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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thomas Friedman observes that the movements of the Arab Spring have roots in stresses brought on by climate change as well as in political frustration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thanks to Jay Huebner for the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
</font></font><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-other-arab-spring.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120408"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-other-arab-spring.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120408</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The world added 83.5 gigawatts of clean energy in 2011, and the US was the top investor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The world now has 565 GW of clean energy, 47% more than that supplied by nuclear power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17662973"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17662973</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Photovoltaic panels are now selling for an average of $.80-85 per watt, down 10% since December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Last year the price dropped 50% and is set for further decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>One effect has been to lower the profits of manufacturers, and the resulting instability is expected to continue for at least the next six months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Another effect is to make solar power increasingly competitive with that from fossil fuels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47043457/ns/business-going_green/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47043457/ns/business-going_green/</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The falling price of solar power could help Chile to become the first developed economy in Latin America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17694928"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17694928</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Germany is making its biggest energy investment since WW II.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It will spend $263 billion, 8% of its 2011 GDP, to replace the 20% of its energy supply which came from nuclear energy with renewable sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Germany now has 20% renewable energy and aims for at least 35% by 2020.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A large part of the new power will come from offshore wind farms in the North Sea and Baltic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Four other European nations have set even higher targets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-18/germany-s-270-billion-renewables-shift-biggest-since-war"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-18/germany-s-270-billion-renewables-shift-biggest-since-war</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>So far this year groups such as Americans for Prosperity and the American Petroleum Institute have spent over $16 million on propaganda directly to prevent energy reform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-oil-and-coalbacked-groups-far-outpace-obama-on-energy-ads-20120413,0,5372852.story"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-oil-and-coalbacked-groups-far-outpace-obama-on-energy-ads-20120413,0,5372852.story</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The amount could be multiplied many times by counting the steam of ads meant to convince us that fossil fuel companies such as Exxon-Mobil are caring citizens.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Gulf of Mexico could be on the point of an ecological collapse as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The signs include mutilated crabs and eyeless shrimp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>While not an effect of climate change, the threatened collapse is an effect of our resistance to the solution to climate change—an immediate transition to renewable energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>46 species of coral are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act due to climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/15/11209607-us-56-coral-species-face-extinction-danger-from-warming-acidic-seas?lite"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/15/11209607-us-56-coral-species-face-extinction-danger-from-warming-acidic-seas?lite</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>An Australian study shows that reefs can adapt to climate change through species resistant to increased warmth and acidity, though their role in the lives of other creatures may change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47049757"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47049757</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Greenland’s ice cover is accelerating in its slide to the ocean due to increased meltwater pooling at the base of the ice sheets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44273?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.enn.com/climate/article/44273?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClimateChangeNews-Enn+%28Climate+Change+News+-+ENN%29</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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