Global Warming’s Six Americas in May 2011

Yale and George Mason Universities http://environment.yale.edu/climate/files/SixAmericasMay2011.pdf [From Website]  Nearly 40 percent of American adults are in the two groups most concerned about climate change – the Alarmed and the Concerned – while 25 percent of Americans are in the two groups least concerned about the issue – the Dismissive and Doubtful. Different Questions: If given [...]

Extreme Weather and Climate Change: Understanding the Link, Managing the Risk

Pew Center on Global Climate Change / by Daniel G. Huber and Jay Gulledge http://bit.ly/kt4zQs [From Introduction]  …The fact that 2010 was one of the warmest years on record as well as one of the most disastrous, begs the question: Is global warming causing more extreme weather? The short and simple answer is yes, at [...]

State of the Climate in 2010

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic Data Center http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/2010.php [From the Washington Post Weather Gang] Earlier today, NOAA released its annual “2010 State of the Climate” report, describing trends in more than 40 climate variables . In a briefing to press, NOAA said the report provides a “consistent and unmistakable signal from the top [...]

Scientific Assessment of Two Dam Removal Alternatives on Chinook Salmon: Final Report

Klamath River Expert Panel (“prepared by Dr. Daniel Goodman, Dr. Mike Harvey, Dr. Robert Hughes, Dr. Wim Kimmerer, Dr. Kenneth Rose, Dr. Greg Ruggerone with the assistance of Atkins”) for the US Fish and Wildlife Service http://1.usa.gov/mysr7z [From an LA Times article by Bettina Boxall]  A $1.4-billion project to remove four hydroelectric dams and restore [...]

Effectiveness of Safety and Environmental Management Systems for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Operations Transportation: Interim Report

Transportation Research Board http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/srSEMSInterimReport.pdf [From a Greenwire article by Katie Howell]   The Interior Department should use a wide variety of tools like independent audits and whistleblower programs to beef up its regulation of offshore drilling, a new report from the National Research Council says. The interim report commissioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, [...]

U.S. Law and the Stockholm POPs Convention: Analysis of Treaty-Implementing Provisions in Pending Legislation

Center for International Environmental Law / by Daryl Ditz, Baskut Tuncak and Glenn Wiser http://www.ciel.org/Publications/US_Law_and_Stockholm_POPs.pdf [Summary] The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847), a bill introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg to modernize U.S. chemicals policy, includes implementing authority to permit the United States to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and [...]

2011 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Unfunded Mandates on State, Local, and Tribal Entities

Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2011_cb/2011_cba_report.pdf [The Hill's E2 Wire]  A White House report on Environmental Protection Agency rules — especially air pollution policies — issued in fiscal 2010 and over the last decade finds that the regulations’ benefits greatly outweigh their costs. The Office of Management and Budget [...]

The State of America’s National Parks

National Parks Conservation Association http://www.npca.org/cpr/sanp/ [Deseret News]  A first of its kind assessment undertaken over the past 10 years shows the majority of the country’s national parks are in serious jeopardy, facing a multitude of problems posed by air and water quality issues, habitat fragmentation and inadequate funding… Recommendations include better coordination among federal regulatory [...]

The Energy Information Administration’s Perspective on Shale Gas

US DOE, EIA http://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press364.cfm A June 27, 2011, New York Times article, “Behind Veneer, Doubt on Future of Natural Gas” focuses on the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) consideration of shale gas. EIA was contacted by a Times reporter in advance of the story, and provided a response that described the agency’s approach to developing its [...]

An Evaluation of the Science Needs to Inform Decisions on Outer Continental Shelf Energy Development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska

US Geological Survey / Edited by Leslie Holland-Bartels and Brenda Pierce http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1370/pdf/circ1370.pdf [From an E&E PM article by Phil Taylor] Scientists must improve their understanding of how climate change could affect oil and gas development in the Arctic while gathering more data to assess and respond to potential oil spills, according to a long-awaited study [...]