States' inaugural CO2 allowance auction set for Sept. 10 [doc file]
Associated Press, March 17, 2008
Commissioner Pete Grannis announced that the ten northeastern states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative plan to hold the first carbon dioxide allowance auction Sept. 10, 2008.

Lights to go off in Seattle for climate-change awareness event
Seattle Times, March 29, 2008
People all around the world participated in the The Earth Hour event on Saturday, March 29th by turning their lights off from 8 to 9pm. The event was started last year in Sydney, Australia, by the World Wildlife Fund and has grown this year to include more than 200 cities in Asia, Europe and North America. Seattle, Phoenix and Chicago were some of the roughly three dozen American cities that participated.

To Protect Trees, Cortlandt Enacts Tighter Law With Hefty Fines
NY Times, March 23, 2008
Last month the Cortlandt Town Board enacted new legislation to conserve trees. Under the new ordinance owners of properties 1/2 acre or more can remove up to three trees of any size within a 12-month period. Removal of any additional trees greater than 4" or trees within 10' of a property line town approval. Owners seeking development of properties for residential use must file an application prepared by a town-appointed arborist or state-licensed forester, at their own cost. Fourteen protected species are exempt from removal. Fines are $1,000 for first time offense, $2,000 for a second violation and up to $3,000 for each additional offense.

Peter Iwanowicz: State Climate Change Director, Department of Environmental Conservation, 40, Delmar
Albany Times Union, March 31, 2008
Peter Iwanowicz, a Siena College graduate, runs the NYS office dedicated to tackling climate change statewide.

Gore launches $300 million climate change campaign
Reuters, March 31, 2008
Using the proceeds from an Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore has launched a $300 million, 3-year campaign to mobilize Americans on climate change. Called the "We" campaign ( www.wecansolveit.org ), it will include ads designed by the firm that created the GEICO gecko and caveman set to air during such programs as "American Idol," "House," and "Law & Order." Future spots are expected to feature Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson, and country singers Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks speaking together against climate change.

Floral Cues to Climate Change
Science, March 22, 2008
"The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research has set up a program to collect data from the American public on the first appearances of buds, leaves, seeds, and fruits in everything from trees to weeds. These events will help map how changing climate is affecting terrestrial ecology." To find out more about this citizen science effort go to: www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst.

Climate change prediction breakthrough
One News (New Zealand), March 24, 2008
New Zealand scientists, in a joint research project with Scottish scientists at the Landcare Research institution, have made a breakthrough in measuring release rates of new versus old carbon released from the soil that will help them estimate how rising temperatures can influence the release of additional CO2 from the earth, a feedback loop that may contribute further to global warming.

Antarctic Ice Shelf Disintegration Underscores a Warming World
Press Release from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 25 March 2008
Satellite imagery from the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder reveals that the 13,680 square kilometer (5,282 square mile) Wilkins ice shelf has begun to collapse because of rapid climate change in a fast-warming region of Antarctica. In the past 50 years the western Antarctic Peninsula has experienced almost 5 degrees of warming, the biggest temperature increase on Earth.

The Business of Green (A NY Times special section)
NY Times, March 26, 2008
NY Times had a special section, Business of Green, last week. Articles cover several aspects of growing a green economy, including new technology, financial strucutres, and job creation linked to green business.

Fuel does double duty in N.Y.: Efficient cogeneration units produce electricity as well as heat.
Christian Science Monitor, March 27, 2008
Energy that escapes up a power plant smokestack as waste heat can heat (and cool) a skyscraper. Combined heat and power, an old technology seeing new life, aims to do exactly that by bringing power plants to buildings, nearly doubling the efficiency of separately generated heat and electricity and saving money, fuel, and the planet. CHP is now seeing lots of interest in large cities like New York where buildings are large enough and heating and cooling costs are high enough to make it a no brainer.

Are We Ready to Track Carbon Footprints?
NY Times, March 25, 2008
The New York Times' John Tierney gets to the heart of the psychological challenges behind changing our personal behavior to reduce our carbon footprint and makes an excellent case for real time tracking of our energy use.