US battles epic drought, little relief in sight — Agence France-Presse
- “Los Angeles recorded just 8.15 centimeters (3.21 inches) of rain in the year to June 30, making it the driest year on record since 1877. The city draws half its water from the Sierra Nevada mountains, which have provided only around 20 percent of normal levels.”
- “The worst hit is the southeastern state of Georgia, that is largely under level four, or “extreme” drought. Officials say this is the worst drought the state has experienced since 1892, if not in history.”
- Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue: “Drought is a natural disaster, and we are experiencing the single worst drought on Georgia’s history. On top of that, we are mired in a man-made disaster of federal bureaucracy.” Yet neither he nor the reporter acknowledge even the possibility that climate change is making these kind of droughts more likely and more intense.
MPs call for ‘super department’ on climate change — The Independent. “The MPs called for the appointment of a cross-departmental Climate Change Minister who would regularly attend Cabinet meetings to drive Government policy on the issue…. The committee also backed the establishment of a new Whitehall body — the Climate Change and Energy secretariat, based in the Cabinet Office — to co-ordinate the fight against global warming.”
Power Revolution — U.S. News and World Report. A long article with shorter summaries of our current and future energy menu, including technologies only now starting to get media attention like concentrated solar and geothermal.
Carbon partnership hopes to go global — Reuters. “A coalition of European countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces and New Zealand signed a partnership on Monday to slow global warming through an international carbon trading market.”