China stops our Green Revolution in its tracks

by gjohnsit

 The news media and the political blogs are enraptured with handicapping the political races. No one has time to worry about real issues anymore. This is the silly season, when immigrant nannies and comments from comedians become "important". When shady television hucksters are inexplicably taken seriously and hold huge political rallies.

 Yet the real world, the one that operates on tangible things that make an actual difference in our lives, keeps chugging along.
  While some of you were busy obsessing about political trivialities, the governments of the world were entering a global trade war. This development entered a scary stage yesterday when Brazil decided not to attend the coming G20 summit.

 However, that was nothing compared to China's latest move.

continued at Daily Kos....

US Croplands, Climate Change, Biofuels and, um, Science.

by NNadir

I don't know if you've ever had occassion to sit at the dinner table with religious fundementalists and discuss science.

I have.   (I have, in fact, sat in the laboratory, and discussed science with religious fundementalists, but let's not talk about that.)

One of the more fun conversations like this - dinner table, not laboratory - involved a family member, who I happen to know has never opened a science book seriously in her life - informing all of the members of our family that "everything in the Bible has been verified by science."  

This is not by itself even remotely interesting except to inform us on one level about the prestige of science, since in former times science was only considered valid if it conformed to religion whereas, subtly without all that much notice, religions now seek validity from science and not the other way around.

Science has become a cultural talisman worldwide.   As it happens, the paper from the primary scientific literature comes from the journal Science...

continued at Daily Kos....

Another international failure to regulate greenhouse gas emissions

by DWG

The Obama administration announced what appeared to be a breakthrough in international cooperation to reduce carbon emissions from the aviation sector. Here is the description from the State Department.

The United States welcomes the historic agreement today at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on international aviation and climate change. Delegates to the Assembly adopted an unprecedented global commitment to collective action among countries around the world —developed and developing—to limit and reduce carbon emissions from international aviation. ICAO recognized that further work is necessary to define the path forward on implementation and the United States affirmed its commitment to further efforts within ICAO.

An agreement "to limit and reduce carbon emissions from international aviation" would indeed be worthy of celebration because aviation emissions currently represent 5% of industrial emissions. Unfortunately, the agreement is mostly smoke and mirrors.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate Hero Marshall closing in on Climate Zombie Burr

by A Siegel

In North Carolina, Democratic Party Senate nominee Elaine Marshall is closing on incumbent Senator Richard Burr.  While polling shows Marshall trailing some eight points, that is five points closer than just a week ago. North Carolinians are waking up to the election and taking notice of the stark contrasts between the two candidates.

One of those arenas of (extremely) stark contrast:  Clean Energy Opportunities and Climate Change Science.

continued at Daily Kos....

ecojustice: "where am i needed, how can i help?"

by boatsie

"Environmentalists often say that we are the one species the earth could very well do without. That's so well-accepted among the people of my tribe that it seems to go without saying.

"But what if it's not true?

"What if we have been designed, crafted, fed, modified, and adapted by the ecosystem (aka Mother Earth), so that both the human species, and all other life, can carry on? What if we are intended to discover and actually engage capacities that deep down we know we have, but rarely utilize?

"What if we've been given that special role all along?

"Imagine how important and how joyful the taking up of that responsibility could be, as well as daunting." Andy Lipkis. Catalyzing Rapid Response Climate Change

continued at Daily Kos....

Hawai'i Underwater and More - A Photo Diary

by Haole in Hawaii

Welcome to another one of these photo diaries meant as a brief respite from the stuggles of the day and as a reminder that we share this planet with all manner of wonderful critters...

Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe
...and the occasional beautiful human-created space.  
(this is an infrared-HDR photo)

continued at Daily Kos....

The Taming of the Dika: West Africa’s Most Eligible Wild Tree

by NourishingthePlanet

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

When forests are cleared in West Africa for firewood or for farmland, the Dika trees are, more often than not, left untouched. Farmers have too much to gain from harvesting the tree’s fruits and seeds to burn or discard a Dika found in the wild.

continued at Daily Kos....

Why Protecting Natural Habitats Will Save Human Lives. 25% essential group says b4 summit

by vc2

Cross posted at Environmental Graffiti

Photo: Robin Moore
The curve of the earth is visible as a man launches his boat into the sunset in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Oceania

This week, world leaders are meeting for the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to discuss targets for protecting biodiversity in the world. A study by Conservation International shows that at least 25% of the world land mass and 15% of the worlds oceans need to be protected by 2020.

continued at Daily Kos....

Science Tidbits

by possum

Welcome once again.  Magical, marvelous Monday is here.  The time has come to gather around and take a well deserved hiatus from all the politics of the day.  Science talk is here.  New discoveries, new takes on old knowledge, and other bits of news are all available for the perusing in today's information world.  Over the fold are selections from the past week from a few of the many excellent science news sites around the world.  Today's tidbits include rare form of rock melting accounts for explosive volcanoes, using ancient animal urine to measure climate change, insecticides from genetically modified corn found in adjacent streams, carbon dioxide controls Earth temperature, both humans and nature harm food webs in rivers, and new fish species discovered in one of world's deepest ocean trenches.  Come in, sit down, and relax.  There is plenty of room for everyone.  Settle in for one more session of Dr. Possum's science education and entertainment.

continued at Daily Kos....

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Clean Energy Candidates

by Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund

Americans know a good idea when they see one. No matter how many millions of dollars the deep-pocketed polluters spend on spreading mistruths this election season, new polling released by the NRDC Action Fund today shows that voters in 23 close Congressional races overwhelmingly support clean energy legislation and would be more likely to support candidates who do the same.

continued at Daily Kos....