2005
In Brief
Snippets from the news
• Efforts to clean up Naples trash blocked by the mob.
• Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in last year.
• Melting of Greenland ice sheet could lead to accelerated sea-level rise.
• Are fireflies endangered?
• Climate change could mean fewer plague cases in U.S..
• Rajendra Pachauri reelected as head of IPCC.
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
GRIST COLUMNS AND FEATURES
On recycled vs. certified paper
Q. Dear Umbra,
Our office is trying to develop an environmental paper procurement policy, and we were wondering which component is most critical -- certification by the Forest Stewardship Council, or recycled content? If you could help us understand which is best to support, we would greatly appreciate it.
Dan S.
Denver, Colo.
A. Dearest Dan,
We need to pause and celebrate: 15 years ago, was it even possible for this question to be written? Could an office worker casually toss off "environmental paper procurement policy" and know that it would be generally understood? And were there two eco-positive, decent paper choices to baffle us? I was still in diapers, of course, but ...
Read the rest of Umbra's answer.
[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]
new in Grist: On recycled vs. certified paper
Coming Thursday: Chef Kurt Michael Friese revisits Slow Food Nation
Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.
No comments:
Post a Comment