[GWSG] CA's $1b plugin; Wanless on slr; passive a/c; a/c probs.; wind over hydro; OMG news; refreezing Arctic; Russian oil links

[Tilley, Al]

1.  California’s three largest utilities are proposing to spend over $1 billion to electrify the state’s transportation system, including medium and heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks, busses, and freight-handling equipment.  The money would go primarily to providing appropriate charging infrastructure.    https://www.nrdc.org/experts/max-baumhefner/california-aims-plug-almost-everything-moves



2.  Harold Wanless warned a general audience in Naples, FL, that sea level rise is due to come rapidly and in jumps.  Our crucial task is to ensure that as the oceans rise we have cleaned up in preparation so that ocean life, and our food supply, will not be ruined.  http://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/communities/collier-citizen/2017/02/09/too-fast-too-soon-progressive-voices-lecture-series-discusses-sea-level-rise/97687386/



3.  A new material developed at the U of CO-Boulder which comes in sheets a little thicker than aluminum foil both reflects the suns’ heat and allows a covered surface to radiate its own heat.  It promises to provide cooling with no use of power or water.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170209142708.htm



4.  Power for air conditioning is a large and growing challenge.  http://climatenewsnetwork.net/air-conditioning-drains-us-power-supply/?utm_source=Climate+News+Network&utm_campaign=72c22e33d8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_02_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1198ea8936-72c22e33d8-38803053



5.  Wind power is now the largest renewable source in the US, beating hydro for the first time.  http://www.ecowatch.com/wind-power-awea-2252630618.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=14593b6a1f-MailChimp+Email+Blast&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-14593b6a1f-85965093



6.  NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland project (OMG) has yielded its first two papers, which sketch the currents around Greenland’s coast.  Generally, the deeper currents are warmer, indicating that the more shallow glaciers are less vulnerable to melting from below than the deeper ones.  The west coast is more vulnerable than the east, and, generally, Greenland is less stable than we had thought.  Detailed projections of melting should follow more detailed data concerning the glaciers in the next couple of years.  http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/nasa-took-on-an-unprecedented-study-of-greenland%E2%80%99s-melting-now-the-data-are-coming-in/ar-AAmOSWm?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp



7.  The same physics which is allowing the Arctic to melt ahead of our expectations may allow it to refreeze if we can get atmospheric greenhouse gasses down far enough.  The more the ocean heats, the longer that will take, though we might be able to speed the process through geoengineering.   http://www.nature.com/news/arctic-2-0-what-happens-after-all-the-ice-goes-1.21431



8.  As news about contacts between Russia and the Trump administration becomes more urgent, I thought to provide some links on the involvement of Trump’s circle with Russian oil.  For this list, the issue is the threat the involvement poses to US participation in the energy transition.  The NY Times, on the general situation:  https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/world/europe/rex-tillersons-company-exxon-has-billions-at-stake-over-russia-sanctions.html?_r=0   But it's not just the Siberian oil.  (The Rachel Maddow tape in the article is worth watching.)  https://thinkprogress.org/putin-helped-trump-exxon-oil-deal-sanctions-6f169c4a4cd0#.tojrfjik5   It is possible that Trump has significant holdings in Rosneft, the Russian state oil company.  http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1

The story has certainly not been sufficiently covered.  It should be given regular attention.  CNN’s unusual attention to the story may help explain Trump’s hostility toward a network which has generally been quite favorable to him.  http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/13/investing/exxonmobil-tillerson-russia-sanctions-putin/   ?

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