[GWSG] Frozen firn; greener economists; heat spurt; Paris & the others; more bs; RPS profits; RMI on renewable prospects

[Tilley, Al]

1.  A study in West Greenland shows that it is losing its ability to store meltwater in its firn, the layer of porous snow.  The result is speedier runoff and a higher melting rate.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/01/04/what-scientists-discovered-in-greenland-could-be-making-sea-level-rise-even-worse/



2.  An NYU survey of 365 economists with climate expertise found that 95% favor cutting greenhouse gas emissions.  The percentage favoring US cuts no matter what other nations do has risen from 57% in 2008 to 77% in 2015.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/jan/04/consensus-of-economists-cut-carbon-pollution



3.  The earth is now in a warming spurt which should last at least through half of 2016.  Kevin Trenberth: "It seems to me quite likely that we have taken the next step up to a new level." http://www.climatecentral.org/news/earth-experiences-global-warming-spurt-19877



4.  The Paris agreement scarcely mentions earth's non-human life, but most stand to benefit from effective action, though around 5% of species will still go extinct with 2C of warming.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/jan/06/-paris-agreement-biodiversity-coral-reefs-forests



5.  Propaganda against climate science has increased fairly steadily in the US during this century and now surpasses the disinformation campaign against climate protection policies, as measured by the topics of online documents from such conservative outlets as the Heartland Institute, the Cato Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute 1998-2013.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/jan/07/era-of-climate-science-denial-is-not-over-study-finds



6.  According to a new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the National Renewable Energy Lab, the 29 states which have renewable energy portfolio standards are enjoying benefits worth over seven times the incurred costs.  That includes health benefits from reduced pollution but does not include the reduced bills for fossil fuels, nor does it include savings from reduced water use.  ALEC, other radical right wing groups, and utilities often claim that RPS plans will raise consumer costs.  That is not true, but it is true that fossil fuel companies and those who profit from them will increasingly be unable to carry on business as usual at a profit.   http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/report-benefits-from-state-renewable-portfolio-standards-outweigh-costs?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=GTMDaily  The report estimates consumer fuel savings at $2.5-4.9B, and the water savings at 857 B gallons.  http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/01/06/renewable-energy-for-state-renewable-portfolio-standards-yielded-sizable-benefits-and-other-impacts-in-2013/



7.  An MIT study last May concluded that a greatly expanded renewable energy sector would render wholesale energy prices so low that they would limit their own success.  A response from the Rocky Mountain Institute finds that renewables have little to worry about, though their fossil competition has much.  http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2015_11_30_3_ways_wind_and_solar_can_continue_to_grow_in_a_21st_century_grid<http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/3-ways-renewable-energy-can-grow-in-a-21st-century-grid?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=GTMDaily>  ?

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