Fuel standards: More mpg coming

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A final proposal for new fuel economy standards was unveiled Tuesday in a joint announcement by the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The regulation requires all passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States to get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon by model year 2016. By that year, cars will be expected to average about 39 mpg and 30 mpg for trucks.

Russia wants foreigners to tap offshore oil and gas

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Russia wants foreign companies to help develop its massive offshore oil and gas reserves as domestic firms lack the means to do so alone, Natural Resources Deputy Minister Sergei Donskoi said.

Suncor to significantly downsize natural gas assets

CALGARY -- A "significant downsizing" of conventional natural gas assets is in the works at Suncor Energy Inc. as it continues to digest Petro-Canada following a $20-billion merger that resulted in 1,000 job losses.

Norway Government Win May Prolong Curb on Arctic Oil

(Bloomberg) -- The re-election of Norway’s Labor Party-led coalition may prolong a ban on oil exploration in environmentally sensitive areas in the Arctic coveted by producers such as StatoilHydro ASA, analysts said.

Labor and its partners, the Socialist Left and Center parties, won 86 seats out of 169 in parliament in yesterday’s general election, securing four more years in power. Labor, split between promoting jobs and protecting the environment, is undecided on opening more areas, while its coalition partners oppose new drilling.

The result wasn’t what “the oil industry had hoped for at all,” Thina Saltvedt, an analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo, said by phone today. “Given that oil production is falling as rapidly as it is, there will be a lot of pressure from the oil industry.”

Sietch Nevada: Desert Oasis for a Drought-Stricken Future

Sietch Nevada is a futuristic concept city that envisions a dystopian water-hoarding society where drought is a constant state and wars are fought over water. Designed by Matsys Designs, the underground city is situated within a network of tunnels and caverns that offer protection and water storage, creating an oasis in the desert. The dense underground community includes a network of waterways and canals enclosed by residential and commercial cavern structures that forms an underground Venice so to speak.

Greenpeace shuts Shell oil sands mine

Protestors from environmental group Greenpeace snuck into the Albian Sands Muskeg River bitumen mine and chained themselves to equipment, forcing a temporary halt to operations.

At about 8 am local time, protestors blocked access to a dump truck and hydraulic shovel, then climbed up and chained themselves to the equipment.

Another group of protestors put banners on the ground that read “Tar Sands: Climate Crime.”

World Bank Report Slams 'Inertia' in the Face of Climate Change

A major new World Bank report out today concludes that the world can fight poverty and climate change at the same time. But it won't be easy, and it won't be cheap.

Dyer: Population, famine and fate in Ethiopia

Infant deaths are already over two per 10,000 per day in Somali, the worst-hit region of Ethiopia. (Four per day counts as full-scale famine.) Country-wide, 20 percent of the population already depends on the dwindling flow of foreign food aid, and it will get worse for many months yet. What have the Ethiopians done wrong?

The real answer is they have had too many babies. Ethiopia's population at the time of the last famine 25 years ago was 40 million. Now it is 80 million. You can do everything else right and if you don't control the population, you're spitting into the wind.

Last chance to change our behaviour

There is growing awareness of the damage we are doing to the planet and the natural resources on which we depend, says David Hillyard. Yet, he argues in this week's Green Room, we still carry on along the same track regardless, refusing to make much-needed changes to our behaviour.

Toyota: Electric cars 'too expensive' for mainstream

Electric vehicles are the clear favored technology for concept cars at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week. But Toyota, the leader in hybrid cars, thinks that the high cost of the lithium ion batteries will keep electric cars from penetrating the mass market for another decade.

The Old Man and the Sea of Oil

Oil bulls are putting their faith in an old man and a little boy. They hope the former, septuagenarian Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, is right in saying there has been "a fundamental change" in the oil market. They hope the latter, the weather pattern called El Nino, "the boy," will go easy on them.

Mr. Naimi, speaking ahead of last week's summit for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was trying to draw attention from extraordinarily high oil inventories, emphasizing instead that the global economy is recovering.

Mr. Naimi's language, with shades of a "new paradigm," should unnerve bulls. So should market data.

What Glut? Oops, Maybe There Is A Glut After All

For weeks the talk in the investment world and the energy business was what would happen when the glut of natural gas rendered winter storage no longer an option. The debate focused on what would happen to the surge in natural gas production if we completely filled the nation’s available storage capacity before the start of the heating season. How would producers handle involuntary well shut-ins? What would happen to the price of natural gas – would it be like some periods in recent memory in which Rocky Mountain gas sold for pennies?

Kunstler: Reality Receding

American perestroika really boils down to this: we have to rescale the activities of daily life to a level consistent with the mandates of the future, especially the ones having to do with available energy and capital. We have to dismantle things that have no future and rebuild things that will allow daily life to function. We have to say goodbye to big box shopping and rebuild Main Street. More people will be needed to work in farming and fewer in tourism, public relations, gambling, and party planning. We have to make some basic useful products in this country again. We have to systematically decommission suburbia and reactivate our small towns and small cities. We have to prepare for the contraction of our large cities. We have to let the sun set on Happy Motoring and rebuild our trains, transit systems, harbors, and inland waterways. We have to reorganize schooling at a much more modest level. We have to close down most of the overseas military bases we're operating and conclude our wars in Asia. Mostly, we have to recover a national sense of common purpose and common decency. There is obviously a lot of work to do in the list above, which could translate into paychecks and careers -- but not if we direct all our resources into propping up the failing structures of yesterday.

Dmitry Orlov: Time's Up! An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Crisis by Keith Farnish

Keith's book is a reader challenge: the reader is tasked with developing a survivable future for her progeny. Very carefully and delicately, with many references to academic research and a rich bibliography, Keith lays out the case that extinction is the default choice – unless you, dear reader of such books, along with a few other people, people like Keith, who would like to help you, come up with a better plan.

Petrobras' Oil Production Up 5% in August

Petrobras' average oil production, in Brazil, reached the mark of 1,980,222 barrels in August, a 5% increase over a year ago. Compared to last July, the growth was 42,000 barrels of oil per day. This increase resulted from resumed operations at platforms that had undergone scheduled shutdowns in the previous month (Cherne 1, P-9, and P-40) and from production going on stream at new wells connected to Campos Basin platforms.

India Cos Unlikely to Produce Oil from Iran Block

India's state-run oil companies will likely not produce any oil from Iran's Farsi block due to the low value of high-sulfur crude and low returns on investment, but natural gas resources could be developed, a senior executive with one of the companies told reporters late Monday.

"We may not produce oil due to high sulfur content in crude but we will explore ways of exploiting natural gas from the block," said the executive, who declined to be named.

Kuwait tackles energy plans with power plant contract

Kuwait has approved plans to build the country’s largest power station for US$2.65 billion (Dh9.73bn) in a bid to close its persistent electricity shortage.

Bader al Shuraian, the minister of electricity and water, signed the contract with General Electric and Hyundai Heavy Industries late on Sunday to construct a 2,000 megawatt plant at Sabiya that will burn both natural gas and fuel oil.

OECD: nuclear output unaffected by recession

According to official data released today by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), nuclear electricity generation in OECD member countries has only marginally declined despite the economic downturn. Nuclear power plants provided 21.5% of the total electricity generated in the OECD area in 2008 against 21.6% in 2007.

A Mad Dash for Smart Grid Cash

By the time the late August application deadline had expired, a United States Department of Energy program to distribute $615 million to fund projects demonstrating smart grid technology had attracted 140 proposals requesting a total of $2.3 billion.

“The response is very encouraging,” said Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department. “We expect some very competitive projects.”

Pursuing a Battery So Electric Vehicles Can Go the Extra Miles

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A future generation lithium-air battery might be the much sought after power source for electric vehicles with ranges that match gasoline powered cars of today.

Hawaii Tries Green Tools in Remaking Power Grids

NAALEHU, Hawaii — Two miles or so from this tiny town in the southernmost corner of the United States, across ranches where cattle herds graze beneath the distant Mauna Loa volcano, the giant turbines of a new wind farm cut through the air.

Sixty miles to the northeast, near a spot where golden-red lava streams meet the sea in clouds of steam, a small power plant extracts heat from the volcanic rock beneath it to generate electricity.

These projects are just a slice of the energy experiment unfolding across Hawaii’s six main islands. With the most diverse array of alternative energy potential of any state in the nation, Hawaii has set out to become a living laboratory for the rest of the country, hoping it can slash its dependence on fossil fuels while keeping the lights on.

U.S. CO2 Emissions Plan Depends on ‘Unlikely’ Offsets

(Bloomberg) -- The “cap-and-trade” bill for greenhouse gases that passed the U.S. House June 26 depends on an “unlikely” supply of cheap carbon credits from developing countries, the National Commission on Energy Policy said today.

While the House-passed bill would allow as many as 1.5 billion so-called carbon offsets from tropical rainforests and clean energy projects in poor countries to count toward U.S. greenhouse gas targets each year, 300 million or less will probably be available, the commission said in a report.

Climate deal must be wide, not "overwhelming": Chu

VIENNA (Reuters) - Nations aiming to agree on a new global climate deal should focus on achievable greenhouse gas emissions targets, to involve as many nations as possible, said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The world is meant to thrash out in December in Copenhagen a new international climate change pact beyond 2012, to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

EPA to propose ways to cut car emissions

McLEAN, Va. — The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that the Obama administration is studying how to curb global-warming gases from big industrial polluters such as power plants and factories.

In an appearance before the USA TODAY editorial board, Lisa Jackson also said the agency will soon propose rules to cut greenhouse emissions from cars.

"We will continue to move stepwise down the path toward regulation of greenhouse gases," Jackson said, assuming that the EPA adopts a preliminary finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health.

Factoring People Into Climate Change

It's a sure bet that women won't be high on the agenda, or even listed on the program, when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon convenes a climate change summit of world leaders on September 22. Women are also likely to be missing at the make-or-break emissions reduction conference in Copenhagen in December.

Even less likely to be discussed at either event is the potential environmental role of reproductive health. Family planning is a toxic subject in too many places, best buried as a malingering relative of Malthusian population "control."

Governments, which dominate these huge confabs, and the people who work independently in the field, down at village level, disagree sharply on the perils of omitting women and their reproductive choices when the future of the earth is at stake.

Hard Times In The High Desert

For most exurbanites, moving back to the city--the preferred option of planners and urban boosters--is not an attractive option. These people could never afford a charming townhouse in Portland's Pearl District or a loft in New York's SoHo. For them, the "urban option" means the prospect of a dreary blocky apartment complex in a noisy, crowded, less-than-genteel section of Los Angeles or another large city.

...To my mind, harboring ill will toward the aspirations of exurbanites is hardly "progressive," at least from a social democratic point of view. Yet many on the so-called left feel that what is generally considered upward mobility needs to be curbed so that the hoi polloi can better live according to the prescriptions of their more enlightened, usually higher-educated and more affluent "betters."

In contrast, a more humane, and fundamentally democratic, approach would be to find ways to help these communities thrive. The first step: local job creation. Even without the excessive prices associated with "peak oil" theories, gas prices and car expenses do place a considerable burden on many exurbanites. Developing more economic opportunities closer to these communities would relieve this financial burden, while also cutting energy consumption.

OPEC Raises 2009, 2010 Oil Demand Forecasts on Economic Rebound

(Bloomberg) -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries raised its global oil demand forecasts for this year and 2010 on expectations the world economy will return to growth.

OPEC, responsible for about 40 percent of worldwide oil supply, boosted its 2010 outlook by 150,000 barrels a day and 2009 by 140,000 barrels a day. The group now predicts that consumption will contract 1.8 percent this year to average 84.05 million barrels a day, and then expand 0.6 percent in 2010 to 84.56 million a day.

“Evidence of an impending upturn in the world economy appears to be gathering,” OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat said today in its monthly market report. Oil prices around $70 a barrel “are likely to persist.”

'Oil price rise may hurt recovery'

If oil prices continue to rise, they could damage a fragile economic recovery, the International Energy Agency's executive director Nobuo Tanaka warned today.

U.S. Crude-Oil Supplies Fell Last Week, Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. crude-oil inventories probably fell last week as refineries took delivery of less of the raw material before they idle units for seasonal maintenance, a Bloomberg News survey showed.

U.S. refineries often shut units for maintenance in September and October as gasoline demand drops and before heating-oil use increases. Crude-oil imports fell 5 percent to an average 9.1 million barrels a day in the week ended Sept. 4.

Total Struggles to Reverse Output Drop Amid Slowdown

(Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe’s third-largest oil producer, is struggling to counter falling production as the economic slowdown erodes demand for energy and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries limits output.

The Paris-based explorer pumps about one third of its output from OPEC members, a larger proportion than rivals such as BP Plc partly because of France’s links with the Mideast and Africa. It has also made finds off the Angolan coast and is investing in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez has expelled producers refusing to accept new contract terms.

Angola Is U.S. Priority as Rising Oil Output Boosts Influence

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Steinberg arrived in Angola in 1995 as U.S. ambassador to find American oilmen doing more than drilling for coastal crude.

“They were, in fact, the American ambassadors to Angola in that period,” Steinberg recalls. “The only real relationship was through the oil companies.”

Angola, currently Africa’s top oil producer, is now a priority in Washington. Hillary Clinton’s overnight visit last month -- the first for a U.S. secretary of state -- sent the message that America is eager to help transform the former Cold War battleground into a stable energy giant with strong democratic institutions and transparent business practices.

Petrobras Finds More Oil as Gabrielli Sees ‘Fantastic Moment’

(Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA found another deposit of oil and natural gas in Brazil’s Santos Basin as Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli sought to reassure international investors about the company’s prospects.

The discovery was made together with BG Group Plc and Repsol YPF SA after a fourth well was drilled in the BM-S-9 block off the country’s southeastern coast, Petrobras, Brazil’s state-run oil company, said in a statement last night. The Abare Oeste field is neighbor to the Carioca, Guara and Iguacu fields, where the company has already reported the existence of crude.

Bharat Petroleum Oil Imports May Rise 50% to Record

(Bloomberg) -- Bharat Petroleum Corp., an Indian state-refiner, said its crude-oil imports may rise 50 percent to a record next year after completing expansions to meet demand in the second-fastest growing major economy.

Overseas purchases may climb to 24 million metric tons in the year starting April 1, from 16 million this year, finance director S.K. Joshi said in an interview in Mumbai yesterday.

Eni Shuts Livorno Refinery as Unions Protest Job Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest energy company, closed its refinery in Livorno, potentially curbing fuel supplies amid Europe’s glut, as unions protested against a risk of job cuts in a possible sale.

All deliveries have been blocked except chemicals needed for plant security, said Antonio Fidanza, secretary general for the petroleum energy division of Italy’s biggest union, Cgil, in an interview. The plant has been shut since Sept. 13, he said. An Eni spokeswoman couldn’t immediately comment.

Mexico Oil Bonds Raise $2.4 Billion to Bolster Public Finances

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s government raised 32 billion pesos ($2.4 billion) by selling oil-backed debt to local banks, part of an effort to alleviate budget shortfalls among states, Mexican Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said.

The 13-year debt, yielding 181 basis points over the interbank TIIE swap rate, was sold in a private offering to 12 banks in Mexico, Carstens said yesterday in Mexico City. The debt issuance is backed by a rainy-day oil fund that gets money when crude oil exports sell for more than the budgeted amount.

Newcastle Weekly Coal Exports Fall, Ship Queue Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Coal shipments from Australia’s Newcastle port, the world’s biggest export harbor for the fuel, fell 5.6 percent last week while the number of vessels waiting to load declined.

E.ON Delays Building Russian Electricity Unit on Weak Demand

(Bloomberg) -- E.ON AG, Germany’s largest utility, postponed the commissioning of a coal-fired unit in Russia and ruled out further power acquisitions in the country for at least three years because of the economic slowdown.

Audit: Gov't could lose millions in gas royalties

WASHINGTON – The federal government risks losing millions of dollars in royalties from natural gas production because it does not promptly determine and collect when it gets shortchanged, according to congressional auditors.

The Government Accountability Office said in a report Monday that the Minerals Management Service, which manages oil and gas production on public lands, does not have the tools or staff necessary to check that companies are paying the government what it is owed in royalties.

Pakistani Police Thwart Militant Attack on Karachi Oil Terminal

(Bloomberg) -- Pakistani police say they thwarted an overnight attack on an oil terminal in the southern city of Karachi and are investigating whether it was carried out by Taliban militants.

Russia should sell oil and gas for roubles - Dvorkovich

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) - Russia should gradually switch to selling its oil and gas and other raw resources for roubles to turn the rouble into a key regional reserve currency, the Kremlin’s top economic adviser, Arkady Dvorkovich, said on Tuesday.

“If we can somehow interlink the rouble with those goods that we have today, i.e. energy resources – oil, gas and other raw materials, and begin to trade in oil and gas contracts for roubles, the rouble will gradually become an essential currency for many countries,” he said.

Russian energy in disarray

The once all-powerful Russian energy sector appears to be on unpredictable and shaky grounds today. The development of the giant Kovykta gas field, once considered as a major project, has been placed on hold; the jewel in the crown Shtokman field is in trouble; Sakhalin-2 is being forced to divert its gas to the strategic Russian Far East for domestic consumption, while original plans to sell this gas to China are being abandoned.

These fundamental changes come at a time when less-than-transparent deals are taking place in the ownership of Russian oil and gas companies. That raises the question of whether these developments are related and if so, what impact, if any, they could have on European and Asian energy security.

Ghanem 'is gone'

Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Company (NOC), is no longer in the post, a senior source in the Libyan General People's Congress, said today.

Asked about media reports that Ghanem had resigned, the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: "He is gone."

Obama Urged to Ready Tougher Iran Sanctions, Military Strike

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. should begin preparing crippling sanctions on Iran and publicly make clear that a military strike is possible should the Iranian government press ahead with its nuclear effort, a bipartisan policy group said.

“If biting sanctions do not persuade the Islamic Republic to demonstrate sincerity in negotiations and give up its enrichment activities, the White House will have to begin serious consideration of the option of a U.S.-led military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities,” said the study from the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.

China showers gifts on resources-rich Timor

DILI (Reuters) – Dili's gleaming new Presidential Palace and Foreign Ministry, gifts from China, stand in stark contrast to nearby burned-out buildings and are symbols of how the energy-hungry superpower is growing closer to tiny, oil-rich East Timor.

Norway hands left historic win

Norway's left-wing coalition held onto a razor-thin majority in Monday's general election after a campaign pitting improvements to the welfare state against tax cuts in the oil-rich economy.

Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg declared victory for his government, which was seen winning a slim, one-seat majority with 99.4% of votes counted.

California feud breaks out on clean energy plan

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto a bill requiring the state to get a third of its electricity from solar, wind and other renewable sources, his staff said on Monday in a fight that shows the difficulties of addressing climate change fast.

New Oil Discoveries You Should Know

Peak oil enthusiasts seem convinced that the world is heading for a cataclysmic change as the production of oil declines over the next generation. Predictions range from food riots to mass starvation to the extinction of the human race. There's only one problem with all this - the industry keeps finding more and more oil.

Peak Oil Theory in Crisis

Peak Oil cult membership may wane now that scientists have proved fossil fuels can be created synthetically by replicating the high pressure, high temperature conditions found in the upper mantle of the earth's crust. In other words, the fossils of animals and plants aren't needed to produce oil and gas, which means oil and natural gas will be easier to find and may abound all over the world.

Peak oil and an economic recovery

Peak Oil is widely known to be the point at which oil production reaches its highest point and thereafter declines. Most people expect that this point will be reached in the very near future. Others believe we reached the highest point of oil production in the first half of the present decade and that from now on it is all down hill. They are correct.

A detailed analysis prepared for The Oil Drum by Tony Erikson provides reasonable evidence that Peak Oil occurred in 2008. It contends that peak production of 74.8 million barrels per day was achieved in July 2008 and has been in decline since then. Current production is estimated to be about 71 million barrels per day, a decline of 5 per cent, with a further decline of about 7 per cent expected over the next 15 months.

Blind Spot: Peak Oil & the Coming Global Crisis

In this haunting portrait of America's oil-fueled excesses, director Adolfo Doring explores the inextricable link between the energy we use, the way we run our economy, and the multiplying threats that now confront the environmental health and stability of our planet. Taking as its starting point the inevitable energy depletion scenario known as "Peak Oil," the film surveys a fascinating range of the latest intellectual, political, and scientific thought to make the case that by whatever measure of greed, wishful thinking, neglect, or ignorance, we now find ourselves at a disturbing crossroads: we can continue to burn fossil fuels and witness the collapse of our ecology, or we can choose not to and witness the collapse of our economy.

Apocalypse Now? Dark Visions At Toronto Film Festival

TORONTO (Reuters) - A new wave of documentaries at this year's Toronto International Film Festival poses a disturbing question: is environmental and social disaster on a global scale imminent and perhaps inevitable?

Doomsday visions captured by three filmmakers at the annual industry event may have seemed a bit implausible only a couple of years ago. But after the global economy's near-death experience over the past 12 months, such ideas may no longer strike audiences as radical or hard to fathom.

Against the grain on Norman Borlaug

The criticism was not so much aimed at the man himself, but for the biotech legacy he played such a major role in creating. After all, this was the man who arguably did more than any other to nurture the era of monocrops, GM foods and the intensive use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilisers. He may well have saved a billion people from imminent starvation, but by doing so, say his critics, he also inadvertently helped to plant the seed for future environmental woes.

China committed to peaceful nuclear policy

Wang said China's peaceful use of nuclear energy had entered a fast development phase. China had established a complete nuclear industrial system and had the capacity to assure a requisite fuel supply for its nuclear energy development.

1.27 million displaced by China's Three Gorges Dam

BEIJING (AFP) – China has relocated 1.27 million people to make way for the controversial Three Gorges dam development, the world's largest hydroelectric project, state media reported.

The figure was the total number of relocations as of the end of June, a top dam construction official was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency in a report issued late Saturday.

Birth defects rise in parts of China: state media

BEIJING (AFP) – The number of newborns with birth defects in many parts of China is rising rapidly as women have children later in life and environmental pollution takes its toll, state media reported Tuesday.

Japan to demand US forces clean up pollution: report

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's incoming government plans to oblige US forces stationed in the country to clean up any environmental damage when they move bases, a report said Monday.

The coalition led by the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which takes power this week, wants to add an environmental clause to the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the Sankei newspaper said, without naming its sources.

One in six Mediterranean mammals face extinction

MADRID (AFP) – One in six Mediterranean mammals is threatened with extinction at the regional level, mainly due to the destruction of their habitat from urbanization, agriculture and climate change, nature body IUCN said Tuesday in a new study.

Many climate change costs seen avoidable

LONDON (Reuters) - Climate change could cost some countries up to 19 percent of their gross domestic product by 2030, a panel including major insurance, banking and consulting companies as well as the European Commission said on Monday.

Developing nations will be most vulnerable to the effects of climate change but a lot of their economic loss could be avoided, a report by the Economics of Climate Adaptation (ECA) Working Group said.

Together with prevention and mitigation measures, risk transfer like insurance or catastrophe bonds can play an important role by capping losses from catastrophic events, increasing willingness to invest and providing price signals to financial markets, the working group said.

Greenpeace calls Canada polluter, climate change 'bully'

MONTREAL (AFP) – Environmental group Greenpeace on Monday accused Canada of contributing to a "global climate crisis" by seeking to expand extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta province.

In a report entitled "Dirty Oil" the organization also says that Canada, along with Japan, is seeking to block progress towards a new global climate change agreement to be finalized at a December summit in Copenhagen.

Alberta's 'firewall' approach to climate change

There's been talk lately that the Harper government's climate change policy will favour oil sands production at the expense of Ontario and Quebec's manufacturing sector.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice has publicly denied that he is promoting such a scheme in private meetings.

But the suspicion lingers on, mainly because the Harperites have yet to produce a clear and detailed plan that spells out exactly how they intend to curb greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and particularly in Alberta, the country's largest emitter.

Aussie rocker Garrett won't join climate change song

SYDNEY (AFP) – Left-wing rocker turned Australian environment minister Peter Garrett said Tuesday he would not join 55 world celebrities in reprising one of his greatest hits in the name of climate change.

The former Midnight Oil frontman said he and the band had collaborated with the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum on a revamp of their 1980s hit "Beds Are Burning", but would not take part in the recording.

Ethiopia seeks climate change answers from public

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Ethiopia will conduct a nationwide canvass of opinion to enable people to submit their ideas on how to tackle climate change, state media reported on Tuesday.

The Ethiopian News Agency said the Horn of Africa country's population would be consulted over two months and the results of the forum would help shape Africa's position during key talks in Copenhagen in December.

Climate Mystery

‘The Climate Mystery’ is a new computer game available for free on the internet as teaching aid for teens in the weeks leading up to the December climate summit in Copenhagen. ‘We wanted to use an engrossing story to capture and maintain interest in on climate issues,’ Christian Fonnesbech, creative director of Congin, the game’s designer, said during its launch yesterday.Each week players will be presented with a new problem they need to deal with in order to solve the mystery. The problems, such as floods and forest fires, should also help them to find the four main characters.

Re-elected Norway premier to fight climate change

OSLO – Norway's prime minister on Tuesday said fighting climate change would be a priority in his second term after his left-leaning government beat a splintered opposition to win re-election.

Jens Stoltenberg's Labor-led coalition won 86 seats to keep a slim majority in the 169-seat Parliament after using oil money to shield the Nordic welfare state from the global recession.

El Niño, Global Warming Link Questioned; Possible Link Between 1918 El Niño And Flu Pandemic?

ScienceDaily — Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu pandemic 91 years ago. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Niño, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century.

By 2055, state's climate could look more like Missouri's, study finds

The first detailed research on Wisconsin's climate is forecasting a jump in average annual temperatures of 4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit by midcentury, which could push humans and nature to adapt to weather conditions that at times resemble Missouri today.

The findings are unique for climate research in Wisconsin because researchers are making predictions about the future on a local scale.

New study makes dire prediction for Minnesota forests

St. Paul, Minn. — A new article by University of Minnesota ecologists says Minnesota's forests could shrink more rapidly than expected, as droughts, fires, and growth of native and exotic species accelerate the changes caused by global warming.

The authors argue that prairie lands could expand by as much as 300 miles in the next 50 to 100 years, pushing Minnesota's forests further north. The changes would significantly alter the state's landscape, and could impact industry and development.

Interior Launches Climate Strategy

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar launched the Obama administration's first coordinated response to the impacts of climate change Monday, which he said would both monitor how global warming is altering the nation's landscape and help the country cope with those changes.

Salazar will lead a new "climate change response council" that will coordinate action among the department's eight bureaus and offices. A secretarial order will create eight "regional climate change response centers" in areas ranging from Alaska to the Northeast and build landscape conservation cooperatives that will create strategies for the eight regions with the help of state and local groups, and other federal agencies.