dailycancun: traffic justice

by boatsie

Buenas noches de Cancun, where Day 1 of COP16 ends in a mishmosh of mucha confusión, conexiones pobres de Internet y los problemas de transporte that befuddle the mind, even of the most seasoned climate negotiator.

Adopt a Negotiator? How about find one? Coercing one to talk to you on the record? No small feat, considering the fact that those press credentials I was expecting were not forthcoming on my arrival last night. Turns out my stint as a member of tck's official reporting team affords me  "Observor" status. Meaning I get coveted access to Cancunmesse, the spectacular array of COP16 side events and unlimited access to the hundreds of NGOs huddling under one roof in this huge new convention complex.

No small feat, catching an interview with official delegates, who are already separated from the press in the official Moon Palace talks four miles away. Still, they all have to pass through Cancunmesse at least  twice a day as they shuttle off behind the Mexican government's extraordinarily 'military curtain.'

Ah, but quizá they have no idea what they are in for when they grant an old school reporter even limited access. In New York, to get a story you had to have cahones grande! For me, that meant the work day began en route to work.

continued at Daily Kos....

Royal Society: 4C (Catastrophic) Global Warming by 2070

by FishOutofWater

Greenhouse gas emissions are on track to cause catastrophic global warming of 4 Celsius by 2070 devastating American agriculture and the earth's ecosystems according to a volume of reports published today by the Royal Society.

Temperature changes of between 4 and 8°C are projected in the summer across various temperate and tropical regions for a global 4°C temperature rise [42]. This suggests that these adaptive capacities might be exceeded, especially in the areas with the larger temperate rises such as the USA, the Mediterranean and many parts of Africa [42]. Many of these studies do not include damage caused by concomitant increases in tropospheric ozone and extreme weather events, and so the estimated adaptive capacities might be over-optimistic. For ecosystems, while adaptation to a 2°C world is considered feasible, the options for adapting, either naturally or with human assistance, to a 4°C world are extremely limited, since at these temperatures few ecosystems would be expected to be able to maintain their current functioning [43].

continued at Daily Kos....

COP16 Climate Talks Kick Off in Cancun, Mexico - So What?

by greenmedia

Cross-posted to Green Media News.

Representatives from countries around the world gathered today in Cancun, Mexico for the COP16 climate talks which will continue for the next 12 days. This is the first round of talks by the UNFCCC (United Nations Frameworks Conventions on Climate Change) since last year's COP15 conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

COP15 last year failed to produce a world-wide agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which was expected by a large majority of the world's population. Therefore, expectations for COP16 this year are very low. Notably different this year is the stated intention of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to cooperate with politicians and negotiators rather than play an adversarial role.

continued at Daily Kos....

How to support President Obama

by erratic

(Note that this isn't a diary about whether to support President Obama, or why. If that's what you want to discuss, go do it somewhere else.).

It really is very simple. And I'm not saying that everyone should do this, just the people who would like to support President Obama. The rest of you, why don't you wander off and comment somewhere else, or even take the initiative to write your own diary? I can assure you, your comments will be irrelevant and unnecessary here. We're starting from the operating concept of "Be the change you want to see". Which means, it is incumbent upon you to initiate those changes you wish to see in the political landscape of America the Beautiful.

For all that many whine about the poor directions the White House is going in, few have shown effective or significant political pressure. This strikes me as ridiculously innocent, since anyone who has spent 5 minutes with a politician know s that they love being forced by a public majority to take significant beneficial action. I've been involved in such projects, and it's very satisfying for all involved.

continued at Daily Kos....

Gulf Watchers Monday -Fire Feinberg says one Gulf newspaper - BP Catastrophe AUV #433

by shanesnana

You are in the current Gulf Watchers BP Catastrophe - AUV #433. ROV #432 is here.

Bookmark this link to find the latest Gulf Watchers diaries.

Please RECOMMEND THIS DIARY, the motherships have been discontinued.

Gulf Watchers Diary Schedule
Monday - evening drive time
Wednesday - morning
Friday - morning
Friday Block Party - evening
Sunday - morning

Part one of the digest of diaries is here and part two is here.

Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.

continued at Daily Kos....

Will we face "our Sputnik moment"?

by A Siegel

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu just finished a speech at the National Press Club entitled: Is the Energy Race our new "Sputnik" moment?

Chu outlined ways in which the United States either has already ceded or is ceding leadership when it comes to clean energy -- in technology, manufacturing, and deployment.

Secretary Chu seeks to lay out a call to arms, as it may be, for Americans (and, more importantly, the political elite) to recognize that we either decide to invest for the long term in clean energy innovation or we risk abandoning future prosperity to others.

continued at Daily Kos....

Fonio: Africa’s Oldest Cereal Needs More Attention

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

You may not have heard of fonio, but it is Africa’s oldest cereal. For the Dogon people of Mali, fonio is "the seed of the universe" – an appropriate name considering its high nutritional value, and adaptability to the region’s soil and climate. From Lake Chad to the savannah regions of Senegal and Guinea, fonio is an important source of food for some 4 million people across West Africa.

continued at Daily Kos....

DAILYCANCUN #1: What if They Threw a Climate Conference & Nobody Cared?

by todbrilliant

It's an exciting day for the global band of climate legislation watchers. We're few in number, and our quarry is rarer than an Ivory-billed woodpecker, but we press on through the thickets and brambles in the hopes that we get to witness, once in our lifetime, meaningful and binding climate legislation. Hats off to Boatsie aka Deborah Phelan for making her way all the way to Cancun for a premier viewing angle.

After going to Copenhagen last year and experiencing the lows and lows of being in the midst of an ill-organized clusterfuck, I realized that I'd been swept up in the ferver. That is, I thought EVERYONE knew about Copenhagen. When I got home and talked to friends in 'progressive' Sonoma County, I realized the only footage relayed of Denmark was of some minor rioting I'd witnessed. Alas. Alack. So this year I decided to proactively assess how many of my local citizens are tuned in to the great and heroic mission that our man in Cancun, Todd Stern (huzzah!), is leading up. And so...

A Man, A PhoneCam & An Hour Productions Presents: What if They Threw a Climate Conference and Nobody Cared?

continued at Daily Kos....