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Conservatives Told to Price Carbon Now or Pay Later
2007-06-29 01:32:00
Last week, a report commissioned by the Conservative government advised them that a carbon tax of up to $50 would cause no harm to the economy. A new report now follows that up stating that they need to quickly and clearly communicate a pricing schedule for carbon or risk serious economic consequences.Despite their obsessive-compulsive habit of blaming 2 year old Liberal policy for Canada's inaction on climate change, Environment Minister John Baird and the Conservative government are now firmly in the drivers seat of climate change policy. They can 1) institute effective policy now and succeed, 2) do it later and cause economic harm, or 3) do nothing and set Canada on a long term course of failure both economically and environmentally.In short, they are going to have to demonstrate leadership on this issue instead of pointing fingers towards the past. It will be interesting to see how they do.
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To Act or Not to Act
2007-06-26 09:10:00
A key tenet of the environmental movement is something called the precautionary principle, an inherently conservative principle that basically says that if a course of action could result in widespread or irreparable harm, we should act immediately to avoid it rather than wait for 100% scientific certainty on the issue. Put in the context of global warming it goes something like this.....Thanks to Debra for the lead.

Hastings Wins Yahoo's Greenest City Contest
2007-06-25 19:28:00
Yahoo has awarded a top prize of $250,000 to the city of Hastings , Nebraska for being America's greenest city. The award was announced today as Hastings is recognized for winning Yahoo's Be a Better Planet - Greene st City in America contest. The money will go towards funding green projects within the municipality.The month long Be a Better Planet campaign sought to empower citizens to make key changes to their lives to help fight global warming. Every time a resident of an American municipality signed up, points were given to their home town. The town with the most points was the winner.In addition to the $250,000 grand prize, Yahoo is also sending thousands of compact fluorescent light bulbs to each of the top five cites. The list of top green cities is:1. Hastings, Nebraska2. Pelzer, South Carolina3. San Carlos, California4. Mill Valley, California5. Topeka, Kansas6. Dover, Delaware7. Spring, Texas8. Lawrence, Kansas9. Walnut Creek, California10. Fairfax, VirginiaThe offic...
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Choose Our Ends, And We'll Find the Means
2007-06-22 22:40:00
We all have our own personal fantasy worlds. Mine is to live in a world of balanced political debate where liberal and conservative politicians bring forward different political strategies to address common social problems.What a world that would be - the perfect balance between tough government regulations and well funded programs, with aggressive fiscal responsibility and market advocacy. The reality is that in the issue of global warming, the real world has devolved into one where the true controlling political party invests millions of dollars to convince you, the voter, of a fantasy world of their choosing - one where cheap, everlasting, and harmless fossil fuels will better our lives for eternity.Let's be perfectly honest on this one. Metaphorically, there are precisely two people in the world who do not believe in the danger of human generated global warming - The President of the United States and the CEO of Exxon-Mobil. Every other voice chiming in with their agreement...
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Power in Numbers
2007-06-22 09:11:00
Nature is full of lessons. This clip shows something of the strength of numbers and the power of community. The day is not far off when all of those who care about the environment will similarly realize their strength in the face of obstructionist corporations and government inaction.Clip via An Insomniac
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China Becomes the World's #1 Emitter
2007-06-22 01:51:00
In announcement that was surprising for it's timing, rather than outcome, China has become the world's number one emitter of greenhouse gases. Experts believed that this would not occur until next year at the earliest, but unprecedented economic growth and their reliance on coal power has catapulted China ahead of the US far earlier than expected.The analysis was done by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.In addition to being bad news all-round, the announcement punctuates an opinion expressed here earlier in June. Namely, that in the face of US obstructionism, it's critical for the world community to stop harping on about American involvement in international talks. The key nations are China and India. They represent the world's number one and two populations and will soon be the world's number one and number two greenhouse gas emitters. If you bring them into a productive solution now, market forces will force the US to follow in the coming decades. Dither ...
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Unauthorized Dam Faces Criminal Charges
2007-06-22 01:28:00
We all know the environmental harm caused by large scale hydro-electric projects - silted rivers, destruction of salmon spawning grounds, carbon release from submerged decaying foliage. So what happens when an unauthorized dam gets plunked down in small town America? Simple. Sue the bastards.......
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No Danger in Implementing a Carbon Tax
2007-06-21 02:18:00
Fighting global warming with a carbon tax would cause virtually no negative economic impact in first two years and offer an economic boost thereafter.At $50, a carbon tax would shave about $4.8-billion from Canada's GDP in 2010, which works out to about 0.09 per cent of GDP. However by 2020, the impact would become slightly positive for the economy, working out to a 0.004 per cent increase to the GDP.That is the result of an internal report prepared for the Conservative government, and obtained by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May through an access to information request. The report was written by economist Mark Jaccard and analyzes the potential impacts of various climate change measures on Canada's GDP including carbon taxes ranging from $10 to $250. If you're not familiar with Mark Jaccard, you should be. He is one of the world's foremost experts specializing in energy related issues and policy. Jaccard's also been a vocal advocate for the development of a sustainable ener...
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10 Years to Save Civilization
2007-06-19 22:55:00
It's a title that would scream hyperbole if it wasn't true.Today, six scientists from some of the leading scientific institutions in the United States have issued what amounts to an unambiguous warning to the world: civilisation itself is threatened by global warming.That warming stems from a new report headed by James Hansen, one of the world's leading experts and voices for climate change science. Based on the results of the study titled Climate Change and Trace Gases, Hansen predicting that the nations of the world have a slim 10 year window to put in place the radical changes needed to avert catastrophic global warming.In an email to the UK's Independent Hansen said, "In my opinion, among our papers this one probably does the best job of making clear that the Earth is getting perilously close to climate changes that could run out of our control."The reason for the alarm focuses on the impact of what is termed an "albedo flip". It layman's terms it's simple. Right now th...
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Exxon Funds Deniers, But Wants to Save the Planet
2007-06-18 20:53:00
In a statement the redefines the notion of cogent argument for the worse, Exxon has launched a volley at Greenpeace saying that the oil giant's stance against Kyoto, their opposition to the European carbon trading system, and their funding of climate change denier groups does not make they themselves 'deniers'.Mr Cohen (Exxon spokesman) was in London to explain the position of Exxon.The firm's funding of third-party thinktanks, which have produced papers questioning the human role in climate change, has recently been heavily criticised in a Greenpeace report.Exxon retaliated yesterday by saying some of Greenpeace's facts were "just flat wrong" and in one case "absurd", though the company hinted that it may stop funding the controversial thinktanks.Nice explanation. Exxon maintains that it is supportive of an international cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, so long as they continue to fund deception campaigns on global warming and oppose internat...
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Global Warming Impacts from the Arctic to Darfur
2007-06-18 20:12:00
A pair of recent stories are pointing to the growing and increasingly human impacts of global warming.First in the high Arctic , scientists are reporting that some species of plants and animals have begun their annual cycles as much as 30 days earlier in just the past ten years.In some cases, flowers are emerging from buds and chicks are hatching a full 30 days sooner than they did in the mid-1990s in response to sharply increased temperatures burning off the winter's snow layer.But while arctic song birds see the light of day a month earlier, climate change is also being implicated as a major factor in Darfur , Sudan where 200,000 have died in an ongoing ethnic conflict. The link was drawn by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in an editorial published Saturday.It would be natural to view these as distinct developments. In fact, they are linked. Almost invariably, we discuss Darfur in a convenient military and political shorthand -- an ethnic conflict pitting Arab militias aga...
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Gore Calls G8 Summit a "Disgrace"
2007-06-18 19:31:00
Following the conclusion of the G8 summit and climate change talks about a week and a half ago, I had the following to say in my post titled G8 Leaders Agree to Make an Agreement,The leaders of the group of eight industrial nations have agreed to make an agreement on climate change in what Tony Blair calls "a major, major step forward".Wow....I say, wow.Al Gore has issued his statement on the events, and his words were equally tongue in cheek,"The eight most powerful nations gathered and were unable to do anything except to say 'We had good conversations and we agreed that we will have more conversations, and we will even have conversations about the possibility of doing something in the future on a voluntary basis perhaps."'The one result from the latest summit was the US agreeing to work with other nations towards "substantial cuts" in greenhouse gases within a UN framework. No firm timelines or goals were agreed to despite the efforts of German Chancellor and G8 Chair Angela M...
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Rachel Carson Vindicated
2007-06-15 20:45:00
Readers may or may not be aware of an ongoing misinformation campaign being waged against Rachel Carso n , the woman widely credited for the birth of the modern environmental movement.In 1962 she wrote Silent Spring, a cautionary criticism about the impacts of widespread pesticide use, particularly DDT, on both the natural world and human health. However, recent efforts to posthumously honour Rachel Carson have been stalled thanks to the work of certain Republicans in the US Senate, in particular one Senator Tom Coburn?s (R-OK), who implicitly holds Carson responsible for millions of malaria deaths that have occured in the developing world. The people at Celsias have done a perfect job outlining the controversy and showing why the this accusation is false.This unfortunate misconception is the result of a very misleading and inaccurate campaign that is being waged against Carson and the movement that she helped to initiate. Basically, the argument is that she pushed for a ban on the...
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Good News for Wildlife, But Bad for the Rep
2007-06-13 23:24:00
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has reportedly been stunned by the discovery of what could be "the largest migration of land mammals on Earth". Over 1.3 million animals including white-eared kob, African antelope, mongalla gazelle, elephants, buffalo and ostriches have been counted in an aerial survey of the southern Sudan where it was assumed that wide spread war had wiped out these herds.This is great news for wildlife. It is not good news for WCS.I don't usually play the cynic, but this the worst PR job I've seen in the enviro community since the Center for Biological Diversity sued one of North America's largest wind farms for bird deaths caused by turbines. Rather than assuming all animals had perished when a proper survey had not been completed since 1982, it may have been better to take a conservative approach in estimating the death toll.The WCS is accepting donations to help them "protect this wildlife haven". Although I don't know much about the organization...
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Will Canada's Water Cure the US Drought?
2007-06-13 20:28:00
In the face of global warming and eight dry years, the United States is confronting its worst drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Between 1930 and 1940, 2.5 million people were forced to leave the southwest plains and 50 million acres of formerly productive land was destroyed thanks to a combination of drought and poor farming practices.Nobody is saying the impacts of this year's drought are on that scale. However, Alabama Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions have are already requesting a disaster declaration for 19 Alabama counties as corn farmers and cattle ranchers face potential ruin. The more drastic consequences may occur much further north, in Canada.The U S federal government, particularly President Bush, still has not agreed to impose mandatory cuts on greenhouse gas emissions. Until they do, they are effectively saying that they are prepared to live with the consequences of global warming rather than try to prevent them. For the states alre...
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Fight Deniers. Support DeSmog USA
2007-06-13 19:05:00
Regular readers of The Conscious Earth will recognize DeSmog Blog as a frequent link and source for breaking news. The Vancouver based blog was launched last year when local PR professional Jim Hoggan decided to throw his expertise into the global warming debate and fight the ongoing campaign of disinformation being waged by deniers and big oil.DeSmogBlog exists to clear the PR pollution that is clouding the science on climate change. An overwhelming majority of the world?s climate scientists agree that the globe is warming - the world's climate is changing - and that the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels is to blame. We know that the risks are incalculable and, increasingly, we understand that the solutions are affordable.DeSmogBlog is an invaluable resource for global warming information and the integrity of public debate. Now they are planning to establish a full presence in the United States and are asking for your support to make it happen.Visit their fundraising page to ...
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UK Gets First Zero-Carbon Home
2007-06-13 02:17:00
Earlier this year, the British government announced an ambitious target of having all new homes built carbon neutral by 2016. This week saw the first step towards that goal as the "Lighthouse" was recognized as the nation's first zero carbon home.The prototype is being billed as "the most environmentally friendly home yet built" in the UK, and it is the first to meet the government's highest standards for sustainability. Energy efficient construction methods were employed in the construction of the two bedroom house, which also features renewable and sustainable energy technologies such as solar powered water heaters and top notch water efficiency devices. In fact, a spokesman boasts that the building will only require heating 6 weeks of every year.The Lighthouse also hopes to put money back in the pockets of consumers both through energy savings and lower price. By reaching "level 6" of the new government sustainability code, the Lighthouse is exempted from the federal stamp ...
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Al Gore to Unveil Model Green Home
2007-06-11 22:58:00
Renovations of Al Gore 's home are almost complete, and the result will be a model of green design, technology and engineering that will put a final end to the latest round of ill-conceived and baseless smear campaign being waged by right wing pundits."This plan has been in the works for a long time," the former vice president said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The only thing that has changed is that we're more public about it because of the misleading attack by a global-warming denier group."Gore's redesigned home is aiming to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and will include rooftop solar panels, a geothermal heating system, upgraded windows and ductwork, energy-efficient lighting and a rainwater collection system for irrigation and water management.However, conservative groups and climate change deniers have been working hard over through this same time period to paint Al Gore as an environmental hypocrite who only talks green a...
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Cancer Causing Chemicals Decreasing in UK
2007-06-09 00:25:00
Regulation works. A new study shows that the levels of cancer-causing pollutants in Great Britain's soils has been dropping dramatically over the past two decades thanks to the strict regulation of chemical emissions into the environment.
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G8 Leaders Agree to Make an Agreement
2007-06-07 19:45:00
The leaders of the group of eight industrial nations have agreed to make an agreement on climate change in what Tony Blair calls "a major, major step forward".Wow....I say, wow.The concrete development coming out of the G8 summit is that the US has agreed to work with other nations towards "substantial cuts" in greenhouse gases within a UN framework. China and developing nations will also be involved in emissions cuts and a new international deal to be completed by the end of 2009. Though there is no agreement on details, Blair is optimistic about the results and the road ahead.Mr Blair told reporters there is now agreement. "The important thing is we now have an agreement - one; that we need a new worldwide agreement on climate change," he said. "Two; that at the heart of that should be a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. "Three; in the process that will then work out what that cut in emissions should be there will be serious consideration given specifically to th...
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US Rejects G8 Climate Goals
2007-06-06 22:24:00
The US says it will reject the climate change goals set out by German Chancellor and G8 Chair Angela Merkel as this week's summit begins today in Heiligendamm, Germany.Merkel proposes cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050, setting up a cap and trade system for carbon, and limiting global warming to 2% celsius - goals that are broadly seen as the minimum needed to avert the more severe impacts of global warming. The US rejects all of these goals and, under the guise of defending the rights of individual countries, is pushing for a US led agreement between the world's top emitters that would allow continual increases in greenhouse gases.Speaking ahead of his meeting, Mr Bush said that instead of backing the proposed emissions caps he favoured his own plan that the worst CO2 emitting nations, including the US, China and India, meet before the year is out to put together a new long-term strategy to tackle the problem.The US continues to promote reductions in carbon "intensi...
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Airlines Told to Go Emissions Free
2007-06-05 21:16:00
The world's airlines have been told that they have 50 years to become emissions free. This bold and surprising statement comes not from governments but from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) - the global trade organization representing 250 airlines and 94% of the world's scheduled air traffic. The announcement came yesterday in Vancouver during the IATA annual general meeting."Climate change is a real concern for our customers and a political priority for many governments," Mr. Bisignani told 700 delegates, including chief executive officers from airlines around the world.However, the good will was not without a caveat,"We have been silent in our success and now we have a reputation crisis," IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani yesterday. He argued that the airline sector has been unfairly singled out by environmentalists and politicians jumping on the green bandwagon.In this he is right. Global airline emissions account for a small (but significant) portio...
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Canada and Europe Agree on Climate Change, Sort of
2007-06-04 23:30:00
The Prime Minister's office has released the 2007 EU-Canada Summit Statement outlining the results of Stephen Harper's meeting with German Chancellor and Europe an Union Chair Angela Merkel. It announces that both parties agree to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, they are at odds when it comes to the finer points of the math.Harper and Merkel issued a statement saying both sides sought cuts in greenhouse gases by at least half by the year 2050. However, they remain divided on what year to take as a starting point, with the EU favouring 1990 and Canada 2006.Oh well. What's 16 years and a few billion tonnes of C02 anyway?The complete statement is available on the Conservative Party website.
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German Chancellor Strong Against Bush
2007-06-04 18:48:00
After initially sounding somewhat limp with respect to President Bush 's proposed "US led" global warming strategy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has since come out strong saying that it was "non-negotiable" that the United Nations should take the lead in global efforts to combat climate change and vowed to make no compromises that disregard the scientific evidence on the issue."I will not go for a 'lazy compromise' ... I will not get involved in diluting definite scientific findings like those of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental panel on climate change," she said.The US proposal promises to do nothing to reduce global emissions and has been widely criticized in the international community, despite having effectively fooled the US media machine. It also opposes hard caps on emissions, a carbon trading scheme and the objective goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius - all elements endorsed by the European Union. Maybe the problem is that Bush doesn't have a clue what...
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UK Shoppers to See Carbon Labels on Products
2007-06-04 08:40:00
British consumers wanting to address global warming will soon have the benefit of carbon labeling on the products they buy. The government has revealed a new plan that would show greenhouse gas emissions created by their production, transport and eventual disposal, similar to the calorie or salt content figures on food packaging.Ian Pearson, the environment minister, said ministers would work with the Carbon Trust and BSI British Standards to develop a benchmark for measurements over the next 18 months, allowing businesses to calculate the impact of their goods and label them accordingly.The measure will be voluntary, but major retailers like Marks and Spencer and Tesco are already on board.Happy green shopping UK!
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US & Canada: The World's Achilles Heel
2007-06-04 08:31:00
Heading into this month's G8 climate change talks in Germany, North America is rapidly asserting itself as the world's biggest nemesis.Following last week's leaked memo showing the Bush administration's continued opposition to hard caps on carbon emissions, the President himself has now made a new proposal that threatens to hijack the international process - by placing the US in a lead role in negotiations with the world's top 15 greenhouse gas emitters. In making this offer, Bush openly asserts that the US is opposed to hard caps on emissions, carbon trading, and the EU's goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.Canada is offering little better. Saturday's Globe reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to act as a bridge between Europe, the US and Asia. The basis for this bridge is recognizing Canada's right to produce more emissions than other countries because of our spiraling oil sands emissions.Yet, the most embarrassing part of these developments...
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Two Documentaries Airing This Sunday
2007-06-01 21:47:00
Canadian readers, or those with satellite access, can watch a pair of global warming documentaries this Sunday June 3rd via the CBC.Five Ways to Save the World runs at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld.If global warming continues to escalate at the current rate, many fear the effects could be catastrophic. Five Ways to Save the World features five of the world's top scientists and the revolutionary scientific inventions they believe could stop global warming and prevent worldwide disaster. In Five Ways to Save the World, computer-generated imagery allows each scientist to fully describe his radical approach to a solution.Discuss this film online.The Denial Machine follows at at 11pm on CBC-TV (note the channel change)In the past few years, a hurricane has engulfed the debate about global warming. This crucial scientific issue has become a rhetorical firestorm with science pitted against spin and inflammatory words on both sides. Bob McKeown investigates why a debate that some say...
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Schwarzenegger & Campbell Sign Climate Change Agreement
2007-05-31 21:22:00
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in BC today amidst a ceremonial welcome by the provinces First Nations community. Arnold was given three ceremonial gifts before getting down to business with BC Premier Gordon Campbell and signing a five point agreement on fighting global warming. The two leaders have committed to working together on the issue regardless of the participation of the US and Canadian federal governments.The memorandum of understanding signed by the pair commit B.C. and California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, collaborate on clean energies and technologies and build a series of hydrogen- refill stations along the highway linking Vancouver to Baja, California. California and B.C. will also share data about the health of the Pacific OceanThe memorandum is also seen as sign that Campbell is prepared to join California's current efforts in setting stiff reduction targets, penalties for companies who don't meet those targets, as well as a carbon tra...
More About: Climate Change , Climate , Change

An Inconvenient Truth Study Guide
2007-05-29 21:08:00
Teachers and educators seeking study guides and lesson plans to accompany the film An Inconvenient Truth can visit the Australian AIT site. They offer a downloadable pdf file at no cost.
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Harper's Government Sued for Kyoto Failures
2007-05-29 19:39:00
The Conservatives are facing the first global warming lawsuit every launched in Canada following the failure of their revised, and widely criticized, climate change plan showed that they planned to abandon the Kyoto Protocol.Friends of the Earth Canada has launched a landmark lawsuit today against the Government of Canada for abandoning its international commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. Filed in Federal Court in Ottawa by Canada?s largest environmental law organization, Sierra Legal, the lawsuit alleges that the federal government is violating Canadian law by failing to meet its binding international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the government must abide by its international agreements in preventing pollution. What this means on the ground is that the Harpe r government is facing an embarrassing lawsuit in front of the Canadian public that largely discredits their rhetoric while revealing how appallingly little ...
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