Top Stories
New Executive Liabilities in Climate Change.—reliability
medium.
Michael Meehan posts: "For the first time in history, executives and
their companies are being held liable for activities that contribute to
global warming. It’s not a debate, it’s already happening. ... when it
comes to a company’s impact on climate change, does D&O Insurance
cover executives? While companies say “yes”, the insurance industry is
saying “no”. We’re talking millions – perhaps billions – in legal
liability here, so someone will end up holding the bag." See Cleantech Ink.
New website to track climate aid, key to
U.N. talks.—reliability high.
Developed countries promised at Copenhagen to provide financial aid to
poorer countries to help them address climate change. A new UN-backed
web site will track such commitments. Countries are expected to enter
the information themselves and there is no verification. So far 6 donor
countries have entered a "total pledged" and/or "total committed" and
27 recipient countries are listed, but with no amounts in the pledged
or committed columns. The site is supposed to list new commitments,
beyond previous aid funding. See Reuters
story. The site is here. [A key to any
UNFCCC agreement on the part of developing countries is this transfer
of funds from rich countries. Rich countries have to buy any
commitments to greenhouse gas reductions on the part of poorer
countries. See related items under "Government" below.]
Australian energy firms join calls for
carbon price.—reliability high.
Australia's Clean Energy Council, comprising 19 leading mainstream
energy companies, issued an open letter calling on the new government
to establish a price for carbon. Story at BusinessGreen.
Access the open letter here.
[The letter says,
"Australians voted for a price on carbon at the election three years
ago, and they are still waiting. Business accepts the need to act on
climate change and wants certainty to invest in clean energy and create
jobs."]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Oil slick spreading after rig explosion
forced 13 workers into the Gulf.—reliability high.
A fire on an oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico made news.
There appears to be some release of oil, thought the fire is out and
all the workers are accounted for. At Grist
from AFP. [Is
this another effect of the BP Macondo disaster: every incident on every
facility in the Gulf will make global headlines? A quickly extinguished
fire, one injury and no deaths, a small slick. Formerly this wouldn't
have reached the notice of national news media. Now we will hear about
every death, fire, explosion or significant leak from every Gulf
drilling or production platform or vessel, at least for a while.]
Report Says Heat, Not Smart Meters, Hiked
Bills.—reliability high.
Todd Woody posts on the independent review in response to complaints
about new PG&E smart meters in Kern County, California in 2009. The
report found that the devices were functioning properly. Higher charges
that called forth the complaints were found to be due to a heat wave
that coincided with the installation, and in some case to new
electricity demand by customers. But the report also came down hard on
PG&E for poor customer service that made the problem worse. See New
York Times Green blog. Access the report here.
With Arch Rock acquisition, Cisco eyes IP
wireless network tech for smart grid.—reliability medium.
Andrew Nusca posts: "Cisco on Thursday announced that it intends to
acquire San Francisco-based Arch Rock Corp., developer of IP wireless
network technology for the smart grid. The announcement to acquire the
privately-held firm dovetails with Cisco’s announcement on Wednesday of
its partnership with smart meter maker Itron. It all plays into the
networking giant’s mission to move the utility industry toward an open,
interoperable and “smart” power grid." See ZDNet
blog.
Soaring water risks spell opportunity for
investors.—reliability high.
"The latest results from Standard & Poor's Global Water Index,
released yesterday, reveal that utilities and other water-related firms
are outperforming the wider stock market as demand for water
infrastructure continues to rise." More highlights of index
performance, etc. Story at BusinessGreen.
Access S&P report here.
A Greener Champagne Bottle.—reliability
high.
"The Champagne industry has embarked on a drive to cut the 200,000
metric tons of carbon dioxide it emits every year transporting billions
of tiny bubbles around the world. Producing and shipping accounts for
nearly a third of Champagne’s carbon emissions, with the hefty bottle
the biggest offender. ... The current retooling, which uses 65 fewer
grams (2.3 ounces) of glass, is in response to a 2003 study of
Champagne’s carbon footprint, which the industry wants to cut 25
percent by 2020, and 75 percent by 2050." Full story in The
New York Times.
Government and
Regulation
Nations meet on climate cash, UN sees long
haul.—reliability high.
Environment ministers and other officials from around the world met in
Geneva to assess progress on the $30 billion of "new and additional"
aid that rich countries promised in Copenhagen for 2010-2012. "Swiss
Environment Minister Moritz Leuenberger told the start of the two-day
talks that 'the regulation of the financial issues is a key
precondition for the successful conclusion of the climate negotiations
in Cancun.'" Includes quotes from UN climate chief Christiana Figueres.
Reuters
article.
U.S. reiterates commitment to 2020 climate
goal.—reliability high.
Climate envoy Todd Stern told a news conference at the Geneva meetings
that the U.S. remains committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions 17%
below 2005 levels by 2020. 2020. He said that this would be achieved by
a combination of EPA regulation and eventual legislation. See story at Reuters.
[Article doesn't
say whether anyone believed him.]
China Sustains Blunt 'You First' Message on
CO2.—reliability high.
Andrew Revkin posts: "Yu Qingtai, China’s lead negotiator in climate
talks from 2007 through the tumultuous conference in Copenhagen last
December, recently gave a blunt speech at the Bejing University School
of International Studies on climate, diplomacy and the balance of
national and global interests in limiting global warming. ... In sum,
he said that China’s national interests will always come first and, in
any move toward binding steps for reducing global emissions of
greenhouse gases, rich countries must go first." Gives long quote from
the speech as posted on Chinadialogue. See New
York Times Dot Earth blog.
Culture and
Society
The ways of a warmer world.—reliability
medium.
Reviews two books which see less-than-disastrous consequences from
climate change: "Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter
Future" and "Turned Out Nice: How the British Isles Will Change as the
World Heats Up". "It is refreshing, then, to read books which look at
the warming to come not as a frightful warning, nor as a fait accompli,
but as something to which, at some levels of change, people will have
to adapt—and which in some settings they may adapt to rather well. ...
They look at the opportunities as well as the costs; they encourage as
well as warn. And both remember that there will be some things that
cannot be saved, even though others may not be lost." From The Economist. [The tone of the
reviewer is one of relief that not all books on climate change have
that scary, strident tone. But the relatively happy outcomes in the
face of climate change reflected in these books may come from their
focus on mostly well-off residents of cities and Britain. Others may
not be so lucky.]
And . . .
From a
sister blog: Plants Unhappy About Global Warming.—reliability
medium.
New science raises serious concerns about the negative impact of
global warming on crop yields and plant productivity in general. This
could be one of the most severe social and economic effects of climate
change. See A
Very Different Earth.
