Greenpeace publicises 350

Check out this 3.5 minute video of Greenpeace activists abseiling down Mount Rushmore to hang a huge banner saying 'America Honors Leaders, Not Politicians: Stop Global Warming'. Tweeted to the 350 Twitter site.

Cash for clunkers program

An federal program in the USA is offering cash incentives to drivers of petrol-guzzling old cars to upgrade their car. Owners of cars built since 1984, with fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less, can pe paid up to $4,500 purchase a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. Details in this Reuters story.

Preserving biodiversity helps prevent the spread of disease

'New Scientist shows us another reason why preserving biodiversity is so important: Preventing the spread of diseases from animals to humans. A new paper from scientists at Portland State University looks at the spread of the Sin Nobre Virus, otherwise known as the Hantavirus (which kills about 500 people per year in the US) and found that increased biodiversity limited the spread of the virus among deer mice. It's the droppings of the deer mice which spreads the disease among humans:

Low Diversity = High Disease
The researchers made the connection between increased mammal diversity and lower infection rates among deer mice after conducting field work in Portland's parks for the past four years. In place where mammal diversity was lowest infection levels increased dramatically.' Read the rest of this post from Treehugger. Good to have some (more) positive consequences of successfully limiting climate change to point to.

Is climate the new asbestos?

"Just hours after the United States House of Representatives passed legislation curtailing greenhouse gas emissions, business groups were talking about going to court. The US Environmental Protection Agency proposition that greenhouse gas endangers public health and contributes to global warming is expected to result in a tsunami of litigation. [ ... ] Elsewhere, climate change litigation is shaping up as an issue that will tie up the judiciary, companies and politics worldwide for years. While other sectors of the global economy are bracing for the negative impact of government legislation on climate change, the litigation industry is set to boom." Among its clients may be 'climate refugees' like Torres Strait Islanders suing for relief. Read the rest of this article by Leon Gettler on the back page of the Business Age.

Energy independence day for US community college

The Taos campus of the University of new Mexico is completely powered by a 500kw solar array. Any unused energy goes back into the grid. (Hope they get a gross feed-in tariff!) Maravilloso! The Read the full story from Tree Hugger blog.

Science at the bleeding edge

A post looking at the role of controversy in science. All right, it may not sound that rivetting, but it's really interesting. A taste:

'The vast majority of mainstream media items about science are related to new hot-off-the-press studies, often in high profile journals, that report a new breakthrough, or that purportedly overturn previous ideas. However, while these are exciting news items, this preponderance of coverage given to these state-of-the-art studies compared to assessments such as from the National Academies, can give a misleading impression about the state of a scientific knowledge. The more mature and solid a field, the less controversy there is, and thus the fewer news stories. Ironically, this means the public is told the least about the most solid aspects of science.

One effect of this tendency is that quite often news stories are focused on claims that turn out to be wrong, or if not actually wrong, heavily reduced in importance by the time the dust settles.' Rest of the story at RealClimate blog.

Tropical zone expanding due to climate change

'Climate change is rapidly expanding the size of the world’s tropical zone, threatening to bring disease and drought to heavily populated areas, an Australian study has found.

Researchers at James Cook University concluded the tropics had widened by up to 500 kilometres (310 miles) in the past 25 years after examining 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

They looked at findings from long-term satellite measurements, weather balloon data, climate models and sea temperature studies to determine how global warming was impacting on the tropical zone.

The findings showed it now extended well beyond the traditional definition of the tropics, the equatorial band circling the Earth between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.' Read the rest of this story at Grist blog. Ironic that I'm reading about an Australian research study (James Cook University) from an American blog; they got it from Agence France-Presse.

Cement not in stone

A privately owned Melbourne company about to bring low-carbon cement into commercial production has taken issue with the government's proposed emissions trading scheme, saying it offers no incentive to the incumbent cement producers to lower emissions and might even allow them to collect windfall profits from gaming the system.

Zeobond, a company established and owned by the family of University of Melbourne professor Jannie van Deventer, has developed a product called E-crete. It claims 80 per cent less emissions are produced than conventional cement. E-crete is created by using geopolymers and a less emission-intensive chemical reaction than conventional cement, which releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide -- one tonne of carbon for every tonne of cement -- mostly when limestone is broken down using extreme temperatures. It is estimated that three tonnes of cement are produced per person, per year. It is now estimated as the third-largest human contributor to greenhouse gas emissions after the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Professor van Deventer's concern with the proposed ETS is that the cement industry has convinced the government there are no low-emission alternatives, and because it is treated as an emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industry, it will get 94.5 per cent compensation through free permits.

Read the rest of this story from The Australian.  Further story about Zeobond from Ecos magazine (NB .pdf file). Thanks Julia for forwarding these.

Safe Climate Australia - new group with a Climate Transition Plan

A new group with a practica; mission and approach. Found by people like Ian Dunlop and suppported by Al Gore . . .

Safe Climate Australia and the Safe Climate Transition Plan will encompass an all-sector approach including stationary energy, energy efficiency, housing and commercial buildings, transport, industrial and extraction processes, land use and agriculture. The plan will be developed with the intention of protecting and enhancing the key economic, social and environmental parameters of Australian society, including the maintenance of a high standard of living, security of energy and food supply, access to mobility and comfort and well-being for all.

ACF busts the big polluters’ climate myths

Press release from the Australian Conservation Foundation. Date: 3-Jul-2009

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) will be busting the big polluters’ myths about climate change and the economy this weekend, taking out full page advertising space in some of the country’s largest newspapers.

ACF will place ads in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Courier Mail and The Canberra Times tomorrow, Saturday 4 July.

“Leading scientists and economists agree that strong and immediate action on climate change will create jobs for Australians and help secure our economic prosperity,” said ACF executive director Don Henry.

“Big polluters are making mythical claims of financial disaster as a consequence of action on climate change in an attempt to weaken Australia’s response to the climate crisis.

“Big polluters are loading the problem of climate change onto the rest of us, instead of doing their fair share.

“We’re placing these ads to expose the big polluter myths and tell them it’s time to stop holding up progress and do their share,” Mr Henry said.

The advertisements follow the historic passing of climate legislation in the US House of Representatives, placing increasing pressure on the Australian Government to strengthen its climate legislation.

“Our politicians need to stand up to the plate and reduce assistance to polluters and put more money towards clean energy jobs,” Mr Henry said.

“We need investment in energy efficient production and effective climate legislation to cut greenhouse pollution, so Australia can have a credible voice at climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.”