Top Stories
The Climate Majority.—reliability
medium.
"national surveys released during the last eight months have been
interpreted as showing that fewer and fewer Americans believe that
climate change is real, human-caused and threatening to people. But a
closer look at these polls and a new survey by my Political Psychology
Research Group show just the opposite: huge majorities of Americans
still believe the earth has been gradually warming as the result of
human activity and want the government to institute regulations to stop
it." New
York Times OpEd piece. [Good discussion
of the meaning of various poll results that bear on Americans' feelings
about climate change.]
Poll: American opinion on climate change
warms up.—reliability high.
"Public concern about global warming is once again on the rise,
according to a national survey released today by researchers at Yale
and George Mason Universities. The results come as the U.S. Senate
prepares to vote this week on a resolution to block the EPA from
regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Since January, public belief
that global warming is happening rose four points, to 61 percent, while
belief that it is caused mostly by human activities rose three points,
to 50 percent. The number of Americans who worry about global warming
rose three points, to 53 percent. And the number of Americans who said
that the issue is personally important to them rose five points, to 63
percent." See EurekAlert.
Access results here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Toyota surprised by swift India response to
Prius hybrid.—reliability high.
"The Toyota Prius hybrid, the world’s largest selling one, has caught
the imagination of environment-friendly and deep-pocketed Indians in
just three months of its debut on Indian roads. Priced at Rs 26.5 lakh
and Rs 27.86 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the sales have gone well beyond
the company’s expectations in India. Toyota Kirloskar Motors has
received bookings for 80 cars; it has delivered 45 units since its
launch in March. This is far more than the average monthly sales of 12
units estimated by Toyota when it had introduced the vehicle in India."
From Business
Standard. [The
wealthy want to be seen to be green in India too. How many went to film
stars?]
Assessing the State of Environmental
Transparency in China.—reliability medium.
Comments on implementation of "China’s Open Government Information
Regulations and Open Environmental Information Measures, which went
into effect on May 1, 2008. ... The workshop in Weihai, which we
co-sponsored with Environmental Protection Magazine, the Wendeng
Municipal Government and the Institute for Public and Environmental
Affairs (IPE), was a chance for government officials responsible for
open information work to come to share their experiences and exchange
ideas." From NRDC
blogs. [Good
discussion of developments in China, with links.]
Government and
Regulation
IEA: To promote efficiency, cut fossil fuel
subsidies.—reliability high.
"The International Energy Agency on Monday published an analysis that
found subsidies for fossil fuels are higher than previously thought.
Cutting subsidies would encourage energy efficiency and low-carbon
fuels, it said. The amount of money paid to subsidize fossil fuels
around the world was $557 billion in 2008, which is up from $342
billion in the previous year. The key findings on fossil fuel subsidies
(click for PDF) were published in advance of the IEA's annual World
Energy Outlook report, which is due in November." See CNET News.
PDF of analysis here.
OECD tells G20 fossil fuel subsidies should
end.—reliability high.
"The OECD urged governments to end fossil fuels subsidies in a
statement on Wednesday that argued this could cut greenhouse gas
emissions by 10 percent and help deliver on G20 promises to combat
global warming. ... 'Many governments are giving subsidies to fossil
fuel production and consumption that encourage greenhouse gas
emissions, at the same time as they are spending on projects to promote
clean energy,' OECD chief Angel Gurría said. 'This is a wasteful use of
scarce budget resources.' Ending fossil fuel subsidies could lower
global greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent from the levels they
would otherwise reach in 2050, said the OECD, a government-funded
agency that was asked to advise the Group of 20 on the issue." Reuters
story.
Clean Energy Policies Achieving Mixed
Results in Brazil, China, India, South Africa.—reliability
high.
"Policymakers in the world’s major developing countries are achieving
mixed results in their efforts to stimulate clean energy investment,
the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has found. ... The report maps the
extent to which corporations in BASIC countries are investing in these
areas, investigates the drivers of this investment and specifically
evaluates how national government policy affects private investment and
what lessons can be learned from national approaches to policy.
'Tackling climate change will require massive private sector capital
flows into energy efficiency and renewable energy,' notes Marianne
Osterkorn, REEEP’s Director General, 'so it is very important to
understand what government policies are most effective in enabling this
to happen.' " See Sustainable
Business. PDF of report here.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
