By Frank James

The United Nations' climate change chief Yvo de Boer has made it public that he's quitting later this year. But he wants the world to know his decision isn't because December's Copenhagen climate talks bombed, failing to get binding limits on global greenhouse gases.

Yvo de Boer. (Heribert Proepper / AP Photo)

Still, it seems worth noting that his departure will be effective July 1, which will be five months before the next scheduled global climate meeting of world leaders in Mexico.

He had some advice for the Mexican host of the next meeting: get smaller groups of nations together first to try and reach key understandings first since it's so much harder to get nearly 200 nations to agree on most anything.

A snippet from the Associated Press:

De Boer is known to be deeply disappointed with the outcome of the last summit in Copenhagen, which drew 120 world leaders but failed to reach more than a vague promise by several countries to limit carbon emissions - and even that deal fell short of consensus.

But he denied to the AP that his decision to quit was a result of frustration with Copenhagen.

Continue reading "UN Global Climate Change Chief Quits" >

By Mark Memmott

Radiation levels in a monitoring well outside the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., have spiked -- but state and federal officials seem to sharply disagree about how serious the threat to public health may be.

The local Rutland Herald reports that:

Levels of radioactive tritium mushroomed Thursday in a new monitoring well at the Vermont Yankee reactor, an indication the leak was coming from water that runs through the reactor itself, according to the Department of Health.

"These are very high concentrations," said William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Department of Health, who was at the reactor Thursday. "We're not dealing with a minor system. It's an important source that needs to be quickly found."

But a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Neil Sheehan, e-mailed the newspaper to say that the level detected "is still a very low level of tritium contamination and continues to present no public health and safety hazard and no detectable negative impact to the environment."

The Associated Press writes that the tritium level detected is "more than nine times those previously reported and more than 37 times higher than a federal safe drinking water limit. ... Officials at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, state Health Department and federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a newly dug monitoring well at the Vernon reactor turned up a reading of nearly 775,000 picocuries per liter. It was by far the highest reading reported yet for tritium, which has been linked to cancer when ingested in large amounts."

The Burlington Free Press' vt.Buzz blog says that state officials report that so far, thankfully:

All drinking water well tests are negative for elevated tritium. Vermont Yankee is now testing the drinking water well nearest the contaminated groundwater monitoring wells, the Construction Office Building well, every day.

It's been about a month since the leak was first discovered. Vernon is near the southeast corner of Vermont, just north of the Massachusetts state line.

By Mark Memmott

"Phil Jones, the beleaguered British climate scientist at the center of the leaked e-mails controversy, is facing fresh claims that he sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based," The Guardian reports this morning.

It investigated "thousands of e-mails and documents apparently hacked from the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit" and found "evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced."

Jones, according to the Guardian, "said he was not able to comment on the story."

If you're not up to speed on the so-called climategate story, All This Considered's Guy Raz had a conversation about it with Dr. Judith Curry, chairwoman of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech, that may help put it in perspective.

And England's Telegraph has been all over the story, most recently with a report that some think the e-mails were "stolen by foreign spies."

By Richard Harris

One of the most shocking revelations from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2007 was that the glaciers in the Himalayas could melt away entirely by 2035. That would mean, in a mere 25 years, large parts of Asia would lose the rivers that sustain the farms and lives of half a billion people.

The factoid was buried in one of the voluminous reports from the IPCC, which won a Nobel Peace Prize for its work. The statistic never made it to the all-important summary for policymakers. But even so, it has been creeping out into polite society.

In fact, NPR has repeated it on several occasions. For example, a year ago we covered a congressional hearing at which Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) discussed it with former Vice President Al Gore. The two talked about the shocking implications of losing the headwaters of the Irrawaddy, the Ganges, the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Yellow rivers.

OK. Deep breath. After a government minister in India expressed his skepticism about the assertion recently, the head of the IPCC went and looked it up. Oops. It's wrong.

The IPCC has issued a statement saying that the organization's fact-checking system broke down in this instance.

How did this happen? A letter being published online later today in Science Magazine says the IPCC picked up the date from a report by the World Wildlife Fund, which has since corrected its error. WWF picked up the date from a quote in the popular science magazine, New Scientist. But the final clue to the mystery may lie in an obscure study that discussed the global fate of glaciers in the year 2350. Flip around a few of those digits and...

That's not quite the end of the story, though. The IPCC stands by its overarching message, which is that the world's glaciers are rapidly melting and bad things will happen to people if that continues unabated. But the demise of the Himalayan glaciers is, thankfully, not just a few decades away.

The Supreme Court kept the locks on the Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal open, thwarting several states that wanted them closed in a bid to keep the Asian Carp from the Great Lakes. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

By Frank James

The Supreme Court refused the request of several states to close the shipping locks on the Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal, which connects to the Chicago River and ultimately Lake Michigan ,in an effort to stop the advance of the Asian Carp, a particularly rapacious invasive fish species into the Great Lakes.

As NPR's Nina Totenberg reported for the network's newscast:

The state of Michigan, joined by by New York, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario, sought a court order closing the Chicago River locks to block a feared invasion of carp.

The ravenous fish have been migrating up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers for decades and have recently swarmed waterways near Chicago leading to Lake Michigan. Scientists fear that the giant fish, which weigh as much as 100 pounds, would jeopardize the food chain if they reach the great lakes and endanger the lakes $7 billion dollar fishery.

But closing the Illinois locks would block a major national shipping artery.

Nina goes on to say that the court's action:

... Likely means that the shipping and fishing industries and the states will step up negotiations over what to do to prevent a giant carp infestation.

Update 4:48 pm ET -- Looks like the Supreme Court's decision could already be moot. From the Chicago Tribune:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has more evidence indicating the dreaded Asian carp is in Lake Michigan, making the announcement hours after the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to force Illinois to do more to keep the fish out of the lake.

The Corps says researchers combing the Calumet Harbor near Lake Michigan for the presence of Asian carp have found two DNA samples that seem to indicate the invasive fish has already breached the lake near Chicago.

One sample was in Calumet Harbor a half-mile north of the Calumet River; the other was in the Calumet River north of the O'Brien Lock. Both samples were collected Dec. 8. The agency said that two earlier tests in the area didn't show carp DNA.

A 2008 photo of a mountaintop removal mining site at Kayford Mountain, W.Va. with Coal River Mountain, left, in the background. (Jeff Gentner, File / AP Photo)

By Frank James

The controversial practice of mountaintop coal mining is back in the news.

The Obama Administration this week disappointed opponents by allowing a West Virginia mountaintop coal mining project to proceed.

That was followed by a report in the most Jan. 8, 2010 issue of the journal Science by a group of respected scientists released Thursday that called for the Obama Administration to completely halt such mining, which involves the use of explosives to blast off mountaintops to expose coal seams to surface mining.

NPR's Christopher Joyce reported on All Things Considered about the scientific push to stop mountain top removal.

An snippet of Christopher's report:

CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: You can say this for mountaintop removal mining: The name is dead on. That's exactly what mining companies do. They strip the trees from the top of the mountain, blast off the rock or overburden and dig down to get the coal below. It's pretty efficient and cheap to mine this way, but a big problem is the coarse rock that used to be the mountaintop. It's got to go somewhere, and in Appalachia, that means down the mountainside. It becomes what's called valley fill.

Margaret Palmer is a biologist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science who studied what happens in a valley fill.

Ms. MARGARET PALMER (Biologist, University of Maryland for Environmental Science): You expose material that, when it rains and water percolates through that, it dissolves a lot of chemicals, and those are very persistent in the streams below valley fill sites.

JOYCE: Chemicals like selenium, which can harm fish and other aquatic life; and sulfates, which alter the water chemistry. The scientists say many organisms in these valley streams, from algae to fish and birds, could be seriously harmed.

Writing in the journal Science, Palmer and 11 other scientists reviewed research on the biological effects of mountaintop mining. They say those chemicals stick around.

Ms. PALMER: Even after a site has been reclaimed and attempts have been made to re-vegetate it, the streams that remain below that that weren't filled have high levels of all sorts of nasty things.

Continue reading "Mountaintop Mining Should Cease: Scientists" >

By Frank James

It's the equivalent of going nuclear. Michigan on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the access of Illinois waterways to Lake Michigan in an attempt to keep the voracious Asian carp out of the Great Lakes where the invasive species could seriously harm the lakes' fisheries.

If the high court grants Michigan's requests to close canals and other waterways, it would be the first time the link between the waterways and Lake Michigan would be severed in more than 100 years and would obviously create big problems for shipping.

Asian carp have been found in the Illinois River within 10 miles of Lake Michigan.

An excerpt from a press release from the office of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who is running for governor.

DETROIT - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today announced he has asked the United States Supreme Court to immediately order federal, state, and local officials responsible for Chicago-area locks and waterways to close them in order to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. The fish are an aggressive invasive species that could quickly devastate Great Lakes fish populations, causing severe damage to Michigan's economy by ruining the Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing and tourism industries.

"Stopping Asian carp is an economic and environmental necessity for Michigan," said Cox. "The Great Lakes are an irreplaceable resource. Thousands of jobs are at stake and we will not get a second chance once the carp enter Lake Michigan."

"The actions of Illinois and federal authorities have not been enough to assure us the Lakes are safe," Cox continued. "That's why the waterways must be shut down until we are assured that Michigan will be protected."

By Mark Memmott

Bitter differences were at least temporarily set aside early today in Copenhagen, where -- as NPR's Stu Seidel writes -- "negotiators from 193 countries reached consensus on supporting (climate change) deal brokered yesterday by President Obama and leaders from China, India, South Africa and Brazil."

Whether the agreement is meaningful, however, is still a hot debate.

From Copenhagen, NPR's Richard Harris reports that:

"The talks had dragged on for almost two weeks without movement. President Obama flew in Friday and brokered a deal. It included key players -- China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

"But it was arrived at behind closed doors, and countries not included in the negotiations complained the process was undemocratic. After arguing that point through the night, they ultimately gave in and approved the deal.

"For the first time, governments have decided that the world should heat up by no more than 2 degrees celsius. The deal also contains a new financial mechanism that would help poor countries develop with clean energy and cope with the consequences of climate change.

"But the deal is not legally binding and it contains no actual country pledges. Some environmental groups call it an important step. But just a step."

Britain's The Guardian is declaring the talks a failure. It writes that:

The U.N. climate summit reached a weak outline of a global agreement in Copenhagen tonight, falling far short of what Britain and many poor countries were seeking and leaving months of tough negotiations to come.

And The New York Times says "a prolonged fight between nations small and large over an international pact to limit climate risks ... came to a somewhat murky end."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he's "aware that this is just the beginning" of a process to craft a binding pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, the Associated Press writes.

By Mark Memmott

Update at 10:55 a.m. ET. Our original headline on this post was "Climate Talks May Be Extended."

But now, Reuter says that:

The United Nations denied asking world leaders to extend their stay in Copenhagen because of deadlock at a U.N. climate summit meant to end on Friday.

Earlier, European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas had said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had asked people not to leave on Friday night. United Nations spokeswoman Marie Okabe said this was not the case.

Here's our original post:

Reuters reports that "the United Nations has asked world leaders to plan to stay overnight in Copenhagen because of deadlock at a U.N. climate summit meant to end on Friday, European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said."

There's no word yet on whether President Barack Obama might delay his departure.

By Mark Memmott

As he starts a whirlwind day in Copenhagen, where he's attending the close of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, President Barack Obama is being greeted with stories such as this, from the Associated Press:

The U.N. climate talks were in serious disarray Friday, with delegates blaming both the U.S. and China for the lack of a political agreement that President Barack Obama, China's premier and more than 110 other world leaders are supposed to sign within hours.

The New York Times says Obama is "bent on applying a combination of muscle and personal charm to secure a climate change agreement involving nearly 200 countries."

NPR's Richard Harris reports from Copenhagen that:

The two weeks of talk have been chaotic from the start. That's not so unusual for climate talks. Typically deals are cut only at the last moment -- or even after the meetings are supposed to have ended. But this time, with more than 110 heads of state in attendance, the meetings may not be able to drag on an extra day. And with just hours to go, there's no consensus on a deal.

Many poor countries say the wealthy nations' goals of addressing climate change aren't ambitious enough. And China and the United States continue to face off over whether China needs to commit to action under a new legally binding agreement. China doesn't want to.

Reuters says that the diplomats and leaders are "considering a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius, backed by a new fund of $100 billion a year to aid developing nations, according to a draft text pulled together on Friday morning."

We'll be following the news from Copenhagen through the day.

Update at 7:55 a.m. ET. Here's a recording of the president's address:

The Associated Press describes Obama as "clearly frustrated" by the lack of progress so far at the summit. Judge for yourself by watching this video clip:

Update at 6:45 a.m. ET. Just a few minutes ago, the president told those gathered at the summit that the draft agreement they're considering is "not perfect." But, he added:

"This is the bottom line: we can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, continue to refine it and build upon its foundation. We can do that, and everyone who is in this room will be a part of a historic endeavor -- one that makes life better for our children and our grandchildren.

"Or, we can again choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years. And we will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year, perhaps decade after decade -- all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, we will do what we say. Now, I believe it's the time for the nations and people of the world to come together behind a common purpose."

Update at 6:05 a.m. ET. Here's the latest from Reuters:

No deal has yet been reached at climate talks in Copenhagen, with Chinese objections to a monitoring system for CO2 emissions proving a key stumbling block, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday.

"The discussions lasted all night without interruption," Sarkozy told reporters during a break. "The good news is that they're continuing, the bad news is they haven't reached a conclusion," he said, adding: "There is a lot of tension."

Update at 6 a.m. ET: Reuters has posted what it says are excerpts from a draft agreement here. Whether any of that language will survive, though, is the big unknown.

Update at 5:45 a.m. ET. The AP now adds that Obama has been forced "to upend his schedule and hold close-door talks with 19 other world leaders to work out a last-minute agreement on fighting global warming."

And, AP writes that "French President Nicolas Sarkozy says progress in climate talks is being held back by China."

By the way, if you haven't seen it yet there's a new NPR blog -- 13.7 -- which aims to "at the intersection of science and culture." They've got some opinions about climate change.

Stern, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, earlier today. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Though he believes that "aggravating procedural wrangling ... led by the developing country group" has wasted valuable time, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern tells NPR that he still believes there's a chance negotiators will reach agreement by sometime tomorrow -- when the U.N. Climate Change Conference Conference wraps up.

"It's going to be very challenging to get a deal done ... but I think it's still possible. ... It hangs in the balance," he told NPR's Richard Harris earlier today in Copenhagen:

More from Richard's conversation with Stern is due on today's All Things Considered. Click here to find an NPR station near you that broadcasts the show.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to leave for Copenhagen this evening.

By Mark Memmott

Good morning.

Most of the headlines from Copenhagen as the day's gotten going have been about the seemingly low chances for agreement on a comprehensive climate change treaty.

As NPR's Richard Harris reports, there's been some movement on aid to poor countries -- but the nations are still far apart on key issues as the two-week summit heads into its last couple days:

The Guardian describes the U.S. commitment to support a $100 billion fund to aid poor nations as they cope with climate change as a "bid to break Copenhagen deadlock."

President Barack Obama is scheduled to leave Washington this evening to join the talks tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Britain's Telegraph is saying that "Climategate just got much, much bigger." It's pointing to word from Russia that British scientists allegedly "tampered with Russian-climate data" to exaggerate global warming.

And while we're on the subject of climate change and the Copenhagen summit, NPR's David Kestenbaum filed this story for Morning Edition about the substantial amount of carbon dioxide all those jet-flying, motorcade-riding diplomats are spewing out. He says about 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be generated by the conference, which is about what 2,000 Americans generate in the course of a year. The Danish government is trying to offset the output by paying for more efficient brick kilns in Bangladesh:

Earlier this week, Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart put its own stamp on the story of the summit's carbon footprint (fair warning: a couple expletives are barely bleeped):

As for other stories making headlines today, they include:

-- The New York Times -- "U.N. Officials Say American Aide Plotted to Replace Karzai": "As widespread fraud in the Afghanistan presidential election was becoming clear three months ago, the No. 2 United Nations official in the country, the American Peter W. Galbraith, proposed enlisting the White House in a plan to replace the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, according to two senior United Nations officials. ... Mr. Galbraith said in an interview that he discussed but never actively promoted the idea of persuading Mr. Karzai to leave office."

-- ABC News -- "Hasan Permanently Paralyzed, But Out Of ICU": "Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with murdering 13 people in last month's deadly Fort Hood shootings, has been left permanently paralyzed, but has recovered enough from his own wounds to be moved out of the intensive care unit. Defense lawyer John Galligan told ABC News on Wednesday that Major Hasan still has no sensation from the chest down, but has left the ICU at San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center, where he has been hospitalized since a day after the November 6 shooting, for a private room in another ward. He was moved late Tuesday night."

-- MSNBC -- Obama's Approval Below 50%; Democrats Even Lower: In NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling, "for the first time, (President Barack) Obama's overall job approval rating has fallen below 50 percent (to 47 percent). In addition, for the first time since Sept. 2007, a plurality (45 percent) sees the Democratic Party in a negative light. And the percentage believing the country is on the wrong track (55 percent) is at its highest level in the Obama presidency."

A kingpin no more. (AP Photo/Mexico Attorney General's Office)

-- The Associated Press -- "Mexican Navy Kills Top Cartel Kingpin": "Two hundred sailors raided an upscale apartment complex and killed a reputed Mexican drug cartel chief in a two-hour gunbattle, one of the biggest victories yet in President Felipe Calderon's drug war. Arturo Beltran Leyva, the "boss of bosses," and three members of his cartel were slain in the shootout Wednesday in Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City, according to a navy statement. A fifth cartel member committed suicide during the shootout."

-- Morning Edition -- Taking Away Pakistani President's Amnesty Could Change Country's Political Course. The Supreme Court in Pakistan has nullified a sweeping amnesty that allowed President Asif Ali Zardari to return from exile two years ago. From Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy told co-host Steve Inskeep about the ramifications, which possibly include Zardari's removal from office:

Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.

By Mark Memmott

While the news from the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen is that the diplomats remain deadlocked and the protesters continue to clash with police, NPR's Richard Harris took a few minutes off from covering the scene today to talk with All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block and to answer some questions submitted to NPR.org by NPR listeners.

Tony Huegel of Idaho Falls wanted to know why the news media seem to be using the phrase "climate change" more often than "global warming" in recent days and whether that's a sign that skeptics have affected how the issue is covered.

Richard said "climate change" is actually the more widely accepted term and that it covers a broader range of related issues, from temperature shifts to changes in rainfall patterns:

There will be more from Melissa's conversation with Richard on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you.

They've had some heated words over global warming. (William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Terminator vs. Hockey Mom.

Schwarzenegger vs. Palin.

Two of the GOP's stars are squaring off over climate change.

First, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took a couple verbal shots at former Alaska governor (and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin) in The Financial Times:

The California governor has become an environmental standard bearer for the Republican party, which is split on the merits of curbing emissions. Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, has attacked cap and trade and questioned any link between man-made emissions and global warming.

"You have to ask: what was she trying to accomplish?" said Mr Schwarzenegger. "Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the [Republican] nomination [for president]? You have to take all these things with a grain of salt."

Last night on her Facebook page, Palin responded:

Why is Governor Schwarzenegger pushing for the same sorts of policies in Copenhagen that have helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment? Perhaps he will recall that I live in our nation's only Arctic state and that I was among the first governors to create a sub-cabinet to deal specifically with climate change. While I and all Alaskans witness the impacts of changes in weather patterns firsthand, I have repeatedly said that we can't primarily blame man's activities for those changes. And while I did look for practical responses to those changes, what I didn't do was hamstring Alaska's job creators with burdensome regulations so that I could act "greener than thou" when talking to reporters.

Back to you, guvernator.

Cracking down. (Peter Dejong/AP)

By Mark Memmott

"Police are using tear gas and batons to disperse crowds of protesters trying to disrupt the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen," the Associated Press reports.

According to the BBC:

Police have fired tear gas as hundreds of protesters tried to break through a perimeter fence at the U.N. climate summit venue in Copenhagen.

The Bella Centre, where the conference is taking place, has now been shut off, says the BBC's Sarah Mukherjee.

The Guardian is live-blogging the news here. It writes that "at least 30 people have been treated for pepper spray exposure and 10 protesters have suffered head wounds from batons, according to (a) regularly-updated blog from Indymedia Danmark."

Reuters is on the story as well.

Earlier, on Morning Edition, NPR's Richard Harris reported about China's refusal to put its commitments about greenhouse gas emissions in writing:

Update at 8:20 a.m. ET. Richard just filed a fresh report for NPR's newscast about the talks themselves. He says that:

With presidents and prime ministers already arriving to give speeches and cut a final deal, negotiators need to have something for the world leaders to sign. Instead, their differences seem to be widening. One of the key issue is long-term financing for the developing world. It's clear that rich nations aren't ready to pledge large amounts of money for the decades to come. ...

The United States and Europe have agreed to a comparatively small short-term fund that would be available immediately. But that quick-start funding would disappear in a few years, and it's not clear what would come next.

President Barack Obama is due to be at the talks on Friday.

Al Gore slipped on Arctic ice by misstating a scientist's forecast on the pace of melting. (Tariq Mikkel Khan/Polfoto / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Like most politicians, practicing and reformed, Al Gore has been known to stretch the truth on occasion.

Like the time he said in 1999, "During my time in the U.S. Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

So it's not surprising that he played it a bit fast and loose during a speech he gave at the Copenhagen climate-change conference with a global-warming prediction a scientist provided to his office. And even scientists who believe humans are contributing to global warming were alarmed by the misstatement of the forecast.

In a piece headlined "Inconvenient Truth For Al Gore As His North Pole Sums Don't Add Up" the Times, the right-leaning British news operation, reports:

Mr Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.

In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: "These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years."

However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast.

Continue reading "Al Gore Slips On Artic Ice; Misstates Scientist's Forecast" >

By Mark Memmott

Beware of official-looking news releases on the Web.

Much like in October when activists put up a fake website and held a "news" conference that (falsely) claimed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had reversed its position on climate change legislation, someone has punked Environment Canada (the equivalent of the USA's EPA).

As Toronto's Globe and Mail explains:

Canada is red-faced at the Copenhagen climate-change conference as a result of a spoof news release purporting to be from Environment Canada announcing Canada was bringing in bold new emissions reduction targets.

According to the newspaper, the prank involved a fake Twitter account, and a fake news release at a fake Environment Canada website.

The real Environment Canada website, by the way, is here. It has officially called the spoof "unequivocally false," the Globe and Mail says.

By Mark Memmott

Good morning

There's breaking news, as we just reported, about Citigroup announcing it will repay $20 billion in bailout money it got through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

As for other stories making headlines, they include:

-- Morning Edition -- "Rich, Poor Nations Divided Over Reducing Emissions": From Copenhagen, NPR's Richard Harris talked with co-host Renee Montagne about the big differences that world leaders have over a climate deal as they begin the last few days of their summit:

Related story by The Guardian -- "Poor Nations Threaten Climate Deal Showdown At Copenhagen Summit": "A number of African countries indicated their leaders would refuse to take part in the final summit unless significant progress was made in the next three days. The showdown between rich and poor countries came as ministers began arriving in Copenhagen to take over negotiations. However, negotiators failed to reach agreement in key areas such as emission cuts, long-term finance and when poor countries should start to reduce emissions."

From a related story by The Associated Press -- Talks In "Disarray": "U.N. climate talks have been thrown into disarray as developing countries blocked negotiations, demanding that rich countries raise their pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Representatives from developing countries said they refused to participate in any working groups Monday at the 192-nation summit until the issue was resolved."

Related story on Morning Edition -- "Pentagon, CIA Eye New Threat: Climate Change": "For the first time, Pentagon planners in 2010 will include climate change among the security threats identified in the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Congress-mandated report that updates Pentagon priorities every four years."

-- The Associated Press -- "Abu Dhabi Bails Out Neighboring Dubai": "Dubai got a $10 billion lifeline from oil-rich Abu Dhabi on Monday, securing a last-minute cash infusion aimed at preventing a default that risked sparking broader fears about the city-state's shaky finances."

From a related story by the BBC -- Markets Cheer: "News of the payment boosted share markets in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai's main share index closed 10% higher, while Abu Dhabi's rose more than 7%. Bank stocks also took heart from the extra funding. Shares in HSBC, Standard Chartered, Banco Santander, Barclays and Lloyds all rose. Meanwhile, the value of both the euro and the pound improved. Both currencies have been unsettled in recent weeks by news of Dubai's debts."

From a related story by The Wall Street Journal -- Troubles Had Shaken Markets: "Dubai rocked world markets in late November when it requested a freeze on $26 billion of debt payments by Dubai World in order to restructure the conglomerate. Dubai World, which last week began talks with banks to restructure the debt, Monday said the new funds will provide 'a stable basis for the restructuring process which continues.' "

-- Times of London -- "Secret Document Exposes Iran's Nuclear Trigger": "Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. The notes, from Iran's most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion."

Related story by The Washington Post -- "Western, U.N. Officials Assess Secret Iranian Document."

-- The Associated Press -- Lieberman Resists Medicare Buy-In Plan": "Senate Democrats who thought they had found a workable compromise on health care reform learned otherwise from independent Sen. Joe Lieberman over the weekend. The Connecticut senator, whose vote is critical to the bill's prospects, threatened Sunday to join Republicans in opposing health care legislation if it permits uninsured individuals as young to 55 to purchase Medicare coverage."

Related story at CBSNews.com -- "Senators Rockefeller, Nelson And Lieberman Debate Current Bill."

-- Morning Edition -- Along With Broken Nose, Berlusconi Faces More Political Woes": NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome about the corruption trials, nasty divorce and court evidence linking him to the Mafia that is surrounding Italian Prime Miniter Silvia Berlusconi:

-- ESPN.com -- "Saints And Colts Can't Let Up Now": "The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints wouldn't stick it to us, would they? They wouldn't go full fetal position because it's the safe, sensible, PBS-fundraising-dull way of treating the final three games of their seasons, right? They wouldn't dare commit the mortal sin of sports and mess with a streak -- and not just any streak, but a 13-0 streak (times two) -- because that's what the coach-by-the-numbers NFL handbook says, would they?"

By Korva Coleman
Good morning, it's Friday, December 12, 2009. Here are the early news tidbits catching our eyes:

European countries are going to spend billions of dollars to help developing countries fight climate change. The news comes out of Copenhagen, where the UN is holding its world climate change summit. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the news.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates talked with US troops in northern Iraq today. NPR's Quil Lawrence says Gates held a question and answer session with troops stationed at a US airbase in Kirkuk, who asked when they'll start to leave Iraq:

We'll look at the the government's report on retail sales for November. It'll indicate how willing consumers were to plunk down money, despite an unemployment rate of 10%.

And tonight is the start of Hannkkah! Check out Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) song in honor of the occasion - you can even watch him join in on the refrain.

By Frank James

With the Copenhagen global climate change conference as the backdrop, The Two-Way will host a live chat Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009 at 1 pm ET with two U.S. scientists who are presently conducting field work in Antarctica.

We'll discuss global warming from the perspective of Alex Kahl of Rutgers University in New Jersey and Chris Neill of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole in Massachusetts.

Kahl studies, among other topics, the processes by which atmospheric carbon dioxide winds up in the sediment on the ocean floor. Neill studies the impact of human activities on ecosystems.

They can both talk about changes they're seeing that they believe are linked to global warming.

They can also discuss what it's like to work in Antarctica. When I talked with them Wednesday, for instance, it was after what should have been a five-minute trip back by small boat back to their Palmer Station quarters took the better part of an hour after "glacier crumbles," pushed by wind and currents, moved in to block their way.

Please join us with your questions or comments. It should be an interesting session.

By Korva Coleman

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says the Obama Administration will work with Congress to reduce the problem of rising greenhouse gas emissions. Speaking in Copenhagen at the UN's climate summit, Jackson urged Congress to pass legislation to cut emissions, even though her own agency now has the power to act itself. As Frank wrote on Monday, the EPA declared greenhouse gas emissions a health threat to people, especially when fossil fuels are burned. This means the federal agency can go ahead and start work on the issue under the Clean Air Act: regulators don't have to wait for Congress. But Jackson says her agency won't tackle the issue alone and asked Congress to draw up legislation spelling out act so businesses are clear on how deeply they should cut their emissions.

By Frank James

While some critics have accused the Obama Administration of being an extension of its Republican predecessor, especially on foreign policy or the treatment of detainees, it's a harder argument to make in terms of environmental policy.

And in case anyone had any doubts, Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, underscored that difference in her announcement Monday of the administration's decision to declare greenhouse gases a hazard to the population.

She didn't mention the Bush Administration by name. She didn't have to.

An excerpt from her statement Monday afternoon:

In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down perhaps the most significant decision ever reached in environmental law. The Court ruled that the Clean Air Act, the landmark 1970 law aimed at protecting our air, is written to include greenhouse gas pollution. That verdict echoed what many scientists, policymakers, and concerned citizens have said for years: there are no more excuses for delay.

Regrettably, there was continued delay. But this administration will not ignore science or the law any longer, nor will we avoid the responsibility we owe to our children and grandchildren. Today, I'm proud to announce that EPA has finalized its endangerment finding on greenhouse gas pollution, and is now authorized and obligated to take reasonable efforts to reduce greenhouse pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Continue reading "EPA's Jackson: We've Done More On Climate In 11 Mos Than Bush In 8 Yrs" >

President Barack Obama and Vice President Gore in December 2008. (Charles Dharapak / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Who better for the global climate talks-bound President Barack Obama, a soon-to-be Nobel laureate with a West Wing office, to sit down with than a Nobel laureate who once, too, had a West Wing office and whose name is synonymous with the fight against climate change?

That's right. Obama is scheduled to meet in the Oval Office Monday afternoon with Al Gore, the former vice president, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to warn humanity about the perils as he sees them of a warmer climate. We wonder what, if any, inconvenient truths will be exchanged.

The White House made the announcement this way:

In advance of his Wednesday meeting with business and environmental leaders at the White House regarding the Copenhagen conference, the President will meet with former Vice President Al Gore this afternoon in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press.

By Frank James

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is expected to announce this afternoon at 1:15 pm ET the administration's position that greenhouse gases are injuring people's health and thus must be regulated. It would be an understatement to say this isn't what U.S. industry wanted to hear.

According to the Associated Press:

The announcement is timed to boost the Obama administration's arguments at an international climate conference -- beginning this week -- that the United States is taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation.

Under a Supreme Court ruling, the so-called endangerment finding is needed before the EPA can regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases released from power plants, factories and automobiles under the federal Clean Air Act.

Continue reading "EPA To Label Greenhouse Gases Dangerous, Triggering New Rules" >

By Mark Memmott

Both Reuters and the Associated Press are reporting they've been told by Obama administration officials that the president will attend part of next month's global climate summit in Copenhagen.

The U.N.-sponsored summit runs Dec. 7-18.

Reuters says that " Obama planned to make a visit in Copenhagen before picking up the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in neighboring Oslo. That ceremony is set for Dec. 10. The president will likely be at the climate summit on the 9th.

We're getting smarter about using it. (Photo Illustration by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

By Mark Memmott

Americans are using less water than they did 35 years ago and that's "remarkably good news," an expert on such matters just told Morning Edition's Renee Montagne.

Peter Gleick of the nonpartisan Pacific Institute, which studies the environment and related issues, said that word from U.S. Geological Survey about a 5% decline in water usage since the late '70s and early '80s is "astonishing."

What it shows, Gleick said, is that "in fact, we can grow our economy, we can have a growing population ... and not necessarily put more and more demand on water resources."

Here's a clip of Gleick expressing his pleasant surprise:

The major factors behind the decline in usage include boosts in efficiency by industrial and agricultural users. Gleick worries, though, that the welcome trend could end as the nation's population continues to grow in parts of the country -- such as the southwest -- where lawns and gardens require more watering.

Much more from his conversation with Renee is due on tomorrow's Morning Edition. Click here to find an NPR station near you.

And we're wondering:

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, left, and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt address media at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Friday Oct. 30, 2009. (Virginia Mayo / AP Photo)

By Frank James

In an effort to show unity as they approach global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December, the European Union reached agreement Friday on how much would be needed to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases enough to meet international goals.

The EU member nations meeting in Brussels agreed that $148 billion would be required annually by 2020 to help developing countries.

In a press release, the EU said:

Heads of state and government meeting in Brussels on 29 and 30 October clinched a deal on climate financing. "The EU now has a very strong negotiating position when the countdown to Copenhagen has started," declared Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, current President of the European Council. The EU continues to take the lead in this process...

Before 2020 however, the EU agreed that $7.4 billion to $10.4 billion would be needed annually to fund the developing nations efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions. EU members would contribute their "fair share to this goal on a voluntary basis," the EU agreed. The EU conditioned this on the U.S. and other major nations doing their part.

Continue reading "EU Reaches Climate-Change Financing Deal" >

By Mark Memmott

Though 57% of those polled said they believe global temperatures are on the rise, that's down from 71% who felt that way in April 2008, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reports today.

And, Pew says, "fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem -- 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008."

The researchers' overall conclusion: "There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising."

Why has that happened?

Pew's research director, Andrew Kohut, tells the Associated Press that:

"The priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy and because of the focus on other things. ... When the focus is on other things, people forget and see these issues as less grave."

The national telephone survey of 1,500 adults was done from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. Pew says the margin of error on each result is +/- 3 percentage points.

By Mark Memmott

In less than 20 minutes the Reuters news agency just went from reporting what would have been major news -- a reversal by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on its opposition to major climate change legislation -- to saying that the scoop was a "hoax."

At 11:10 a.m. ET, Reuters issued this "alert":

US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS WILL NO LONGER OPPOSE CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION, WANTS CARBON TAX IN SENATE BILL

That would be quite a surprise, given the Chamber's high-profile opposition to the Waxman-Markey and Kerry-Boxer bills -- opposition that has led some high profile members, including Apple and Levi Strauss, to leave the organization in recent weeks.

At 11:29 a.m. ET, though, Reuters followed with this:

CORRECTED-US CHAMBER SAYS STATEMENT THAT CHAMBER HAS DROPPED OPPOSITION TO CLIMATE CHANGE BILL A "HOAX"

Earlier this month, Chamber President/CEO Thomas Donohue laid out the Chamber's thinking on climate change. He said then that the Chamber believes the Waxman-Markey Bill would drive up the cost of doing business and end up costing the nation jobs. The nation needs "sensible regulation," he said:

Update at 11:45 a.m. ET: It looks like someone put together a very convincing website and press release that are not actually from the Chamber.

Two things that have tipped off skeptics: The fake "press release" misspells Donohue's name; and the phone number for contact information doesn't match any of the phone numbers at the real Chamber.

By Mark Memmott

At a United Nations-sponsored climate change summit this hour, President Barack Obama is making the case that the U.S. is taking action and will work with other nations to avoid catastrophe. We're following his address and will post highlights below. Just click the "play" button and our updates should flow in automatically. You can also submit comments in the player. We'll post as many as we can:

By Mark Memmott

Back in May, the Obama administration said it would propose national rules that would lower carbon emissions and boost the average vehicle's fuel efficiency to 35.5 miles per gallon.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson just unveiled those rules. NPR's Scott Horsley reports that:

Continue reading "Plan For 35.5 MPG Average Unveiled" >

Mountains near Kayford, W.Va., seen in this Jan. 2, 2000 file photo, show how mountaintop removal mining has flattened many mountain peaks.(Bob Bird / AP Photo)

By Frank James

Life just got a little harder for coal-mining officials wanting to get at coal by blasting the tops off mountains in Appalachia.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it identified 79 applications for projects in Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee to which it will give more scrutiny. That means it's effectively stopping those projects from moving forward until further notice.

According to an EPA press release:

"The administration pledged earlier this year to improve review of mining projects that risked harming water quality. Release of this preliminary list is the first step in a process to assure that the environmental concerns raised by the 79 permit applications are addressed and that permits issued are protective of water quality and affected ecosystems," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "We look forward to working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the involvement of the mining companies, to achieve a resolution of EPA's concerns that avoids harmful environmental impacts and meets our energy and economic needs..."

...The 79 pending permit applications on which EPA focused are for proposed surface coal mining operations in 4 Appalachian states. EPA's initial review concluded that all of the projects would likely cause water quality impacts requiring additional review under the Clean Water Act. The initial reviews were conducted in light of available project-specific information, the existing environmental condition of the watershed in which the project is proposed to be located, and the nature of environmental impacts predicted to result from construction and operation of the proposed mine.

The EPA's decision is another attempt by the Obama Administration to reverse some of its predecessor's more controversial decisions.

The Bush Administration angered environmentalists as well as activists in Appalachia for easing rules on the technique called mountain-top removal which is like a more extreme version of strip mining.

Continue reading "EPA Puts Brakes On Scores Of Mountain-Top Removals For Coal Mining" >

A fisherman hauls his catch in July 2007 near the port in Anadyr in northern Russia. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP/Getty Images)

By Frank James

You don't often hear people talk up the benefits of global warming but there appears to be at least one upside -- commercial ships traveling the Arctic waters above Russia can now make the voyage sans icebreakers.

According to Reuters:

Two German ships set off on Friday on the first journey across Russia's Arctic-facing northern shore without the help of icebreakers after climate change helped opened the passage, the company said.

Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH, said the "Beluga Fraternity" and "Beluga Foresight" left the Russian port of Vladivostok on the historic and cost-saving journey with cargo picked up in South Korea bound for Holland.

The melting of Arctic ice as a result of climate change has made it possible to send Beluga's multi-purpose heavy lift ships along the legendary Northeast Passage, Stolberg said.

Beluga got Russian authorities' clearance to send the first non-Russian commercial vessels through the route on Friday.

The Northern Sea Route trims 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km) off the usual 11,000-mile journey via the Suez Canal -- yielding considerable savings in fuel costs and CO2 emissions, he said.

So global warming, which CO2 contributes to, leads to fewer CO2s being emitted, at least in this one example. Strange but true.

Inside Hannaford Supermarket's new top-rated 'green' store in Augusta, Maine. (Hannaford Supermarkets © 2009)

By Frank James

Here's some news that may make the crunchy granola types at Whole Foods Market green with envy, so to speak.

Hannaford Supermarkets, a mostly New England-based chain, opened over the weekend the first supermarket in the nation to earn the highest "green" rating a building can get.

Hannaford's new supermarket in Augusta, Maine received platinum LEED status, the only supermarket among the nation's roughly 85,000 to receive the top rating. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

In a statement, Ronald Hodge, Hannaford's CEO, said:

"We're thrilled to receive this certification and serve as a role model for other businesses in the retail community. We've been working to improve the environmental performance of our stores for many years."

The store's top green design includes solar cells on its roof as well as a green roof with plants that reduce rainwater runoff and keep the roof surface within a narrower temperature band than more common roof surfaces which can get much hotter than the surrounding air temperature.

Continue reading "Nation Gets First Top-Rated 'Green' Supermarket " >