Outcome of Copenhagen Climate Summit

The leaders of the most powerful nations came together in Copenhagen to draw up a treaty on how to address climate change. Depending on individual opinion and individual political agendas, the outcome could be viewed as "moderate' at best. Environmental Justice Groups and NGO's focusing on climate change reduction were likely disappointed that the treaty did not enforce a legally binding commitment. However, the leaders decided to "take note" of the accord -- which is still progress when considering the political climate only a few years ago.

In retrospect, I believe the world is turning in the right direction. Change is here, but any significant change comes with due time. Everyone knows that most things that change immediately do not last. We can be thankful that this change is happening, albeit slowly. Although the Copenhagen agreement is not legally binding, the energy devoted to Copenhagen and the counterpart climate talks and conferences smacks of a new tune across the world. There is now a massive audience of people and new companies and organizations that are devoted to changing the way they live and use energy. Many nations are already pursuing their own cap and trade systems and encouraging tax subsidies so that polluters will be forced to reduce their carbon footprint.

Most Comprehensive DataBase of Renewable Energy Incentives by State

This is one of the BEST databases I've seen on renewable energy incentives per State.

http://www.dsireusa.org/

NYT Article: "Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water "

The next big issue of our generation = water. Water purification, water security, and water scarcity are all interrelated to important infrastructure and development goals for our generation. According to the latest alternative energy article in the NYT, we are already seeing an urgent need for water in order to move forward with generating energy from solar farms.

Please come to the Human Countdown in Central Park this Sunday November 20th, 2009

Please come to this event called "Human Countdown" this Sunday, September 20, to bring attention to fighting climate change on the eve of the UN Climate Summit, when world leaders and the international media will descend on New York.

Thousands of people will come to Central Park to form the shape of a giant earth moving through a human hourglass sculpture.

DESERTEC - New Concept for the future

I just heard about this concept: using the energy created by solar panels built in the desert to supply energy to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This is a huge project that still needs support and funding, but the rewards are enormous: creation of new jobs in both Europe and North Africa, and incredible economic growth in both regions, and a sustainable renewable energy resource that will create more energy for the electrical grid in these countries. If you want to learn more about this project, please check their website: http://www.desertec.org/en/concept/

Scientific American - "Chinese and American utilities to cooperate in capturing carbon from coal"

The US and China are collaborating efforts in order to burn coal more cleanly and protect the atmosphere from the poisonous Greenhouse Gas emissions. Their methods include the popular "carbon capture and storage technology. China has been notorious for its addiction to building new coal plants and burning this dirty fuel into the atmosphere and emitting tons of carbon emissions into the air. This is big for China and also the US because both countries are big players in this controversial fuel source.
While the cost of carbon capture and storage technology is huge, these companies are now factoring in the future cost of paying for excessive carbon emissions in the atmopshere with the passage of a more aggressive carbon tax or cap and trade scheme and realizing that investing in technologies now may prove financially smart for them in the near future.

According to SCIAM: "the U.S. gets roughly 50 percent of its electricity from coal, while China gets more than 70 percent of its power from coal".

Great Website for EcoSystem Living

Check out this website: http://awesome.good.is/ecosystem/#/i

Play videos of real stories in the following categories:
Energy
Education
Sustenance
Earth
Flora & Fauna
Education

E&E's analysis of the positions of the 100 senators on climate legislation, based on interviews with members.

Click on the PDF "Download Analysis" to see the breakdown.

Senate and the Climate Chnage Bill...

The Senate plays a KEY role in the conclusion of the climate change bill 's passage. Several pro Climate Senators have gotten together to form committees that will encourage support for climate change legislation. I am earnestly awaiting the outcome of this controversial bill and am hoping that the Senate will use good judgement and pass the bill. Stay tuned for further developments.

ExxonMobil Invests $600 Million on Algae

Exxon Mobile, normally opposed to spearheading the research efforts on renewable energy methods recently invested 600 million on R&D for algae-based biofuels. Exxon Mobile is collaborating with the company "Synthetic Genomics" (http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/) and the research is likely to continue for a period of five - six years. This is exciting, and I look forward to learning about the new developments.

Sandbag - Real Action on Climate Change

http://www.sandbag.org.uk/

Sandbag, a climate campaign group argues for the reduction of carbon emission permits. Historically dirty producers have been given allowances as a result of lobbying agencies and pressure from companies. Sandbag argues against giving out these "free" or "hot air" allowances, and advocates for limiting the number of permits that are on the market. If we reduce the number of permits, we force polluters to come up with internal methods of reducing carbon emissions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/jul/20/emissionstrading-carbon-emissions

G-8 Summit Updated on Climate Change

The G-8 Summit of the 8 most powerful leaders in the developed world met for three days to discuss a number of global items, and one in particular was climate change. Obama and others could not come to an agreement over reducing the amount of carbon emissions, and found themselves in a gridlock. Each country had their own agendas to deal with and struggled to agree on a standard goal in combating climate change.

Further, the unrest in China called for the Chinese leader to return home to attend the domestic concerns of his country, which made the possibility of further talks almost impossible. China is a huge player in this game and without their full participation, coming to a G-8 agreement will be put on hold.