[GWSG] US exports; doomed mammals; new hubs; CT solar; Boeve's project; radical needs; Flannery; GRACE report; temps; FutureCoast; EU plans

[Tilley, Al]

1.  The US has had little constraint in exporting fossil fuels, including coal and arguably the worst, petcoke (rhymes with Koch).  Opposition is mounting.  http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-u-s-exports-global-warming-20140203

2.  The mammoth and other large mammals disappeared from the Northern Hemisphere following the last ice age. Hunters have been blamed.  A study of the Arctic suggests the primary cause was starvation following the disappearance of protein-rich flowering vegetation due to climate change.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/us-science-arctic-idUSBREA1425W20140205?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

3.  The President has by executive order established seven regional climate hubs (and three smaller ones) to inform US farmers of the effects of climate disruption.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140205-climate-hubs-farmers-obama-climate-change-farm-bill/

4.  Sunrun, a solar financing company, has acquired home solar suppliers and installers.  Sunrun is part of a consortium of financiers offering crowdsourced funding for Connecticut homeowners to install rooftop power systems; the 15 year bonds return about 5%.  http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2327223/us-homeowners-offered-crowdsourced-solar-loans

5.  May Boeve and a group of friends at Middlebury College had considered moving to the microbrewery-rich town of Billings, MT, after graduation, but instead stuck around to organize 350.org. She describes the challenges and strategies of what is now an international organization (or coalition of organizations) for social action on climate.  http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-350-org-went-from-strange-kid-to-head-of-the-green-class/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed

6.  In “From Occupy Wall Street to Climate Justice” Wen Stephenson begins his report on economic and political options with the observation that the implications of climate science are generally too radical even for radicals.  http://www.thenation.com/article/178242/occupy-climate-justice#<http://www.thenation.com/article/178242/occupy-climate-justice>

7.  Tim Flannery, the Australian biologist who is best known for The Weather Makers, an intro to climate science, headed the Climate Commission, which developed and posted information on climate.  When the new fossil fuel-friendly administration took down the site and disbanded the Commission, Flannery and friends raised private money and carried on informing.  Thanks to Henry Thomas for the news.  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/tim-flannery-a-man-for-all-climates-20140207-3271c.html

8.  The Grace satellites depict a world with the wet parts (the Arctic and the tropics) getting wetter and the dry parts (the middle latitudes) getting dryer.  Food production and national security are at risk in many areas.  “We are standing on a precipice here.”  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/09/global-water-shortages-threat-terror-war

9.  The 3-D mapping program of Google Earth now offers temperature records, even back to 1850 where data exist.  http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/google-earth-adds-160-years-of-global-temperature-data

10.  Columbia University’s FutureCoast project allows users to create a narrative history with voicemails from the climate-conditioned future as they imagine it will be.  http://www.wired.com/magazine/2014/02/futurecoast-climate-change/   FutureCoast has a YouTube channel.  https://www.youtube.com/user/FutureCoastdotorg

11.  Connie Hedegaard, the EU commissioner for climate action, calls the EU target of 40% emissions reduction by 2030 an ambitious toward the 85% 2050 reduction necessary to keep warming below 2° C.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/07/europe-emissions-carbon-climate
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