Stern review author paints bleaker picture on climate change
AFP, April 17, 2008
Nicholas Stern, the author of a key climate change report, said in an interview published Thursday that he and his team "underestimated" the risks of global warming. Stern's 700-page report estimated the effects of climate change at up to a fifth of worldwide gross domestic product if nothing was done."We underestimated the risks ... we underestimated the damage associated with the temperature increases ... and we underestimated the probability of temperature increases," he told the business daily. "Subsequent reports, (from) McKinsey (a consulting firm), the International Energy Agency, the (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), have pointed to the (Stern report's) costs of action being roughly in the right ballpark," he said.

The Food Chain: Environmental Cost of Shipping Groceries Around the World
NY Times, April 26, 2008
Consumers in not only the richest nations but, increasingly, the developing world expect food whenever they crave it, with no concession to season or geography, but it comes at a cost in air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmental advocates and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures, and Europe is leading the way.

Bush Sets Goal of Halting Emissions Growth by 2025
Bloomberg, April 16, 2008
In what many are calling an effort to head off more stringent measures from Congress and the international community President Bush announced a goal for the U.S. to stop the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025. The goal doesn't set a date for cutting US emissions, but rather, a date by which emissions would peak. While the speech marks a shift in the approach to climate change by acknowledging the need to put curbs on heat- trapping gases, no specific proposals for how to achieve the goals were outlined.

EPA Finds US GHG Emissions Decreased Slightly in 2006
US EPA, April 15, 2008
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, entitled "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2006," finding that overall emissions during 2006 decreased by 1.1 percent from the previous year. The report finds that overall GHG emissions have grown by 14.7 percent from 1990 to 2006, while the US economy has grown by 59 percent over the same period. According to the report, the decrease in emissions in 2006 was due primarily to warmer winter conditions; reduced fuel consumption caused by rising fuel prices; and increased use of natural gas and renewables in the electric power sector.

18 States Commit to Take Action on Climate Change
Newsday, April 18, 2008
On April 18, the governors of Connecticut, California, Kansas, Illinois and New Jersey, along with two Canadian premiers, were at Yale University to review state programs and develop a strategy to combat global climate change. At the conference, 18 states pledged to take action on climate change. The states that signed a declaration committing themselves to action together produce as much emissions as Europe's four biggest economies. The states signing the declaration are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.

Los Angeles Passes 'Green' Building Law to Reduce GHG Emissions
Los Angeles Times, April 23, 2008
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed into law the "Private Sector Green Building Plan," which is expected to prevent about 85,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the next five years, the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars from the roads. The City Council unanimously had passed the ordinance, requiring builders of large commercial and residential developments to adopt such measures as planting drought-resistant landscaping, meeting LEED standards, and using recycled materials and energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting. The Green Building Plan is an integral part of the mayor's Green LA Plan which calls for the city to reduce its carbon footprint 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Montgomery Aims to Make Green Homes Mandatory
Washington Post, April 23, 2008
Montgomery County, MD (my hometown!) County Council approved legislation requiring that new homes would have to meet federal energy efficiency standards. The measure (Bill 30-07), meant to reduce energy consumption by 15 to 30 percent, includes property tax credits for residents who switch to renewable energy, a requirement that residents disclose utility costs when they sell a home and a plan to get county officials to trade in their government-issued sport-utility vehicles. The county would become the first in the country to require that new single-family homes and townhouses meet EPA Energy Star standards. While builders said that the mandate would drive up costs for consumers, officials said the measures would increase the overall cost of a typical home by only 1.25 percent.

Governors Protest Federal Vehicle GHG Emissions Plan
Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2008
On April 24, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and 11 additional governors sent a letter to President Bush and Senate and House leadership protesting a federal proposal to limit California's right to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from autos. The letter came after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a proposed set of fuel-efficiency standards, including a provision that would override California laws that set limits on carbon emissions from cars. The letters were signed by the Governors of AZ, CA, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, NY, OR, PA, VT and WA.

Governor Paterson Announced Enacted Budget Includes $15 Million for Flood Relief
Press Release, New York State, April 11, 2008 (missed in last edition)
Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders announced that the 2008-09 Budget includes $15 million for the Greater Catskills Flood Remediation Program. Under the program, eligible counties will apply to purchase one or two-family homes that have been damaged by floods since April 1, 2004, and are determined to be at future risk. In order to qualify for the program, the home must be the primary residence of the owner with a family income up to 150% of the Area Median Income, as defined by HUD. Homes would then be condemned and property and dedicated for open space, recreational, wetlands, or flood mitigation purposes. Funding, administered through the Div. of Housing and Community Renewal will be for the following counties: Broome Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Montgomery, Orange, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, Tioga, and Ulster.

Forests, small animals face greatest threat
Albany Times-Union, April 21, 2008
This article briefly summarizes information from regional scientific experts on some of the ecosystem impacts of climate change in the Hudson Valley.

Green Days are Good Days in Rockland! (doc file)
Press Release, Sierra Club, April 18, 2008
Rockland County, the Town of Ramapo, Village of Nyack, and as of Earth Day 2008, now the Town of Orangetown, have all signed on to the US Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement.

Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Largest In Northern Hemisphere, Has Fractured Into Three Main Pieces
Science Daily, April 16, 2008
A report by Trent University, finds new cracks in the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, the largest remaining Arctic ice shelf, that indicate that it seems destined to break up and disappear. After a period of stability during the 1980s, the deterioration seems to picking up, which suggests climate change in the area has crossed some kind of threshold. The team of research scientists, assisted by the Canadian Rangers, also found that the nearby Petersen Ice Shelf lost over a third of its surface area in the past three years.

Greenhouse Gases, Carbon Dioxide And Methane, Rise Sharply In 2007
ScienceDaily, April 24, 2008
NOAA reported that CO2 concentrations in the global atmosphere increased by 0.6 percent or 19 billion tons in 2007, and methane concentrations rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. The 2007 CO2 emissions boosted the global CO2 concentrations by 2.4 parts per million (ppm) to nearly 385 ppm. The IPCC says that 20 percent of the 2007 CO2 fossil fuel emissions are expected to remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Last year was the first year methane levels rose since 1998. Molecule for molecule methane is a more potent GHG than CO2 but, when related climate effects are taken into account, methane's overall climate impact is about half that of CO2. Rapidly growing industrialization in Asia and rising wetland emissions in the Arctic and tropics are the most likely causes of the recent methane increase.

Pine Beetle Outbreaks Turn Canadian Forests into Carbon Source
Reuters, April 23, 2008
The Canadian Forest Service reported that mountain pine beetles that are destroying forests along much of the Rocky Mountain range are doing so much damage that they may affect climate change. Dead trees release carbon as they rot, and of course fail to use carbon dioxide as they would if alive.The beetles have damaged 50,000 square miles of forest in western Canada and hundreds of thousands of square miles in the United States and are surviving further north due to warmer winters. The researchers said, "This impact converted the forest from a small net carbon sink to a large net carbon source both during and immediately after the outbreak. . . The predicted emissions are larger than the total average sink of all of Canada's managed forest over the last decade." The report, published in the April 24 issue of Nature, said, "According to the new calculations, [from 2000 to] 2020 the beetle outbreak alone will have released 270 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere." Human activity in Canada released the equivalent of 747 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2005 according to Statistics Canada.