Cities Can’t Combat Climate Change Alone

By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and are responsible for 70 percent of global CO2 emissions. It will be cities, not individual states or governments, who will need to employ effective urban planning, implement eco-friendly ordinances, reduce emissions, and plan for the coming effects of climate change. In Life in the Big City: Unlocking Smart Development (SXSW Eco), the discussion centered around the premise that cities, centers of global economic activity and innovation, have the greatest power to impact climate change. But can they do it alone?

Melanie Nutter, Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment, described C40, an international cities climate leadership group started in 2005, and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Cities as two vital tools cities are using to educate themselves on the impact of climate change, take their own measure, and make a plan for reduction. 57 percent of CDP reporting cities are adopting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and 62 have established action plans to deal with climate change.

Nutter herself projects that by 2050, San Francisco is looking at a 15-inch sea level rise, climbing to a 55-inch rise by 2100. This would put the airport and 99 miles of roads under water, resulting in $48 billion in infrastructure damage. Nutter and the city planners have aggressively set measures in place to combat this coming change, including achieving zero waste by 2020 — currently SF recycles, composts or reuses 77 percent of its waste, the nation’s highest diversion rate.

Nutter reeled off impressive statistics, followed by more achievements and even more accomplishments. San Francisco is clearly a city that is making an impact, but what about everyone else?

For further information: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/10/cities-combat-climate-change-alone/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TriplePundit+%28Triple+

From: Andrea Newell, Triple Pundit, More from this Affiliate
Published October 13, 2011 08:16 AM

Energy efficiency incentives for commercial buildings announced

President Barack Obama announced a new clean energy program in Pennsylvania on Thursday, seeking to show he remains focused on jobs in a state that may be essential to his 2012 re-election prospects.


Obama outlined a plan in his State of the Union address last month to encourage clean energy technologies and to double by 2035 the U.S. share of electricity from clean energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and "clean" coal

As part of that program, Obama announced a plan to improve energy efficiency in U.S. commercial buildings by offering businesses incentives to help pay for upgrades of offices, stores and other buildings, which he said consume 40 percent of the energy Americans use, and could save $40 billion a year.

"Making our buildings more energy efficient is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, combat pollution and create jobs right here in the United States of America," Obama told a jammed sports hall at the Pennsylvania State University.

"To get the private sector to lead by example, I'm also issuing a challenge to CEOs, to labor, to building owners, to hospitals, universities and others, to join us," he said.

Former President Bill Clinton and General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt will lead this outreach to the private sector, a White House official said. Obama tapped Immelt last month as his top outside economic adviser to chair a presidential panel on jobs and competitiveness.

Obama's push for the United States to build a green economy is part of a global race to dominate what is seen as a potentially huge industry in solar, wind and other alternative energies that offer wealth and energy independence.

Photo shows President Barack Obama touring a solar panel instillation at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, February 17, 2009. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing

Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/03/us-obama-economy-energy-idUSTRE7122YT20110203

Mediterranean Sea may be polluted with 250 billion microplastics

The 2010 scientific expedition undertaken by the European program called Mediterranean En-Dangered (MED) reveals that 250 billion microplastics could be found in the Mediterranean Sea. The main goal of the program, which will end in 2013, is to quantify the distribution of plastic pollution and better understand its dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea. Microplastics are usually defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters, so for most part they are invisible to human eyes.
Samplings were conducted within 20 centimeters depth at 40 sites located in the northwestern basins of the Mediterranean Sea mainly off France and northern Italy. Ninety percent of the samples were composed of microplastics, with some containing up to six times more micro-fragments of plastic compared to plankton, which means that the marine biomass was largely dominated by plastics.

In general, micro debris floating on the Mediterranean Sea reached 115,000 particles per square kilometer with a maximum of 892,000 particles. The concentration of plastic debris found in the sea is similar to the one measured in the Atlantic of the Northern Hemisphere or in the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' which has a huge density of plastic debris. However, these first findings should be extrapolated with cautions to the whole Mediterranean Sea since sampling sites were limited geographically.

The amount of plastic that will be manufactured in the next ten years will nearly equal the total produced in the 20th century. Plastic is a major contributor to marine pollution. Impacts of microplastics to organisms and the environment are largely unknown.



Article continues: http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0105-fidenci_microplastics.html

The Return of Off Shore drilling

Offshore drilling typically refers to the discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater. Most commonly, the term is used to describe oil extraction off the coasts of continents, though the term can also apply to drilling in lakes and inland seas. Offshore drilling presents environmental challenges, especially in the Arctic or close to the shore. Controversies include the ongoing US offshore drilling debate. The off shore moratorium in the US (as a result of the BP spill) ended in October 2010. The Obama administration has decided to allow 13 companies to resume deepwater drilling without additional environmental scrutiny. The decision comes after the administration said it would require strict reviews for new drilling in the Gulf. Others, such as the arctic Shell project, are still blocked by related concerns. The Department of the Interior apparently gave those companies the go-ahead because they were in the middle of previously approved projects when the Gulf spill occurred.
Around 1891, the first submerged oil wells were drilled from platforms built on piles in the fresh waters of the Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio. Around 1896, the first submerged oil wells in salt water were drilled in the portion of the Summerland field extending under the Santa Barbara Channel in California. The wells were drilled from piers extending from land out into the channel.
There are risks in off shore drilling. No one can deny that. However, the drilling supplies numerous local jobs and adds to the available natural gas and oil supplies. Until there is no future need due to renewable sources being developed the world will need these products.
Assessing only the impact of halting deep water drilling, an internal July 2010 memo from Michael Bromwich, director of the bureau of Ocean Energy, to Salazar estimated that the six month moratorium impact would result in over 23,000 jobs lost.
The 13 companies allowed to resume drilling are: ATP Oil & Gas; BHP Billiton Petroleum; Chevron USA; Cobalt International Energy; ENI U.S. Operating Co. Inc.; Hess Corp.; Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp.; Marathon Oil Co.; Murphy Exploration & Production-USA; Noble Energy Inc.; Shell Offshore; Statoil USA; and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.
Not all drilling has been resumed. Sometimes there is vehement local opposition even if the drilling permit has been approved. Alaska Native and conservation groups have succeeded in challenging clean air permits granted to Shell Oil to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
Numerous groups alleged that Shell's permits granted by the Environmental Protection Agency would allow the company to emit tons of pollutants into the Arctic environment from a drill ship and support vessels.
The federal Environmental Appeals Board reviewed the permits and last week found that the EPA's analysis of the impact of nitrogen dioxide emissions from the ships on Alaska Native communities was too limited and would have to be redone.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/13/thedc-analysis-offshore-drilling-moratoriums-end-is-way-overdue/#ixzz1AHMQGONi

US Natural Gas, Oil reserves soar

U.S. natural gas reserves increased by the most in history last year, and crude reserves also rose, as companies drilled frantically into shale rock formations with new technology, the Energy Information Administration said in an annual report on Tuesday.
U.S. net proved natural gas reserves rose 11 percent, or 28.8 trillion cubic feet (tcf), in 2009 to total 284 tcf, underscoring the dramatic impact that new gas pumped from shale rock formations is having on world energy supply.
Louisiana, whose statewide reserves grew quickest, saw its economically viable gas reserves surge by 77 percent, or 9.2 tcf, led by developments in its Haynesville Shale.
U.S. net proved crude oil reserves rose 9 percent, or 1.8 billion barrels, to 22.3 billion barrels in 2009. Texas saw its proved oil volumes rise most, by 529 million barrels, or 11 percent.
North Dakota, home of the oil-rich Bakken Shale formation, saw its reserves jump by a whopping 83 percent, or 481 million barrels.
"These increases demonstrate the possibility of an expanding role for domestic natural gas and crude oil in meeting both current and projected U.S. energy demands," EIA researchers said in their report.

Proved reserves -- which now stand at the equivalent of 12 years of gas consumption and 3.3 years of oil demand -- represent energy supplies that are extensively charted out and could be tapped under current market conditions. Total recoverable reserves, however, can be far higher.
The addition of 47.6 tcf in new proved gas reserves was the sharpest on record and caps seven straight years of increases, EIA said. It was led by gas from shale rock formations, such as Haynesville, where advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked vast new energy potential.



Article continues: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AT68Q20101130

Locals fighting an Alaskan wilderness mine

Anglo American promised it would not touch the pristine habitat of Bristol Bay without our blessing. It must honor its word. Among our Alaskan native tribes, a promise made is a promise kept. Such promises over the generations have kept our populations of wild sockeye salmon, which sustain our culture and feed our families, plentiful and healthy. And last year, Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of London-based mining giant Anglo American PLC, made a promise
In a private meeting with Alaskans in London (including one of this piece's authors), Carroll promised her company would not build its proposed Pebble mine if local residents didn't support it.

The vast majority of Bristol Bay residents, joined by the Alaskan commercial and sport fishing industries, are strongly opposed to the proposed open-pit copper and gold mine project in the headwaters of the bay — spawning grounds for the largest and most valuable wild sockeye salmon on Earth. The Bristol Bay fishery supplies a third of the world's commercial supply. It is the lifeblood of many Alaska native communities and is critical to the state's economy, generating an average of $400m (£250m) a year and more than 5,500 jobs. The UK is the largest consumer of tinned sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, with $43m-worth (£27m) of salmon exported to the UK last year.



While Anglo American has yet to file a complete application with state regulators, presentations by the company and water rights applications make it clear that the mine will be the largest of its kind in North America, and one of the largest in the world. If built, it would alter this special place for ever. Such a major industrial development will destroy productive salmon habitat and leave behind 10 billion tonnes of toxic mining waste that would stay here for ever. The sulphides in the rock make water pollution a near certainty. Even minute increases in certain metals interfere with a salmon's ability to navigate upriver to spawn.



Article continues: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/29/anglo-american-alaskan-bristol-bay

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