Autumn rain down 90 percent in China rice belt – Reuters. “Large areas of south China are suffering from serious drought, with water levels on two major rivers in rice-growing provinces dropping to historic lows.”

Africa “Forgotten Continent” in Climate Fight – Reuters. “The UN’s top climate change official said on Sunday … that damage projected for Africa by the UN climate panel would justify tougher world action to slow global warming even without considering likely disruptions to other parts of the planet.” [One reason why it's crucial that we pay attention to developing countries as we negotiate international steps.]

Japan plans to buy carbon credits from Hungary to achieve Kyoto Treaty goal – International Herald Tribune. “Japan is falling far behind its Kyoto commitments to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to 6 percent below its 1990 by 2012. Emissions in 2006, for instance, were 6.4 percent above 1990 levels…. Tokyo, which is putting together an action plan to meet the Kyoto requirements, currently plans to use carbon credits bought overseas to lower its emissions by 1.6 percent below 1990 levels. The additional 4.4 percent must be cut by other methods.”

Japan Sets Asian Benchmarck for Energy Efficiency – Voice of America. “Technology is one of Japan’s greatest strengths in conserving energy…. And yet, for all its good intentions, the country is falling far behind in its promise to cut its own emissions.” Wait, you mean technology by itself won’t solve the global warming problem? Who knew?

London could soon replace California as the electric car capital of the world. Thanks in large part to Mayor “Red Ken” Livingstone, who enacted London’s much criticized congestion charge policy in 2003.

The policy, which exempts electric cars from hefty daily taxation, is resulting in increasingly significant vehicle choices for English consumers. India’s Reva was first into the market with the G-Wiz. The French Mega City appeared next from NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine). Sakura Battery Co is offering a line of EVs, including the Italian Maranello4 microcar. Despite being low-speed vehicles about which safety concerns have been raised, they have months long waiting lists. Limited ranged, lead-acid battery based cars, they have nonetheless proven the demand of even less than perfect electric vehicles.

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In true journalistic fashion, Andy Revkin of the New York Times dug deeper into the controversial coal campaign run in Kansas after the state rejected a new coal-plant. Curiously, he surfaced with some interesting investment numbers with regards to Venezuelan coal.

For background, see Grist and Climate Progress’s discussion. In short, after the state refused to allow the construction of a new coal-fired plant, a local utility conspired with a larger energy firm to run a smear campaign against the decision, accusing it of supporting foreign energy enemies like Hugo Chavez.

In more recent news, Revkin has posted his correspondence with Peabody Energy, the world’s biggest private coal company. Ends up, they’ve a 25.5 stake in a Venezuelan coal mine.

Revkin pried, and this is what he was told: Read more

Climate Progress is happy to introduce Earl Killian as a guest blogger. If his name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s been a regular commenter here — so yes, it can happen, commenters can become posters. You can read his full bio here. Welcome, Earl!

Joe has asked me to contribute to Climate Progress, and specifically to report on what is going on in California to address global warming. As one website puts it, “Everybody is talking about global warming. But California is actually doing something about it.” Quite a few states have programs as well, but I do think it is fair to say California is a leader on this issue; it has been extremely active, and a bewildering number of programs are already in place. In this post (Part I) and a follow-up, I will summarize several of the most important, and then I plan to follow up with more detailed descriptions of individual items over time so as to give an idea of the breadth of attack upon the problem interspersed with current California news. I believe that California’s actions can serve as a guide to other states and the Federal government.

Why should we listen to California? Because they have been a leader on environmental matters for decades. Consider just the remarkable results of their multi-decade energy efficiency efforts (click on this figure).

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