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Archive for Climate Change and Business

Rising Temperature, Sea Level On Track to Wipe Out Major World Cities Former Shell Exec Tells UN

Global community risks catastrophic sea level rise if current fossil fuel and c02 emissions stay on trackConsensus among the world’s leading climate scientists has established a 2°C rise in global mean temperature as the tipping point for runaway climate change, but even that could result in catastrophic rises in sea level of as much as 6-7 meters (23 feet), energy expert Ian Dunlop and policy planner and scholar Tapio Kanninen told audiences at packed meetings and panel discussions at UN headquarters in New York City organized by the Finnish Mission to the United Nations, the Club of Rome, the Temple of Understanding and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Sea level rises of 6-7 meters would wipe out coastal cities, including London, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo, and that’s even if we could somehow manage to limit global average temperature rise to 2°C this century, Dunlop and Kanninen told shocked audiences at the UN, according to a Club of Rome report. Read More→

Enviro News Wrap: Climate Change and National Security; Keeling Curve On the Brink of 400; Getting Beyond Politics Leads to Climate Action, and more…

The Latest Environmental News HeadlinesGlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:

Dirty Digital Footprints: An Exposé of “Green” Websites

the digital footprint of many "green" online publications is no better - or worse - than print publicationsAlthough interest in sustainability is expanding to include a wide range of areas, an analysis of 40 leading “green” websites indicates that digital footprints are often overlooked. At the end of April, the World Wide Web celebrated its 20th anniversary, and while the Internet is often considered to be more environmentally friendly than traditional communications channels, this supposition is subject to a number of caveats.

Most people think the web is a green medium, but the average website has a carbon footprint that is similar to a book or a newspaper. Some web pages have a carbon footprint which exceeds that of a printed page, especially if the web page is left open for long periods of time.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, data centers use 30 billion watts of electricity per year globally, and the U.S. is responsible for one-third of that amount (10 billion watts). Most of that energy comes from sources that are neither renewable nor clean.

A 2011 analysis titled Carbon Footprinting the Internet, suggests that global IT is responsible for two to four percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

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Obama Administration Issues First National Climate Adaptation Strategy

The Obama administration set forth a national climate adaptation strategy

Source: US Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

Marking a milestone in US environmental and natural resource management policy, the Obama Administration on March 26 released a national strategy aimed at conserving, enhancing the resiliency, and making sustainable use of the nation’s natural resources in the face of climate change.

Drawing on input, resources, and expertise of federal, state, and tribal government agencies as well as non-profit sector organizations and the American public, the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants (NFWP) Climate Adaptation Strategy, “provides a unified approach – reflecting shared principles and science-based practices – for reducing the negative impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, plants, and the natural system upon which they depend.”
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How the Fossil Fuel Industry is Subverting Democracy and Undermining Sustainable Development in America

The fossil fuel industry buys legislators to do their bidding at the cost of American jobs and a sustainable futureWhile most know that the fossil fuel industry is the leading source of climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions, few appreciate the extent of their control over federal and state legislators. Oil and gas companies have donated $238.7 million to candidates and parties since the 1990 election cycle, 75 percent of which has gone to Republicans.

One of the biggest political spenders is the American Petroleum Institute (API) which is the largest trade association for the oil and gas industry (including hydraulic fracturing). API has created numerous front groups to advance its political agenda including Americans for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council. Despite being called the American Petroleum Institute, its 2012 directors include Tofiq Al-Gabsani, a Saudi Arabian national who heads the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) subsidiary, the state-run oil company that also helps finance API. In 2012 alone the oil and gas lobby spent $139,7 million to advance their interests in the U.S.

According to a facts sheet from 350.org, fossil fuels are subsidized at almost six times the rate of renewable energy. From 2002 to 2008, the federal government gave the fossil fuel industry over $72 billion in subsidies while the renewable industry received $12.2 billion. The Yale Project on Climate Change’s November 2011 survey found that 70 percent of Americans opposed federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, including 67 percent of registered Republicans.

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