by J. K. Shoemaker, D. P. Schrag, M. J. Molina, V. Ramanathan (Science Magazine) Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) include methane (CH4), black carbon (BC), tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). They are important contributors to anthropogenic climate change, responsible for as much
climate change mitigation
Back TO HOMESenate Hearing Addresses 2014 RFS Proposal
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works held a hearing Dec. 11 on the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to set 2014 volume requirements under the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The hearing, titled
December 12, 2013 Read Full Article
Why UN Climate Talks Are Still Relevant: Report from COP 19 in Warsaw
by Michael Davidson (East Winds/The Energy Collective) We are heading into the second week of UN climate negotiations in Warsaw (refered to as COP 19), where 194 countries are busy laying the groundwork for an international treaty hopefully to be
November 21, 2013 Read Full Article
A Few More Storms Like Typhoon Haiyan May Finally Make Our Leaders Act on Climate Change
by Jeffrey D. Sachs (The Washington Post/Earth Institute at Columbia University) ...Through all of this, Congress sits supine. And it’s no mystery why: The oil and gas industry has spent about $1.5 billion on registered lobbying in the past 15 years and hundreds
November 18, 2013 Read Full Article
Corporate Profits vs Environmental Prophets
by Mike Bryan (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... We know where the pollution is originating and what’s causing it. To not impose strict regulations to minimize the emissions from known sources is environmentally irresponsible and is often being ignored simply because of
October 17, 2013 Read Full Article
What Biofuels Can Do
by José R. Moreira (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) Over the last three decades, the amount of land devoted to food crops has increased at a very modest rate, but worldwide food production has expanded significantly. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization
October 02, 2013 Read Full Article
Project on Bioenergy in Africa Successfully Completed
(Netzwerk Biotriebstoffe) The ERA-ARD project “Bioenergy in Africa: Opportunities and Risks of Jatropha and Related Crops” was officially closed at the end of March 2013. Within this project the coordinator published 5 Policy Briefs with the results of the project
September 19, 2013 Read Full Article
Advanced Biofuels, Climate Change and National Security
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) The direct relationship between Climate Change effects and National Security was recently summarized in testimony at a Congressional hearing: Competition and scarcity involving natural resources—food, water, minerals, and energy—are growing security threats. Many countries important to
July 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Federal Agencies Moving Ahead to Reduce Climate Change Risks: Biofuels, Agriculture, and Forestry
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) A number of federal agency initiatives are already underway in the biofuels, agriculture, and forestry sectors to help mitigate climate change and adapt to it. In a posting July 2, Doug O’Brien, Acting Under Secretary of the
July 09, 2013 Read Full Article
Obama to Announce Tuesday He Will Regulate Existing Power Plants as Part of Climate Strategy
by Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post) ... In Saturday’s statement, Obama emphasized the economic opportunities that could come from tackling carbon emissions. “We’ll need scientists to design new fuels, and farmers to grow them,” he said. “We’ll need engineers to devise new
June 24, 2013 Read Full Article
Investors Interested in Fossil Fuel-Free Portfolios
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) According to a recent survey conducted by SRI, 65 percent of retail investors and 53 percent of institutional investors are currently expressing interest in fossil fuel-free portfolios in reaction to climate change. More than 2,000 SRI
May 24, 2013 Read Full Article
Irreversible Does Not Mean Unavoidable
by H. Damon Matthews, Susan Solomon (Science Magazine) Understanding how decreases in CO2 emissions would affect global temperatures has been hampered in recent years by confusion regarding issues of committed warming and irreversibility. The notion that there will be additional future warming or
April 26, 2013 Read Full Article
EERE Transportation Energy Futures Study: Deep Reductions in Petroleum Use and Carbon Emissions
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) The Environmental and Energy Studies Institute (EESI) and the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) held a briefing on the conclusions of the newly released EERE Transportation Energy Futures (TEF)
April 23, 2013 Read Full Article
25x'25 Alliance Offers Adaptation Recommendations to U.S. Agriculture, Forestry
(25 x '25) (T)he Adaptation Work Group, a collaboration of agriculture, forestry, business, academic, conservation and government leaders, ... issued a report last week that offers recommendations that will enable the U.S. agriculture and forestry sectors to meet the challenges
April 12, 2013 Read Full Article
IMF: Governments Need to End Energy Subsidies
by Howard Schneider (The Washington Post) Government subsidies of gasoline, electricity and other energy sources amount to about $1.9 trillion a year and should be ended or offset with taxes used to battle climate change and pay for social programs, the International
March 28, 2013 Read Full Article
IMF: Want to Fight Climate Change? Get Rid of $1.9 Trillion in Energy Subsidies.
by Brad Plumer (The Washington Post) What’s the simplest way to tackle global warming? Make sure that fossil fuels are priced properly and not subsidized. That’s the core idea behind a large new report (pdf) from the International Monetary Fund, which argues that the
March 28, 2013 Read Full Article
Letter to President Obama on Climate Change: From the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
(Center for Climate and Security) The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, or PCAS, recently released a set of recommendations for President Obama on addressing climate change. The top-line recommendations include: Focus on national preparedness for climate change, which can help decrease
March 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Energy Security Trust Counterproductive Says Advanced Biofuels USA Preferring a True Carbon Tax and Apollo Program Scale Efforts
Advanced Biofuels USA, an internationally respected nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting the understanding, development and use of advanced biofuels as an energy security, economic development, military flexibility and climate change/pollution control solution finds the Obama Administration’s proposal for an
March 19, 2013 Read Full Article
NRDC Post-State of the Union Poll: 60 Percent of Americans Support Presidential Action to Fight Ravages of Climate Change
(Natural Resources Defense Council) NRDC's polling immediately after the State of the Union made clear that Americans consider climate change a serious problem and want the President to take action. Sixty-five percent of Americans think that climate change is a serious
February 15, 2013 Read Full Article
You Can't Change the Climate from Inside Washington
by Theda Skocpol (Foreign Policy) If Obama wants to make good on his inaugural promise, he’ll need to remember the lessons he learned as a community organizer. ...The inside game has failed in part because climate reformers have not invested in
January 25, 2013 Read Full Article
Stakeholders Must Study Climate Assessment, Contribute to Discussion
(25 x '25) U.S. agriculture has always been innovative in meeting the challenges to production posed by changing growing conditions in the various parts of the country. So, farmers, foresters, ranchers and land owners are likely paying some serious notice
January 18, 2013 Read Full Article
Black Carbon Ranks as Second-Biggest Human Cause of Global Warming
by Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post) Soot ranks as the second-largest human contributor to climate change, exerting twice as much of an impact as previously thought, according to an analysis released Tuesday. The four-year, 232-page study of black carbon, published in
January 16, 2013 Read Full Article
Environmentalists Urge Obama to Block Keystone XL and Act on Climate Change
by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian) After a strategy of 'climate silence' during president's first term, activist groups signal intent to be more vocal in next four years More than 70 environmental groups called on Barack Obama to take the lead on climate change on Monday,
January 14, 2013 Read Full Article
Study Shows Policy, Not Economy, Drives Future Carbon Reductions
(Center for Climate Strategies) Existing Local, State, and Federal Policies — Not Cheap Natural Gas or Economic Downturn — Identified As Largest Driver Behind Declining Carbon Emissions Projections 20 New Federal, State, and Local Actions Also Identified to Advance Jobs, Energy,
January 03, 2013 Read Full Article
Consumers Take Action on Global Warming
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) A new national survey conducted by Yale finds that in the last 12 months, three of of 10 Americans (32 percent) have given business to a company as a reward for their steps to reduce global warming. Twenty-four
December 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Fossil-Fuel Subsidies of Rich Nations Five Times Climate Aid
by Alex Morales (Bloomberg) Rich countries spend five times more on fossil-fuel subsidies than on aid to help developing nations cut their emissions and protect against the effects of climate change, the Oil Change International campaign group said. In 2011, 22 industrialized
December 11, 2012 Read Full Article
The Price of Ignoring Climate Change Is Rising; Reducing Petroleum Dependence Is Part of the Solution
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere are continuing to rise, and the world’s leading GHG-emitting countries are falling well behind the pace of emission reductions that is needed to avoid harmful climate change. Meanwhile,
November 30, 2012 Read Full Article
The Institute for Energy Research Gets It All Wrong on Regional Energy
by Kate Gordon (Center for American Progress) ...The second problem is even more obvious: The fossil fuel industry takes billions in direct tax incentives and subsidies every year. According to analysis by TR Rose Associates, for the past three decades, the
November 27, 2012 Read Full Article
EPA Proposed Rule “National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter”: Urban Air Initiative Comments
(Urban Air Initiative) From a letter to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, August 30, 2012: Urban Air Initiative (UAI) appreciates this opportunity to comment on the Agency’s proposal to address one of our most dangerous and costly health threats,
August 30, 2012 Read Full Article
U.S. Will Lead New Effort to Cut Global Warming from Methane, Soot
by Brian Vastag (The Washington Post) With global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions stalled, the United States and five other countries are starting a new program to cut other pollutants — including methane, soot and hydrofluorocarbons — that contribute
February 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Occupied by Wall Street: World Leaders Grapple with Clean Energy Finance, Growth at Copenhagen Summit
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) World leaders say new structures, public-private partnership, required to unlock clean energy, unleash economic growth. Free-flowing discussion in Copenhagen shows directions that reform of clean energy finance might take. ...That UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon reiterated that
October 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Examining Biofuels Policy
by Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay (Chemical and Engineering News) Government mandates have shaped the market but not always for the best By 2050, the global population will hit between 7.5 billion and 10.5 billion. Energy demands will soar, and traditional energy supplies, such
August 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Don't Turn the Clock Back on Building Better Fuels: ABFA Letter to Senate Committee
(Advanced Biofuels Association) The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) today sent the following letter to U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ranking Member, opposing any efforts to repeal Section 526 of
July 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Making Integrated Food-Energy Systems Work for People and Climate
(United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) A safe integration of food and energy production may be one of the best ways to improve national food and energy security and simultaneously reduce poverty in a climate smart way. This study on Integrated Food-Energy
July 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Toward the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol
by Andrew J. Weaver (Science) Expectations are high that the Kyoto Protocol, intended to reduce emissions of certain greenhouse gases (GHGs), will be extended after its first reporting period ends in 2012. The mechanisms available to meet Kyoto targets will
May 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Review Highlights Major Role for Renewables in Meeting UK Climate Targets - 9 May 2011
(Committee on Climate Change) The Committee on Climate Change said today, that renewable energy should make a major contribution to decarbonising the UK economy over the next decades. The conclusions are set out in the Committee’s Renewable Energy Review which was
May 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Sugarcane Cools Climate
(ScienceNewsLine/Carnegie Institution) ...Now scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology have found that sugarcane has a double benefit. Expansion of the crop in areas previously occupied by other Brazilian crops cools the local climate. It does so by
April 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol to Reduce GHGs by 105 Million Tonnes in 2011 Forecasted Reductions Will Offset the Emissions of 19.4 Million Cars
(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance) As the biofuels industry gathers at the annual World Biofuels Markets conference, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is highlighting the positive influence ethanol production is having on reducing global Green House Gas emissions. (S&T)2 Consultants Inc.,
March 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Bioenergy Crops Could Lower Surface Temperatures, Stanford Researchers Say
(Stanford University News) Concerns about the impact of corn ethanol on global warming have raised interest in more eco-friendly perennial grasses. A new study finds that large-scale cultivation of perennials could actually reduce regional surface temperatures. Converting large swaths of farmland
March 18, 2011 Read Full Article
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance Calls on Cancun to Recognize Biofuels as a Way to Lower GHG's
(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance) The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is calling on the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Cancun to do what could not be done in Copenhagen and recognize biofuels as a viable alternative to fossil fuels that offer
December 16, 2010 Read Full Article
Soot Seen as Significant in Global Warming
(UPI) Soot from burning fossil fuels and solid biofuels has a greater impact on global warming than previously believed, a U.S. researcher says. But unlike carbon dioxide, Stanford University scientist Mark Z. Jacobson says, soot stays in the atmosphere for only a