At least one major oil company will turn its back on fossil fuels, says scientist
Terry Macalister, The Guardian
The oil price crash coupled with growing concerns about global warming will encourage at least one of the major oil companies to turn its back on fossil fuels in the near future, predicts an award-winning scientist and former industry adviser.
Dr Jeremy Leggett, who has had consultations on climate change with senior oil company executives over 25 years, says it will not be a rerun of the BP story when the company launched its “beyond petroleum” strategy and then did a U- turn.
“One of the oil companies will break ranks and this time it is going to stick,” he said. “The industry is facing plunging commodity prices and soaring costs at risky projects in the Arctic, deepwater Brazil and elsewhere…
Leggett, who plans to stands down as chairman of the highly successful Solarcentury renewable business he founded to focus on climate change campaigning, holds what he calls “friendly critic” sessions with the fossil fuel sector these days. The tone of the meetings has changed significantly over the past two years, he said.
“Before it was know your enemy. Now it’s: ‘Crikey. A lot of this may be coming true on our watch. What shall we do about it?’ There are top-to-bottom strategic reviews going on in E.ON but in other companies as well, utility and oil and gas. So it will be really interesting to see which is the first of the oil and gas companies to break from the pack, although I fear BP and Shell are going backwards not forwards on carbon.”
Obama moves to create first methane limits for gas drilling
AP via AlJazeera
The Obama administration laid out designs Wednesday to issue the first regulations to cut down on methane emissions from new natural gas wells, aiming to curb the discharge of a potent greenhouse gas by roughly half…
A Solar System Is Installed in America Every 2.5 Minutes
Stephen Lacey, Greentech Media
In 2013, we reported that a solar installation was being completed every four minutes in America. Installation volumes have increased considerably since then.
According to new data from GTM Research, the U.S. solar industry completed a project every two and a half minutes in 2014. Those installations were a result of $15 billion in investment…
Global sea levels rising faster than previously thought, study shows
Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief
Scientists have a good idea of the different factors that contribute to sea level rise. But historical measurements of sea level change from the twentieth century don’t seem to match up to sum of all these individual factors.
A new paper, published in Nature, offers an explanation to this puzzle. The study finds that the amount of sea level rise during the last century is lower than scientists previously thought.
But the implication of this finding is that the acceleration in sea level rise seen in recent decades is more rapid than scientists thought, the study says. And the researchers say that melting ice sheets are the reason…
Can worker cooperatives alleviate income inequality?
Sarah Jaffe, AlJazeera
…Cooperatives have been gaining popularity as a different kind of postcrisis development model, Scott Trumbull of the Working World says, whether the crisis is Hurricane Sandy or the 2008 financial crash. Recently, the New York City government gave a big boost to the co-op movement, voting to invest $1.2 million in developing worker cooperatives. It is, according to Wayne Ho, the chief program and policy officer at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), the biggest sum ever invested in cooperatives by a city government.
Co-ops, according to an FPWA report released last year, are one way to tackle New York City’s much-publicized inequality problem. The pay ratio between the highest- and lowest-paid worker-owners in cooperatives is between 3 to 1 and 5 to 1, says the report; that compares with a ratio of roughly 600 to 1 in traditional corporations. The housecleaner-owners of Sí Se Puede, one of about two dozen worker cooperatives in New York City, have seen their wages increase to as much as $25 per hour. (The median for the industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was $9.51 per hour in May 2013). Without the middlemen or placement fees that other housecleaning businesses charge, more of the money goes into their pockets.
For Richard Wolff, a professor of economics at the New School in New York and the author of “Democracy at Work,” a book about worker self-directed enterprises, the city’s investment is just the latest acknowledgement that cooperatives are growing by leaps and bounds. In an economy in which more and more workers are freelance, self-employed or temporary, he says, worker cooperatives can be a solution that helps people keep what they like about being self-employed — not having a boss — but also help them create something bigger…
Trade Secrets
George Monbiot, Monbiot.com
When a government proposes to abandon one of the fundamental principles of justice, there had better be a powerful reason. Equality before the law is not ditched lightly. Surely? Well read this and judge for yourself.
The UK government, like that of the US and 13 other EU members(1), wants to set up a separate judicial system, exclusively for the use of corporations. While the rest of us must take our chances in the courts, corporations across the EU and US will be allowed to sue governments before a tribunal of corporate lawyers. They will be able to challenge the laws they don’t like, and seek massive compensation if these are deemed to affect their “future anticipated profits”.
I’m talking about the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and its provisions for “investor state dispute settlement”. If this sounds incomprehensible, that’s mission accomplished: public understanding is lethal to this attempted corporate coup…
EU changes rules on GM crop cultivation
David Shukman, BBC
The EU has given governments more power to decide whether to plant genetically modified (GM) crops, which are highly restricted in Europe.
The European Parliament has passed a new law giving states more flexibility by a big majority.
A type of maize – MON 810 – is the only GM crop grown commercially in the EU.
Although Euro MPs and ministers have agreed to give states more flexibility, EU scientists will still play a key role in authorisations.
GM crops are used widely in the US and Asia, but many Europeans are wary of their impact on health and wildlife.
It is one of the toughest issues at the EU-US talks on a free trade deal, as farming patterns in Europe – including GM use – differ greatly from North America.
The new law only applies to crops and does not cover GM used in animal feed, which can still enter the human food chain indirectly…
Energy efficiency is a tough sell- Even when it is “free”!
Meredith Fowlie, Energy Institute at Haas
Almost two weeks into the New Year, how are those resolutions going? Every year, my long list of resolutions includes several tasks I should be doing but have trouble finding time for, like going to the dentist and installing roof insulation (we have none)….
Take the insulation example. Everyone says that home energy efficiency improvements are good for us. An insulation upgrade reduces energy costs, reduce emissions (if emissions are not subject to a binding cap), and can make winters cozier. But ask me if I want to spend my Saturday researching the recommended R- value for insulation in my climate zone, and I will come up with a long list of things that are more exhilarating.
Given limited time, motivation, and cognitive capacity, we all have to choose what we pay attention to and what information we act on. In a new E2e Project working paper, my co-authors and I document just how hard it can be to get people to pursue privately beneficial energy efficiency improvements…
Global campaign aims to inspire British cities to choose 100% clean energy
Jamie Doward, The Guardian
Environmental campaigners are hoping that 2015 will be the year when the UK’s cities go green. Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Munich, Seattle, Sydney and Lima have all committed to switching to using 100% clean energy by 2050, and now grassroots campaigns calling on civic leaders to endorse the initiative have been launched in 123 towns and cities across the UK. It is hoped that as many as 20 will pledge their commitment before the end of this year. One city expected to be at the vanguard of the scheme is Oxford, which has launched a “low-carbon hub” that aims to install solar panels on schools, put water turbines in its stretch of the Thames and develop solar farms…
Low-energy urbanisation ‘can help climate goals’
Mark Kinver, BBC
A study of 274 cities has helped shed light on energy consumption in urban areas and what can be done to make future urbanisation more efficient. Globally, cities are best placed to mitigate emissions as urban areas are much more energy intensive than rural areas, say researchers. Most people now live in urban areas, a trend that is accelerating as the global population continues to grow. The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences… Writing in their paper, a team of researchers from Germany and the US observed: "The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that urban areas consume between 67% and 76% of global energy and generate about three quarters of global carbon emissions.
Iowa’s Largest City Sues Over Farm Fertilizer Runoff In Rivers
Dan Charles, NPR
Des Moines, Iowa, is confronting the farms that surround it over pollution in two rivers that supply the city with drinking water. Des Moines Water Works says it will sue three neighboring counties for high nitrate levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. It’s a novel attempt to control fertilizer runoff from farms, which has been largely unregulated.
Too much nitrate can be a health risk, especially for infants under the age of 6 months, and it’s difficult to remove from water. Filtering out nitrates cost the Des Moines water utility $900,000 in 2013…
Farming overtakes deforestation and land use as a driver of climate change
Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief
Greenhouse gas emissions from growing crops and raising livestock are now higher than from deforestation and land use change, a new study finds.
The research, published in Global Change Biology, estimates the contribution of agriculture, deforestation and land use change to global emissions. While the emissions of the sector as a whole are dropping, emissions from agriculture are still on the rise, the research says…
Peculiarities of Russian National Character
Dmitri Orlov, Club Orlov
Recent events, such as the overthrow of the government in Ukraine, the secession of Crimea and its decision to join the Russian Federation, the subsequent military campaign against civilians in Eastern Ukraine, western sanctions against Russia, and, most recently, the attack on the ruble, have caused a certain phase transition to occur within Russian society, which, I believe, is very poorly, if at all, understood in the west. This lack of understanding puts Europe at a significant disadvantage in being able to negotiate an end to this crisis. Whereas prior to these events the Russians were rather content to consider themselves “just another European country,” they have now remembered that they are a distinct civilization, with different civilizational roots (Byzantium rather than Rome)—one that has been subject to concerted western efforts to destroy it once or twice a century, be it by Sweden, Poland, France, Germany, or some combination of the above. This has conditioned the Russian character in a specific set of ways which, if not adequately understood, is likely to lead to disaster for Europe and the world…
Since this subject is of overwhelming complexity, I will focus on just four factors, which I find essential for understanding the transformation we are currently witnessing…
Russia to Shift Ukraine Gas Transit to Turkey as EU Cries Foul
Elena Mazneva, Bloomberg
Russia plans to shift all its natural gas flows crossing Ukraine to a route via Turkey, a surprise move that the European Union’s energy chief said would hurt its reputation as a supplier.
The decision makes no economic sense, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission’s vice president for energy union, told reporters today after talks with Russian government officials and the head of gas exporter, OAO Gazprom, in Moscow.
Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas supplier, plans to send 63 billion cubic meters through a proposed link under the Black Sea to Turkey, fully replacing shipments via Ukraine, Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller said during the discussions. About 40 percent of Russia’s gas exports to Europe and Turkey travel through Ukraine’s Soviet-era network…
A More Resilient Neighborhood, Just Beyond the Grid
Aaron Reiss, Urbanful
While independent communications infrastructure, renewable energy, and resilient heating and power systems may all be major priorities in contemporary urban development, the three aren’t typically incorporated into the same project. Beyond The Grid — an ambitious plan underway in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Lower Manhattan — does just that. And the fact that the proposal has been created in this neighborhood is no accident.
With a high concentration of lower income residents, a geographic vulnerability to extreme weather, and a strong tradition of local activism, Two Bridges is the kind of place where ambition rises to address hidden challenges wrought by poverty, among them the inability to pay for food with EBT when the power is out or to acquire emergency information without Internet access. Two years ago, a few months shy of Sandy, Kerri Culhane brought Omnibus readers the story of a plan to make open spaces in the neighborhood both more inviting and environmentally productive. The reality of the devastation following the storm demanded an even more multifaceted approach to preparing and strengthening Two Bridges for the future.
Culhane is now part of the Beyond the Grid team, a diverse and fascinating coalition of advocates, technologists, planners, and engineers. As Aaron Reiss explores in the article below, their plan has the potential to create a more resilient, connected, and sustainable Lower East Side if they can move past the regulatory, funding, and organizing hurdles that often obstruct visionary projects of this scale…
More Than 100 Businesses Call On White House To Protect Bees From Pesticides
Katie Valentine, Think Progress
More than 100 businesses, many of them food companies that depend heavily on pollinators for their products, sent a letter to the White House and multiple agencies Tuesday, urging the Environmental Protection Agency to protect pollinators by halting the use of certain pesticides.
Representatives from 118 businesses — including the owners of Clif Bar and Nature’s Path and the CEOs of Stonyfield and organic food company Amy’s — signed the letter, which calls on the EPA to immediately suspend its registration of neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides which have been linked to bee declines by at least 30 studies. Neonics are used on a variety of U.S. crops, including corn, soybeans, oranges, and leafy greens. They been found to affect the nervous system of honeybees, with studies finding that exposure to neonics can cause honeybees to forget what food smells like and can create short- and long-term memory loss in bees…
