April 28, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
When the Deepwater Horizon undersea oil drilling platform exploded, on Tuesday, 20 April, then collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, last Thursday —on Earth Day— it began pouring huge quantities of crude oil into the water. It is now estimated that 42,000 gallons of crude oil per day are pouring into the already troubled Gulf ecosystem. As of this morning, the slick is reported to have moved to within 20 miles of the Louisiana coastline, and some of the most fragile wetland ecosystems in the region.
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April 22, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Earth Day 2010 finds our world, in many ways, at a moment of crucial historical importance, on the issue of climate destabilization and environmental stewardship. The combined effects of major scientific advances, which have brought a wealth of hard evidence, the global campaign to raise awareness, and the deteriorating conditions of the carbon fuel sector’s relationship with consumers’ interest, now mean awareness of the urgent need to achieve a more sustainable global economic infrastructure has spread rapidly.
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April 17, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Environmental Protection Agency, still playing catch-up from years of inaction on key environmental regulatory responsibilities, has for the first time in its history vetoed the approval of a permit for mountaintop removal mining. Last month, the EPA began to apply existing environmental protections for the first time in a way that allowed the agency to put a stop to one of the most radically environmentally degrading practices related to the mining industry.
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April 10, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Swiss-based Solar Impulse has achieved the maiden voyage of its solar-powered aircraft. From here on, the question will no longer be whether solar-powered air travel is possible, but how efficient are the technologies allowing it to compete with combustion-powered air travel.
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March 11, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Even as Haiti grapples with the deep and lasting devastation of the earthquake that left tens of millions dead, millions homeless and destroyed vital infrastructure needed to maintain routine food distribution and medical care, hundreds of thousands of people are now vulnerable to catastrophic flooding expected to hit the low-lying camps where they are struggling to maintain makeshift tent cities. As many as one million people need to be relocated and/or given viable shelter, to avoid the rapid spread of infectious disease.
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February 27, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake has hit central Chile, the epicenter estimated about 200 miles southwest of the capital Santiago, roughly 70 miles from the city of Concepción, the nation’s second most populous city. The tremor lasted about 90 seconds and caused serious damage to roads and bridges. 122 people are confirmed dead, according to Chilean authorities, and a tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific Ocean basin (including Hawai’i, Japan and the Philippines).
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February 27, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
‘Psychic numbing’ is a relatively new term, assigned to the phenomenon which shows people tend to feel less urgent compassion, and tend to give less, when the suffering in question is shown to be more systemic and more pervasive, or affecting larger numbers of people. Some psychologists believe it is linked to our intuitive sense that if one suffers alone, the suffering is worse, but if one is accompanied, there might be some security in numbers, not just emotionally, but practically.
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February 20, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
In response to a recent article, explaining that record snowfall in certain places does not equate to a proof that global warming is not happening, but rather, that global warming is an apt explanation for why the record snowfalls would occur there, a number of climate skeptics chose to attack certain points in the piece, using what they take to be established science. In some cases, the evidence cited was simply misrepresented or misinterpreted, according to the wishes of the skeptics themselves.
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February 16, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: 7 Comments
Climate-science skeptics have been gleeful in their assault on climate change theory, the hard research and tens of thousands of scientists behind it and the very concept of human responsibility to the environment, because there has been snowfall. In a stunning display of ignorance, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) openly claimed the record snows that hit Washington, DC, were evidence there was in fact no climate change, that the whole idea is just a myth.
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January 18, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The bottleneck problem is center stage, as the volume of aid appears to outpace the remaining transport infrastructure for getting it where it needs to go. Today, Haitian authorities have complained there may be too exclusive a focus on the capital Port-au-Prince, causing some heavily devastated population centers to be left unattended, by comparison.
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January 18, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Apple has set up a special section of its iTunes Music Store to allow users to donate directly to the Red Cross. The funds are charged through the user’s iTunes account, billed to the same bank account or credit card on file, and use the same process as for buying a song, video or iPhone app. The move is the latest in a series of high-profile actions designed to help expedite the delivery of charitable donations to the Haiti relief effort.
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January 16, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
The following is a list of updates on the situation in Haiti, including resources for people searching for missing loved ones: List of Disaster Relief Efforts for Haiti … Haiti plans massive evacuation of quake-hit homeless – Xinhua … Sec. of State Clinton reviews Haiti relief efforts – Washington Post … UN: Haiti quake catastrophe poses unprecedented relief problems – Monsters & Critics … Haiti Earthquake : Photos (Some very graphic images) – CNN … Canada to speed up immigration requests from Haiti – Washington Post … L’aide internationale se déploie dans un climat tendu en Haïti – Le Monde … A l’appel d’Obama, Bush rejoint Clinton pour aider Haïti – Le Monde … Google lance un outil de recherche des victimes – Le Monde … Haïti. J+4 Distribution d’eau potable pour 35000 personnes – Ouest-France … Le Sénégal octroie un soutien de 500.000 dollars à Haïti – Agence de Presse Africaine …
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January 15, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama has asked former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to join together to help oversee the administration of the massive relief effort now descending on Haiti. The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund is now online at ClintonBushHaitiFund.org, with a mission to ensure that funds coming in are directed to where they are most needed.
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January 15, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Fully three days after the catastrophic earthquake that struck the region of the Haitian capital, the bodies of thousands of dead are reported to be arrayed in the streets and being moved into mass graves, with likely no way to trace who is buried there. While massive amounts of international aid are moving into the disaster zone, and the Haitian government continues to function and is meeting every morning and afternoon to coordinate relief efforts, the sheer scale of the destruction is hampering the delivery of aid to neighborhoods blocked off by rubble and filled with dead and injured.
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January 14, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama outlined today a wide array of search and rescue, relief aid and security efforts his administration is sending to Haiti to assist the Haitian people in dealing with the worst recorded earthquake to strike their nation. The US president promised Haiti’s people that the US will not forget the victims of the Haitian quake and that “more search and rescue teams” are on their way. He also said his administration will invest an initial amount of $100 million to support its relief efforts in Haiti, and that this investment will grow.
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January 14, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The disaster response for the Haitian earthquake has been swift and coordinated, channeling massive international resources to the affected area. But the logistics of deploying the resources, personnel and technology needed to deliver comprehensive disaster assistance, are beyond complicated, with roads and transport overwhelmed, and means of contacting the wounded almost non-existent.
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January 14, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti two days ago has left an unknown number of thousands of people dead or missing, destroyed the service infrastructure in the capital and left a precarious situation for millions of survivors. The disaster response effort has been swift and international, with rescue and relief teams scrambling from across the world to get to Haiti.
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January 14, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Red Cross (ICRC) relief & rescue efforts in Haiti
Haïti : le CICR intensifie ses efforts pour venir en aide aux victimes du séisme
UNICEF Emergency Relief Effort for Haiti
L’UNICEF déploie son aide d’urgence après le tremblement de terre
Doctors without Borders: Setting up clinics to serve the wounded
MSF: Haïti: des centaines de blessés reçoivent les premiers soins
USAID Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response …
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January 13, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine — that Haitians will need in the coming days. In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.
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January 13, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
The president of the island nation of Haiti, René Preval, has told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta in an interview conducted on the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince that the situation on the ground is “incredible”, adding that “you have to see it to believe it”. The destruction is widespread and the human suffering inestimable. Small health clinics are overwhelmed by massive numbers of casualties, as public health infrastructure has collapsed.
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January 12, 2010 :: staff :: Comments Off
Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, is described tonight as in a state of disaster, with some reports suggesting there are more buildings destroyed than left standing, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake at 4:53 this afternoon. The epicenter of the quake is reported to have been just 10 miles away from Port-au-Prince, with the most severe tremors and violent shaking felt across an area 70 miles in diameter. There are no reliable estimates so far of loss of life, but thousands are feared killed.
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January 11, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Despite the widespread debate in the US, China and other heavily coal-burning countries, about the degree to which “clean coal” can be a solution to the daunting challenge of how to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming and climate destabilization, the technology does not yet exist. There are no clean coal plants in the US.
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January 8, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
After decades of environmental scientists seeking to raise awareness about the detrimental impacts of burning ever more carbon-based fuels, the Copenhagen Accord shows a global willingness to recognize the gravity of the issue and to take concrete —if as yet unnamed— policy actions to address the challenges of coming decades.
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January 3, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Continuing our series on the evolutions that can be expected over the coming decade, we look at new directions in particle physics, media technologies that are enabling not only greater freedom, but a new communicative paradigm which will, in part, help steer us to the great discoveries of this moment in history, and a vital new understanding of global economic patterns, which will revolutionize the way governments around the world plan for domestic spending and trade policy.
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January 2, 2010 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Because three issues alone will not adequately describe the breakthroughs we will experience in the coming decade, a second installment of the 2nd decade prognosis is necessary. While denuclearization pacts and a verification process for limiting the threat of nuclear weapons is likely to be key to international relations, and the green technology revolution will spur economic development around the world, international cooperation must also be directed toward issues relating to basic resources, like water and the food supply. Gender equality will be key to peacemaking efforts, and counter-extremism will be a leading aspect of collaborative development efforts.
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December 28, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The Sandia National Laboratories have achieved a landmark breakthrough in solar-voltaic power-generation technology. The snowflake-like “solar glitter” uses 100 times less material to produce the same amount of electricity as today’s standard 6-inch square solar cells. This achievement of ultra-miniaturization now has the potential to move solar-voltaic power generation to the forefront of the clean energy revolution, and help speed the transition away from carbon-based combustible fuels.
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December 24, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
China has outraged political and diplomatic leaders around the world by aggressively blocking agreement on hard targets for binding emissions cuts, refusing even to agree to any accord that would include mention of other nations’ specific cuts. One observer told the BBC that he observed China, India and Saudi Arabia as the key powers working to prevent binding targets from being adopted, but China was the most immovable opponent to a binding agreement.
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December 23, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
As ongoing global climate destabilization builds momentum, and fundamental climate-linked environmental processes come apart, we are hearing time and again that melting ice, whether in glaciers or in the Arctic Ocean, is “the canary in the coal mine”. The metaphor is very tempting, indeed, as coal is the most carbon-intensive fuel in use and a major contributing factor to global warming and climate destabilization, but the problem with the metaphor lies in the meaning of the canary being nothing more than an alarm signal. Glaciers are very much more important to human civilization than that.
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December 22, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Glacial melt is one of the key signs of global warming, but the disappearance of glacial ice is a worrying depletion of the basic life-sustaining resource of fresh water. Glacial ice provides the source water for many of the world’s major river systems, and thus affects the food supply and quality of life of billions of people. What’s more, as glaciers are eroded due to accelerated melting, downstream human populations face the twin problems of catastrophic flooding and more arid long-term conditions. Inland precipitation is reduced and sea levels rise, causing a very real threat to coastal communities of all sizes and levels of development.
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December 22, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
With global temperatures warming steadily, and this decade the hottest ever recorded, ice stores are melting around the globe. From the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet to the Greenland Ice Sheet to the ancient glaciers of the Himalayas —which feed river systems that irrigate land that feeds 3 billion people—, we are losing unprecedented amounts of climate-regulating ice. And in 2007, the Arctic Ocean lost more sea ice than at any time on record. It was projected that for the summer of 2008, the coveted Northwest Passage —from Europe to Asia— would finally be open, due to ongoing compounded melting of the polar ice cap.
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December 21, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
(1) [W]e shall, recognizing the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius, on the basis ofequity and in the context of sustainable development, enhance our long-term cooperative action to combat climate change. … (2) We agree that deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science, and as documented by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report with a view to reduce global emissions so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius … (10) We decide that the Copenhagen Green Climate Fund shall be established as an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention to support projects, programme, policies and other activities in developing countries related to mitigation including REDD-plus, adaptation, capacity-building, technology development and transfer….
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December 19, 2009 :: Eva Scherson :: One Comment
After two weeks of intense and sometimes bitter negotiations, US president Barack Obama arrived in Copenhagen to marshal all his diplomatic skills in brokering the beginnings of a viable framework for global carbon emissions reductions. Late Friday, it was announced that five nations —the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa— had carved out a deal that would, for the first time, bring all the world’s major economies into the same camp on efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
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December 19, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The Philippines looks upon these negotiations in Copenhagen with a critical sense of urgency. The average world per capita CO2 equivalent emission is 6 tons and must be brought down to 3 tons to stabilize at 450 ppm in 2050. The Philippines is already doing better than that. Our emissions are only 1.6 tons per capita and we are committed to further deviate from our business-as-usual growth path.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
When US president Barack Obama arrived in Copenhagen, there was no global agreement on how to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and talks were described as being “in a state of chaos”. His morning schedule of face to face meetings was reorganized so he could attend an emergency conference of key leaders. Talks were scheduled to continue through the weekend, and yet before midnight, agreement had been reached.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The above video highlights the Danish city of Frederikshavn’s ongoing comprehensive plan to achieve 100% carbon neutral status by 2015, by focusing on wind and other renewable resources to produce its entire municipal energy supply. Mikael Kau, the director of the Frederikshavn energy project explains that other, larger cities in Denmark could adopt similar plans and from the local level help Denmark achieve 100% energy independence and carbon neutrality by 2015.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Gordon Brown plans “plan b” 2nd round of talks if Copenhagen conference fails to achieve global pact. The plan would call for a smaller number of nations to meet to agree to concrete steps to curb emissions and move their contribution to the world economy toward a green energy future.
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December 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
With the US promising to commit $100 billion over ten years to help fund mitigation efforts against the impacts of climate destabilization and China all but refusing outright to agree to any pact that requires international verification of emissions reductions and/or how international funds are spent, the technological solution remains a key priority.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Good morning. It’s an honor to for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come together here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. You would not be here unless you —like me— were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, this is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. That much we know.
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December 18, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
The furious negotiations of the final days of the Copenhagen conference on climate change has produced another draft of a potential Copenhagen Accord, which would drop the 2010 deadline for establishing a binding global treaty, but would keep the absolute upper limit of an eventual 2ºC global average temperature rise above pre-industrial levels.
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December 18, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: One Comment
The United States is pledging to “take the lead” on a global fund of $100 billion over ten years, designed to help developing nations transition to a zero-combustion energy economy and fend off the already mounting ravages of climate destabilization. The offer was announced yesterday by Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and was intended in part to put added pressure on China to agree to a binding climate deal with emissions reduction verification processes built in.
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December 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The Copenhagen climate conference is intended to round out two weeks of global negotiations with an agreement of some sort aimed at securing major progress on carbon emissions limits. It remains uncertain whether an agreement will be reached, so Pres. Obama’s trip is being treated as a “high-stakes gamble” in the US media. In fact, Obama will be one of 115 heads of government in attendance, and the White House’s statement that while his attendance cannot guarantee agreement, a decision not to could scuttle negotiations, seems the most level-headed.
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December 17, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The government of the Philippines has deployed military forces to the vicinity of the Mayon volcano, near Legazpi City, to evacuate at least 50,000 people who live in the expected path of lava flows or ash plumes that could result from an impending eruption. Mayon is the most active of the 22 active volcanoes across the Philippines archipelago. The Philippines has failed to prevent loss of life in natural disasters like urban flooding linked to poor management of drainage systems and mudslides linked to illegal mountainside logging, and is determined to do succeed in doing so in this case.
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December 17, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Devoting valuable grain crops to fuel production has had an immediate negative impact on the global food supply, reducing supply and pushing prices higher, even as one billion people suffer from chronic hunger. In the United States, high prices and economic crisis mean on in eight are now insufficiently able to access adequate food supplies. But a new generation of crop-based biofuels will be more efficient and need not interfere with the food supply.
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December 16, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The dispute over whether or not wealthy industrialized nations like the US can agree with fast-developing nations, still in the process of industrialization, like China and India, on how best to formulate global emissions policies to combat climate change has been explained backwards. It is commonly said that China and India want the right to continue burning ever-increasing amounts of carbon-based fuels until they catch up to the US and the industrialized nations in per-capita emissions levels. But the problem is more a matter of what cuts the industrial nations are willing to undertake.
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December 14, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
This video from Congress.org uses animation to illustrate the way “cap and trade” proposals to limit greenhouse gas emissions —and slow or reverse climate change— would work. The video is a simplified explanation of the very complex array of regulatory reforms that will need to be implemented in order to achieve the goals laid out, but it is accurate in its description of the logic of cap and trade.
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December 14, 2009 :: Evelyn Winston Perez :: Comments Off
The World Bank is working with the Chinese government to fund major industrial development in specific areas across Africa, as part of an effort to spur development and create jobs. The effort is needed in order to breathe new life into African cities that are experiencing population explosions, with little new investment to match the demand for resources and jobs. But three key factors raise questions about whether the China plan for African industry will be good for Africa.
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December 13, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is fond of calling the entire global field of climate science “a hoax”, and not only advocates inaction to curb the unraveling of climate systems, but devoutly champions the expansion of the very activities that are driving the planet to crisis. Had he been in office during the catastrophic 1930s “Dust Bowl” and had he had any success in convincing government and farmers to apply such an approach, Oklahoma could have been turned into a permanent desert with the characteristics of a failed state in perpetual need of food aid and expensive imports.
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December 13, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
There has long been a view in Washington that the federal government cannot enact regulations aimed at curbing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases (GHG) without a specific new statutory framework passed by Congress. In an effort to be conciliatory toward pro-business interests and conservatives in both parties, Pres. Obama has largely held to this view of climate-linked emissions regulations. But this view is actually not supported by existing legislation and judicial precedent.
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December 13, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Soil erosion is just one of the many factors of sustained entropy undermining the global agricultural capacity, and by extension the global food supply. Desertification affecting sub-Saharan Africa, including the expansion of the indomitable Sahara, and across northwestern China, poses a very real threat to cropland feeding hundreds of millions of people. A farm sustainability corps could help deliver resources, know-how and restorative and sustainable soil conservation practices to the most affected areas.
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December 11, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The United Nations Copenhagen Conference on emissions-linked climate destabilization is reported to be progressing toward a new global framework for regulating carbon emissions and mitigating the breakdown of global climate systems. According to the UN website, “The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has noted an eagerness among the parties to the talks to sit down and complete as much work as possible before the arrival of high-level government officials next week.”
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