News extra

1. Bush sees new technology as solution to Global Warming
New technology, paid for by rapid economic growth, is the way to reduce greenhouse gases, the Bush administration said in advance of its summit next month with other major polluting countries. The administration opposes mandatory caps on emissions, saying they would stifle growth. In China following a trip to the Asia Pacific summit in Australia, Bush environment advisor James Connaughton said he sees a consensus growing around the U.S. view. Without a growing economy, you don’t have resources to pay for new technology, he said. It took the U.S. less than 30 years, Connaughton said, “to implement strong environmental policies. China can do it in less than 30 years.” We have strong environmental policies? Could have fooled me. (Source: PlanetArk.com)

2. Conservative talk shows, bloggers exploit minor NASA error
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh and the conservative blogosphere jumped all over a Canadian blogger's discovery that NASA made an error figuring average U.S. temperatures for the past 6 years. As a result of the catch, and some adjustments by NASA, the "dust bowl year" of 1934 has now displaced 1998 as the hottest in the U.S., by a hair, and 4 of the 10 hottest years are in the ‘30s, reducing the number in the past decade to 3. Some skeptics are pointing to this error as proof Global Warming isn't a problem. But even the blogger, skeptic Stephen McIntyre, calls it a “micro-change,” according to the Toronto Star, and “not necessarily material to climate policy.” The impact of the adjustment on global temperature records is insignificant, only one one-thousandth of a degree. Worldwide, 1998 and 2005 tie for the hottest year. Let's not forget this is a global problem, not just a U.S. one. (Sources: Washington Post, Toronto Star, Greenwire, Bloomberg, theregister.co.uk and wired science.)

3. Arctic sea ice hits record low with a month of melting to go
With another month of melt season still ahead, artic sea ice, as observed by satellite, showed record shrinkage last week. "Today is a historic day," Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said Friday. He called the record melting “very strong evidence we are starting to see the effect of greenhouse warming.” Sea ice was especially low in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and in East Siberia. Fast-melting summer sea ice in the Arctic could affect rain patterns and temperatures across the U.S, according to University of Colorado researcher Sheldon Drobot, as well as open the Northwest Passage by 2020 or 2025 to shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific. (Sources: AP, Greenwire)

4. Rainforest destruction rate in Amazon drops by a third
The rate of deforestation in the world’s largest rainforest dropped to an estimated 3,707 sq. mi. during the past 12 months, down from 5,417 sq. mi. the year before. The all-time high, in 2004, was 10,590 sq. mi. Brazilian Environment minister Marina Silva called the reduction “a great achievement for Brazilian society.” Officials attributed the drop to better policing of illegal logging, economic development projects that preserve forests, and improved land-ownership certification. But environmentalists are concerned that a rise in grain prices could spur a new surge in clearing trees for farmland. (Sources: PlanetArk.com, Greenwire)

5. NYC and 4 other cities get grants to ease traffic congestion
New York City has won a $354.5 million U.S. Dept. of Transportation grant to implement its congestion-pricing plan. Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis and San Francisco also got DOT grants to fight traffic congestion. NYC’s award is the largest and is contingent on winning state legislature approval. The money will be used to implement a plan to charge cars and trucks entering Manhattan south of 86th Street. A similar charge in London has cut traffic and CO2 emissions. The NYC grant also will fund new bus facilities, improved traffic signals and increased ferry service. The other cities have plans to create toll systems that will vary with the number of people in the car and the time of day they travel. (Sources: E&E News PM)

6. States back California plea for EPA waiver on auto emissions
The National Conference of State Legislators voted 40-8 to urge the EPA to “act immediately” to approve California’s request for a waiver to start cutting tailpipe emissions. California has been waiting a year and a half for an answer and 12 other states that adopted California’s standards are watching to see what happens. The EPA has said it will give an answer at the end of the year. The states also agreed that federal law should not pre-empt states’ GHG mitigation laws. Voting no on the waiver were: Georgia, Kentucky, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. (Source: E&E News PM)

7. 'An Inconvenient Truth' coming to Chicago’s Grant Park
The Illinois Science Council and Chicago Department of Environment will present a free screening of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in Grant Park’s Butler Field (on Monroe between Columbus and Lake Shore) Wednesday evening, Aug. 22, at sundown. Electricity for the film will come from biodeisel fuel and solar power. A complimentary bike valet service will be provided. Co-sponsors include the Illinois Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Chicago Climate Exchange, NBC5, WTMX 101.9FM and WLIV 100.3FM. No pets allowed. (Source: Illinois Science Council)

8. Automakers plan rallies against tough CAFE standards
The Big 3 auto companies reportedly were planning rallies in Chicago and St. Louis last week, saying workers’ jobs were at stake and local plants might close if tough fuel-economy standards were implemented. They planned to have their largest models there, with owners saying why SUVs are essential to their lives. Autoworkers, who are being told their jobs are threatened, have been circulating petitions to take to local congressional offices, supporting the weak Hill-Terry fuel-economy bill. Hill-Terry calls for separate schedules for cars and light trucks (SUVs), to reach a combined standard of 32 mpg by 2022. This bill, which was withdrawn in the House, is weaker than the Senate-passed standard of 35 mpg by 2020 that treats cars and SUVs the same. (Editor’s note: I haven’t seen any coverage of this rally in Chicago, have any of you?) (Source: Greenwire)

Xtreme weather watch

* Japan hit an all-time high temperature Thursday, 106 degrees Fahrenheit in central regions. A reported 33 people died from the heat, which also bent train rails. The previous record was set in 1933.
* Unprecedented torrential rains in North Korea have left up to 300,000 people homeless, hundreds dead and missing, and an agricultural disaster for a country that already has trouble feeding its people. Railroads and roads were swept away by landslides and power substations destroyed by the massive floods. More than 6,000 Red Cross volunteers helped with evacuation and relief, as the country sought aid from the international community.
* In flooded Bangladesh, more than 53,000 were suffering from diarrhea after eating bad food and drinking impure water. A health center in the capital reported 1,100 new patients last Tuesday, the highest single-day admission in history. Low-lying Bangladesh is expected to be one of the first countries inundated when oceans rise due to Global Warming.
* The heat wave across the southern U.S. caused power and health problems last week. The Tennessee Valley Authority announced record power use the past two weeks and had to shut down a reactor in Alabama because water for cooling from the Tennessee River averaged 90 degrees over a 24-hour period. Hospitals said after 5-6 days of high heat, they were seeing many cases of dehydration.
* In dozens of U.S. cities, temperatures hit 100 degrees or more during the past week, some of them for multiple days. In the triple digits were: Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Charleston, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Columbia (Mo.), Columbia (S.C.), Dallas-Ft. Worth, Greenville (S.C.), Houston, Jackson, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Lexington, Little Rock, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Raleigh, Shreveport, St. Louis, Tucson, Tulsa, Waco and Wichita. (And that’s only the cities listed on the NY Times weather page!) In Tulsa, the PGA championship golf tournament last weekend was the first-ever played completely in 100-degree weather.
(Xtreme weather sources: PlanetArk.com, Greenwire, NY Times)