U.S. awards $503 million for renewable energy projects
The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments on Tuesday announced $503 million in government cash grants to companies developing renewable energy projects.
The funding will help meet the Obama administration’s goal of doubling U.S. renewable energy production over the next three years, creating jobs and providing financing on easier terms than many companies can obtain in the private sector.
This the first round of some $3 billion in direct payments to companies in lieu of tax credits to eventually support an estimated 5,000 biomass, solar, wind and other renewable energy production facilities.
“These grants will help America’s businesses launch clean energy projects, putting Americans back to work in good construction and manufacturing jobs,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
The money comes from the economic stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year.
Study: 1.6 billion face water, food threat in Asia
Effects of climate change including the melting of Himalayan glaciers threaten water and food security for more than 1.6 billion people living in South Asia, according to a study released Wednesday.
India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal will be most vulnerable to falling crop yields caused by glacier retreat, floods, droughts and erratic rainfall, said the study financed by the Asian Development Bank.
“South Asia’s vulnerability to climate change has extremely serious implications for agriculture and therefore food security,” Kunio Senga, the ADB’s director general for South Asia, told a news conference in the Nepalese capital, Katmandu.
Workers Want Green Jobs, Not Astroturf
This week, the Made in America tour heads to Gary, Indiana, where workers will rally in support of green jobs and climate legislation. These men and women recognize that Gary’s ailing steel plants can be revived by producing parts for wind turbines, hybrid car batteries, and other clean energy solutions.
This is why they are coming together to support the clean energy bill. And this is what real grassroots look like.
A new Washington Post poll shows that most Americans approve of the Obama administration’s efforts to shift to clean energy. Likewise, August polling by Zogby International showed that seven in ten Americans support clean energy legislation and want to see it passed in the Senate.
Arctic climate change may be forcing faster warming on entire globe: report
A new report says Arctic climate change is happening faster than anyone anticipated and may soon be forcing more rapid warming on the rest of the planet. “It is a tipping point,” said Craig Stewart of the World Wildlife Fund, which was to release the report Wednesday in London.
“It is a tipping point,” said Craig Stewart of the World Wildlife Fund, which was to release the report Wednesday in London.
The report is an attempt to update the work of scientists involved in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as world leaders prepare to gather in Copenhagen next December to discuss how to deal with the issue. The conclusion of many of those same top researchers is that changes are occurring much more quickly – especially in the Arctic – than was believed even two years ago.
Chinese Canucks: PetroChina’s Move Into Oil Sands
So Chinese energy companies are still on a shopping spree. The latest deal? A $1.7 billion stake in two undeveloped Canadian oil sands projects. That China is gobbling up energy resources, especially oil, is nothing new. But the Canadian deal””between Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. and PetroChina””raises a few questions.
Change is seen in Atlantic from climate, fishing
The basic makeup of the ocean waters off the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic region has fundamentally changed in the past 40 years because of climate change, commercial fishing pressures and growing coastal populations, according to a new report.
The 2009 Ecosystem Status Report says fish populations in U.S. waters from North Carolina to Maine have moved from their traditional home grounds because of a changing environment and human activities.
Is China The New OPEC For Green Energy?
The NY Times has an interesting article out today about China tightening its grip on rare earth metals. Some of these metals are essential in various types of green energy machinery like wind turbines.China’s market share on these rare earth metals is analogous to the Middle East’s dominance in oil reserves. In fact, China’s share appears to be even greater. That’s why, if it decides to limit production, the rest of the world’s green energy aspirations might be in trouble.
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Almost time for a….
New Film on Ocean Acidification Reveals Unseen Face of CO2 Pollution
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20090810/new-film-ocean-acidification-reveals-unseen-face-co2-pollution
A great time lapse of the South Cascade Glacier: http://wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/glacier/video.html
More on the Arctic: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48296
Climate change a threat to development: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48289
Greenland melting: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/01/sermilik-fjord-greenland-global-warming
U.N. Reports on Developing Nations’ Energy Needs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/02nations.html
Seems to me the only thing left is to say a prayer. These big oil and coal companies have wrecked the planet and we are all going to pay a heavy price for it. This may unravel society as parents try and feed their kids. Dirt does not taste that good. They tried to tell us and we listened to the big oil and coal companies lie like the cigarette lobby for 40 years. I sorry that I had kids. I do not want to see their stomachs pushed out with gaunt looks on their faces as they slowly stave to death. Are we going to go over and steal our neighbors food-where does it end? Ask yourself one question. Did the big oil companies lift a finger to reduce the price of a barrel of oil when it was over one hundred dollars? No! They raked in billions and continue to rake in billions. They are nothing more than slick liars and thugs in suits. I would be absolutely ashamed if my kids grew up to be like these big oil thugs. The CEO of Duke energy is just as bad with his sheer greed. He showed a locomotive with rail cars filled to the brim being deviled to his coal fired plant. He said that it takes 76 rail cars stretching nearly a mile long every day to keep the power going at his coal fired plant. A half a billion tons of toxic air and water and they claim that it is not bad for you? Liars!
I just read the article about the glaciers melting in Asia. I never knew this was happening. I then found out that the arctic region is melting 3-4 times faster than what they predicted. Scientist reported that methane gas is melting from lakes and estuaries and it is cause for alarm because when it goes into the atmosphere it acts as a catalyst for climate change. The world is in for some really tough times. I am afraid that we may have waited too long. Why would scientist all around the world lie about these things. The oil companies have a lot of money at stake so they probably will not tell us what is really going on with the climate. They put us at risk while their families are isolated from the devastation about to befall us. I am going to phone my congressman and tell him to stand up to their threats and intimidation tactics.
People’s Republic of China.
In spanish is “República Popular China”. It sould be renamed “República Popular Cochina” , which means “People’s Republic of Dirt” in spanish.
A total shame for a country that claims to be a Socialist State , that is , a regime that put the People’s Rights and needs first, against the selfish interests of Big Capital.
People in China are either:
1)Mantained by censorship ignorant of that aberrant and suicidal politics
2)Contained by fear of repression (like in the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre,when the army shot thousands of protesters against the economical politics and authoritarian rule of the government)
Probably both.
Poor Chinese! Poor China!
I forgot to say that I post that critic to China after reading the dirt politics described above, like investing in Canadian Tar Sands and trying to monopolize the rare metals needed for green tecnologies.
It’s relly a shame.
About the rare earth minerals in China-
There are of course mines that could be opened outside of China, including one in Mountain Pass, California and some in Canada. The one in California used to produce something like six percent of global supply.
http://www.gwmg.ca/rare-earths/faq
We ought to do this, just to make sure there is a stable supply, and prevent price gouging, IMO.
China so far has been a reliable supplier, though.
Typical fear mongering by the NYT, IMO.