Oregon Solar Power As Cheap As Dirty Power

The Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association has just published a major new peer-reviewed study, Vision to Integrate Solar in Oregon showing that large scale photovoltaic power plants are cost effective in Portland and elsewhere in Oregon, reports study author Chris Robertson at Climate Progress. Oregon could produce 20% of its electricity from 65 square miles of land. If this was all agricultural land it would be 1/4 of 1% of Oregon’s farm land.  Agricultural production (e.g. grazing small animals, honey production) could be maintained on the land. Remaining market barriers to the spread of solar power will need to be addressed. These include finance, land use, improved interconnection processes, transmission and distribution upgrades, permit streamlining, and others. The report recommends that the state ensure a market price for solar power produced both at the scale of individual buildings and utilities, which will drive down costs further. It also notes that if the savings created by replacing destructive carbon emitting forms of power with solar power were properly included in assessing the cost of solar, solar power would be even more cost effective.

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

Parity Time: Large-Scale Solar Power Plants Now Cost Effective in Oregon http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/05/07/1975731/large-scale-solar-power-plants-now-cost-effective-in-oregon/

A Buck In Time Saves Ten With EPA Regulations – OMB Study

A new government study shows that investing one dollar in Environmental Protection Agency regulations yields 10 dollars in payoff, in terms of avoided health costs and supplies new jobs, reports Jeff Spross at Climate Progress. Environmental regulations do impose compliance costs on businesses, and can raise prices, which hurt economic growth. But they also create jobs by requiring pollution clean-up and prevention efforts. And perhaps even more importantly, they save the economy billions by avoiding pollution’s deleterious health effects. Particles from smoke stacks, for example, are implicated in respiratory diseases, heart attacks, infections and a host of other ailments, all of which require billions in health care costs per year to treat. Preventing those particles from going into the air means healthier and more productive citizens, who can go spend that money on something other than making themselves well again. Another example is carbon emissions, which will impose costs on the economy in the form of future disruption to food supplies, destruction from extreme weather, and other upheavals if they’re not curbed.

 

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

New OMB Study: The Economic Benefits of EPA Regulations Massively Outweigh The Costs http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/05/03/1955891/new-omb-study-the-economic-benefits-of-epa-regulations-massively-outweigh-the-costs/

Also:

It’s Official: $1 Invested In EPA Yields $10 In Benefits see also TDC

Saving money with environmental regulation. Critics argue that EPA regulation is costly to business and the U.S. economy. But a new report from the Office of Management and Budget shows that the financial benefits of environmental regulation outweigh the costs ten-fold. Living On Earth

As Arctic Melts, Its Ocean Is Acidifying Rapidly

As predicted by chemistry, change in the Arctic Ocean is accelerating as temperatures warm faster than the global average, as the sea ice melts, delivering more fresh water farther into the northernmost ocean (which dilutes its ability to neutralize acid), and as we continue blasting an ever increasing quantity of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, reports Julia Whitty at Mother Jones. As the melt exposes more open water, more atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves into it, acidifying the water.   The result? A new report notes that the Arctic ocean is acidifying rapidly and unevenly. Arctic food webs tend to be short, simple, and often dependent on keystone species such as sea butterflies and sea urchins. Such shelled species are harmed by acidification, which makes it difficult for them to build their protective shells. Acidification slows the growth of many species, and often harms their juvenile and larval stages. Mammals and birds may be indirectly affected if their food sources are harmed.  This could also damage human fisheries. The big news is, carbon dioxide emissions are caused big changes fast in the Arctic, and few of them will be good.

 

 

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

On Top Of Sea Ice Death Spiral, Ocean Acidification Poised To Radically Alter Arctic see also Arctic Ocean ‘acidifying rapidly’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22408341

Arctic Ocean ‘acidifying rapidly.’ Scientists from Norway’s Center for International Climate and Environmental Research monitored widespread changes in ocean chemistry in the region. They say even if CO2 emissions stopped now, it would take tens of thousands of years for Arctic Ocean chemistry to revert to pre-industrial levels. BBC

Ten key findings from a rapidly acidifying Arctic ocean. As predicted by chemistry, change in the Arctic Ocean is accelerating as temperatures warm faster than the global average, as the sea ice melts, as northern rivers run stronger and faster, and as we continue blasting an ever increasing quantity of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Mother Jones May 9^th TDC http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/05/arctic-ocean-rapidly-getting-more-acidic

Much of California Could Have Totally Dry Years By 2050, NASA Says

Summer precipitation varies yearly, but by mid-century a new NASA analysis forecasts basically no rain in much of the Southwest and California in some years, reports Climate Progress. And the Amazon will suffer, too.   “In response to carbon dioxide-induced warming, the global water cycle undergoes a gigantic competition for moisture, resulting in a global pattern of increased heavy rain, decreased moderate rain, and prolonged droughts in certain regions,” said lead NASA study author William Lau.  Equatorial tropical areas will see the most significant increase in heavy rainfall, particularly in the Pacific Ocean and Asian monsoon regions. Some regions outside the tropics may have no rainfall at all. And the length of dry periods will increase globally by with further warming. In the Northern Hemisphere, other areas most likely to be affected include the deserts and arid regions of Mexico, North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, and northwestern China. In the Southern Hemisphere, such areas include South Africa, northwestern Australia, coastal Central America and northeastern Brazil. Such precipitation changes, Lau said, “can have the most impact on society because they occur in regions where most people live.”

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

NASA Projects Carbon Pollution Impact: ‘Some Regions Outside The Tropics May Have No Rainfall At All’ see also: Warming climate likely means more floods, droughts. The Earth’s wettest regions are likely to get wetter while the most arid will get drier due to warming of the atmosphere caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, according to a new NASA analysis of more than a dozen climate models. National Public Radio http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/05/03/1960961/nasa-projects-carbon-pollution-impact-some-regions-outside-the-tropics-may-have-no-rainfall-at-all/

 

White House 2B Warned Of Earth’s Disappearing Heat Shield

Senior officials from NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon are to be briefed at the White House soon on the danger of a summer ice-free Arctic by 2015. This indicates that they are increasingly concerned about the international and domestic security implications of climate change. Senior scientific advisers at the meeting include 10 Arctic specialists, including University of Western Australia marine scientist Carlos Duarte. Earlier, Duarte warned that the Arctic summer sea ice was melting at a rate far faster than previously predicted, and could disappear by  2015 . He said: “The Arctic situation is snowballing” noting that the melting caused by global warming would, in turn, create conditions causing further, faster melting, adding, “This situation has the momentum of a runaway train.” Duarte co-authored a paper recently in Nature Climate Change documenting how “tipping elements” in the Arctic ecosystems leading to “abrupt changes” that would dramatically impact “the global earth system” had “already started up”. They concluded: “We are facing the first clear evidence of dangerous climate change.” New research suggests that Arctic summer sea ice loss is linked to extreme weather.

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/may/02/white-house-arctic-ice-death-spiral

US Seeing Whiplash Weather Extremes Predicted Under Climate Change

North American weather has been lurching from one extreme to the next in a pattern that is consistent with global warming, reports Andrew Freedman at Climate Central. Climate studies have warned us to expect more frequent and intense extreme events, such as heavy rain and snow storms, along with heat waves. While weather variability is nothing new, the wild swings in weather, termed “weather whiplash“, that have recently occurred across the Midwest and South Central states during the past few years, from record flood to record drought and back to record flood, may be an example of what’s in store as global warming continues to alter the atmosphere. After a record drought, for example, Chicago just clocked its wettest April. The Mississippi has gone from recent record lows to flood levels. With climate change, the atmosphere is now carrying more moisture, as air and oceans warm. The jet stream, altered by a warming Arctic, steered storms away and towards the US, creating floods and droughts. Climate studies predict precipitation extremes will become more frequent and severe, which they already have. Expect even worse, with continuing climate change.

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

Climate desk: The Drought-Stricken Midwest’s Floods: Is This What Climate Change Looks Like? See also Drought eases in many places, fields turn to mud. As spring rains soaked the central United States and helped conquer the historic drought, a new problem has sprouted: The fields have turned to mud. Associated Press

Wild weather swings may be a sign of climate change. For a political candidate, being labeled a “flip-flopper” can be a career killer. Increasingly, though, the label also applies to North American weather, which has been lurching from one extreme to the next in a pattern that is consistent with global warming. Climate Central

 

National Parks Threatened by Oil, Gas Drilling – Report

The National Parks Conservation Association released a new report warning of the risks that oil and gas drilling pose to national parks, reports Jessica Goad at Climate Progress. Drilling already occurs in 12 parks, is planned for 30 more, and near many others. The report states: “…early indications of harm to America’s natural resources and national parks suggest the wisdom of a careful, considered approach to hydraulic fracturing, rather than … a zealous rush toward monetary riches. National parks are managed under a precautionary principle designed to err on the conservative side of any potentially negative impacts. The same principle should be applied to fracking activities on lands adjacent to our national parks.” The report cites many impacts near or within parks, including watershed disruption from the huge water demands of drilling, visual blight from drill sites, roads and pipelines that interfere with wildlife, light polluted night skies, hazardous air, water and chemical pollution, and noise pollution, destroying the peace people value in parks. The report recommends including the National Park Service in drilling decisions and exercising strong federal oversight over upcoming fracking rules and regulations.

Join the swelling numbers of voters TELLING Congress they’ll vote for Clean Energy candidates here: http://signon.org/sign/we-are-the-clean-99?source=c.em.cp&r_by=487176 . This is an ongoing campaign (the next Congressional election is in 2 years!) so please, spread the word. It’s our way of telling Congress that a strong clean energy voting bloc is out there. This is how YOU can make a difference.

 

For more on Climate Change, check out my weekly column at the HuffingtonPost, Climate Change This Week : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=mary-ellen-harte

 

Source

New Report Details How National Parks Are Threatened By Oil And Gas Drilling  http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/25/1922761/new-report-details-how-national-parks-are-threatened-by-oil-and-gas-drilling/