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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 8, 2014

Posted: 09 Dec 2014 10:55:29
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UN CLIMATE TALKS: LIMA

Kerry Plans to Attend Climate Talks
In a sign of the importance that the Obama administration has
placed on the outcome of United Nations climate change
negotiations taking place here this week, Secretary of State John
Kerry will arrive on Thursday to strongly urge negotiators to
reach a deal, according to sources familiar with Mr. Kerry’s
plans but unauthorized to speak to the media. Typically, the
secretary of state would not join diplomatic negotiations at this
level, but Mr. Kerry has made climate change a priority of his
tenure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/us/politics/kerry-plans-to-attend-climate-talks.html?_r=0


Goal to end fossil fuels by 2050 surfaces in Lima UN climate
documents 
It’s a rare thing when you can point to paragraphs in a United
Nations climate negotiating text and feel they more or less match
what most of the science says should become a reality. Yet in
Lima on Monday, it happened. Our little revolutionary moment
comes in a document with the memorable title “ADP 2-7 agenda item
3 Elements for a draft negotiating text” with its climate-busting
section D (paragraph 13.2) outlining several possible long-term
goals for a new climate change agreement.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2014/dec/08/goal-to-end-fossil-fuels-by-2050-surfaces-in-lima-un-climate-documents


Washington takes heat at UN talks over targets
Washington is on track to meet its targets for reducing emissions
in heat-trapping greenhouse gases despite an uptick last year,
U.S. officials insisted at climate talks Monday. Quizzed by rich
and poor countries about its efforts against global warming,
President Barack Obama's envoys sought to explain how exactly the
U.S. plans to cut emissions 17 percent by 2020 based on 2005
levels.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Washington-takes-heat-at-UN-talks-over-targets-5943860.php


Lima climate talks set for record carbon footprint
The current U.N. climate talks will be the first to neutralize
all the greenhouse gas pollution they generate, offset by host
country Peru's protection of forest at three different reserves,
organizers say. Now the bad news: The Lima conference is expected
to have the biggest carbon footprint of any U.N. climate meeting
measured to date.
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Lima-climate-talks-set-for-record-carbon-footprint-5945183.php


In Lima, Calif. and 3 Canadian provinces call for cooperation
Officials from California and three Canadian provinces yesterday
called for cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at
international climate change talks taking place this week in
Peru.  Environmental officials from California, British Columbia,
Ontario and Quebec attending the U.N. climate negotiations in
Lima, Peru, said they were hoping to make progress toward an
international climate deal to be signed in Paris in 2015.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2014/12/09/stories/1060010174

Lost in Lima: Why climate finance figures can’t be trusted 
Sorting out the complicated world of climate finance has long
been talked of as a key goal for the UN climate talks currently
taking place in Lima, Peru. One problem is that not enough money
is flowing to developing countries, making it harder for them to
invest in greener forms of energy and prepare for the worst
impacts of climate change, such as floods, heatwaves and rising
sea levels.
http://www.rtcc.org/2014/12/07/lost-in-lima-why-climate-finance-figures-cant-be-trusted/




CAP AND TRADE

East valley could get cap-and-trade funds for housing
Several low-income communities in the east valley will be
eligible for funds generated by California’s cap-and-trade
program, giving hope to affordable housing advocates in the
region. Thanks to a recent decision by the California
Environmental Protection Agency, several areas with high poverty
rates and poor air quality or water quality — including Mecca,
much of Thermal and parts of Coachella and Indio — will be
eligible for funds.  
http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2014/12/08/coachella-valley-cap-trade-funds/20125057/
 



AIR POLLUTION

Philippines Pushes Developing Countries to Cut Their Emissions 
As the torrential rains of Typhoon Hagupit flood the Philippines,
driving millions of people from their homes, the Philippine
government arrived at a United Nations climate change summit
meeting on Monday to push hard for a new international deal
requiring all nations, including developing countries, to cut
their use of fossil fuels.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/world/americas/philippines-pushes-developing-countries-to-cut-their-emissions-.html?_r=0


China’s Coal Burning Is Main Culprit for Pollution, Daily Says
China’s excessive use of unclean energy such as coal is the
biggest contributor to its smog, China Youth Daily reported. 
Vehicle emissions came in second, the newspaper said on its
website yesterday, citing Zhang Xiaoye, a researcher at the
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-09/china-s-coal-burning-is-main-culprit-for-pollution-daily-says.html


As US cleans up, it's exporting more pollution	
Heat-trapping pollution released into the atmosphere from rising
exports of U.S. gasoline and diesel dwarfs the cuts made from
fuel efficiency standards and other efforts to reduce global
warming in the United States,...	
http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4367399.html

Smoke in downtown L.A. awful? No advisory, but some are
uncomfortable
No air quality advisories have been issued in downtown Los
Angeles after Monday morning's massive fire, but some area
employers were handing out masks to make breathing more
comfortable for workers.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-smoke-air-quality-fire-20141208-story.html




CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate isn't culprit in drought -- NOAA 
Rising greenhouse gases causing climate change are not the main
driver of California's ongoing drought, scientists from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today. In a
study out today, scientists with NOAA said the dry conditions
over the last three years in the Golden State largely were caused
by lower ocean temperatures and a high-pressure ridge off the
West Coast, which blocked winter storms.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2014/12/08/stories/1060010145 

Global Warming Isn't Causing California Drought? Report Triggers
Storm
Natural conditions, not human-caused emissions of greenhouse
gases, are the driving force behind California's three-year dry
spell, scientists on a federal task force concluded Monday. But
the report came under fire from some experts who said it
downplayed other factors that have humanity's fingerprints on
them.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/global-warming-isnt-causing-california-drought-report-triggers-storm-n263941


Obama: Keystone XL could contribute to ‘disastrous’ climate
change  
President Obama spoke in dismissive terms of the Keystone XL
pipeline Monday during an interview on "The Colbert Report
Monday, saying its modest benefits need to be weighed against its
contribution to climate change, "which could be disastrous." 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/09/obama-criticizes-keystone-xl-on-the-colbert-report/

Looking to Mars to Help Understand Changing Climates.  Ever since
the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli thought he spied
lines that he called “canali” on Mars in 1877, earthlings’
romantic thoughts about our nearest cosmic neighbor have revolved
around water and its possible consequence, Life as We Know It. We
haven’t found life on Mars, but decades of robotic exploration
have indeed strengthened astronomers’ convictions that rivers and
perhaps even oceans once flowed on the red planet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/science/looking-to-mars-to-help-understand-changing-climates.html

What universities really can do to fight climate change: A new
proposal
The movement to force university endowments to divest their
holdings in fossil fuel companies -- coal, oil and gas -- has
some obvious shortcomings: For one thing, the effort is
relatively painless, since it's unlikely that the endowment
returns will be materially affected by taking these volatile
companies out of their portfolios (or that the companies will
care); for another, it's hypocritical, since university
communities remain heavy consumers of the very same energy
sources.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-what-can-universities-really-do-20141208-column.html



FUELS

Japan Promotes Home Fuel Cell on Path to Hydrogen Society 
Japan is working on doing for the hydrogen fuel cell what it
accomplished with computer chips and cars in the last century,
slashing costs to make them more appealing to consumers.  As
fuel-cell technology finds its way into factories and commercial
buildings, Japanese manufacturers including Panasonic Corp.
(6752) are working to make them small and cheap enough for the
home. The country has set a goal of installing them in 5.3
million homes by 2030, about 10 percent of all households. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-09/japan-promotes-home-fuel-cell-on-path-to-hydrogen-society.html




GREEN ENERGY

Copenhagen Lighting the Way to Greener, More Efficient Cities
On a busy road in the center of town here, a string of green
lights embedded in the bike path — the “Green Wave” — flashes on,
helping cyclists avoid red traffic lights. On a main artery into
the city, truck drivers can see on smartphones when the next
light will change. And in a nearby suburb, new LED streetlights
brighten only as vehicles approach, dimming once they pass.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/09/business/energy-environment/copenhagen-lighting-the-way-to-greener-more-effecient-cities.html


L.A. mayor calls for solar-powered wi-fi, retrofitted buildings
in ambitious earthquake plan
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) released an
earthquake-preparedness plan Monday, unprecedented in its scope,
calling on the city to retrofit thousands of buildings and
reinforce its water supply and telecommunications network. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/12/08/l-a-mayor-calls-for-solar-powered-wi-fi-retrofitted-buildings-in-ambitious-earthquake-plan/




BLOGS

At Climate Meeting, China Balks at Verifying Cuts in Carbon
Emissions
Last week, climate change negotiators from around the world
converged on Lima, Peru, with a new sense of momentum. One driver
of that attitude was the fact that just last month, President
Obama and President Xi Jinping of China made a joint announcement
in Beijing in which each pledged to try to limit or reduce carbon
dioxide emissions in the coming years.
http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection®ion=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgtype=Homepage#/climate+change/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/newest/


Q&A: What’s Up With the Climate Talks in Lima?
What’s up with the climate talks in Lima? Nearly two hundred
countries are coming together to talk about what they can do
together to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and take other
measures to prevent climate change. The Lima gathering kicked off
last week, with higher-level talks starting today. The talks are
organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/12/09/qa-whats-up-with-the-climate-talks-in-lima/?KEYWORDS=climate+change


Solar Technique Achieves Record-High 40% Efficiency
Researchers in Australia have reached a record high in solar
conversion efficiency, converting more than 40 percent of the
sunlight that hits solar panels into electricity. In outdoor
tests in Sydney and the U.S., University of New South Wales
researchers achieved the record efficiency partially by splitting
sunlight into four different cells. Traditionally, solar power
works by using just one solar cell, a method that can convert up
to 33 percent of sunlight into electricity. 
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/08/3600599/record-high-solar-conversion-efficiency/


Small Business: The 'Neglected Middle' of Climate Change
...wrong.    His response was speaking solely to the financial
feasibility of the firm, but it reflects a larger misconception
regarding small businesses and climate change.    Individually, a
small business might use less energy than a 50-story office
building. But cumulatively, small businesses...	
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel_hill/small-business-the-neglec_b_6289210.html?utm_hp_ref=climate-change






California is in a drought emergency.
Visit www.SaveOurH2O.org for water conservation tips.

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