GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- A mountain in West Virginia has a target on its head by Arch Coal and Massey Energy. The EPA is revisiting a permit granted to blow the top off a mountain using dynamite. The displaced material would cover the surrounding environment and ruin the river system for many miles beyond the blast site.
- Kenya has adopted a new Constitution that grants certain environmental rights, like the existence of a 10% tree cover over the country.
- The UN is meeting in Japan to discuss increasing targets for protecting biodiversity and other environmental concerns. This takes place outside of the UN Climate Change talks that seem to be hopelessly stalled.
- Humans have recently created a global market for the trading of carbon emission credits. This system is quite complicated and very vulnerable to fraud. The effort to combat this fraud is picking up because this market cannot survive if it stays so vulnerable.
- Some dream of a day when there are so many electric cars that we can wire them to communicate with the electric grid to deal with fluctuations from energy sources like wind and solar. While you are sleeping or at work your car could be selling and buying electricity to keep electricity distribution running smoothly.
- China is predicted to have 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020.
- Like any other large business venture, a lot of financing is needed in the solar industry. With the recent downturn loans are hard to come by. This is worrisome because the solar industry cannot progress without large, long term loans since residential PV systems are leased in 10-20 year terms.
- 3M has developed a new plastic that advances the industry of flexible, non-glass solar panels. This will bring down production costs and increase the demand for solar panels.
- Solar panel manufacturers are always looking for ways to increase the efficiency of their product. This slightly technical article covers the use of a device that increases the output of PV solar systems.
- I LOVE Protesters! This story, provided by the Guardian, is an account of a group of sassy ladies taking over the entrance to some BP operations while yelling powerful slogans like, “We don’t have a hope of tackling climate change if we don’t find a way to start moving beyond oil.” “Beyond Oil,” being the new name taken by BP to change its image without changing too much about its operations.
- As the BP Gulf of Mexico spill drifts into history some are pushing for federal rulings on the use of dispersants and other strategies used during a large oil spill response.
