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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>As the Arctic melts and underwater oil becomes more available, the oil companies are calling for the US to take a firmer role in promoting extraction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The administration appears to be complying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/06/27/1"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/06/27/1</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The industry is not entirely satisfied with the effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/06/28/new-offshore-leasing-plan-focuses-on-development-in-already-explored-gulf-waters/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/06/28/new-offshore-leasing-plan-focuses-on-development-in-already-explored-gulf-waters/</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Greenland ice sheet appears to be nearing a tipping point at which surface melt lowers reflectivity so that more energy is absorbed, melting more surface area until the entire surface is melting.
</font><a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/greenland-ice-sheet-reflectivity-near-record-low-research-shows/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.climatecentral.org/news/greenland-ice-sheet-reflectivity-near-record-low-research-shows/</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The CEO of Exxon Mobil advises that we should work on adapting to climate change rather than give up the fossil fuels which in his view lead to better lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>He refuses to accept the fearful people who say, “We should stop this.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>(I believe he means stopping greenhouse gas emissions.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Changing weather patterns and rising sea levels pose engineering challenges we should meet with engineering solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The real problems of the world are poverty and the billions of people who do not benefit from fossil fuels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=exxon-ceo-calls-climate-change-engi"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=exxon-ceo-calls-climate-change-engi</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The news here is that Exxon joins other oil companies in acknowledging global warming and advises us to tough it out, which we cannot imaginably do.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Toughing out the collapse of ocean life or, ultimately, the Venus syndrome is not a sane option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Though Exxon is willing to put us in the hospice to preserve their profits, Let’s solve this, as their ads say, by getting Exxon out of the fossil fuel business.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Engineering can indeed help by constructing a sustainable world.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>MIT’s electric CityCar has four little engines, one in each wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It carries two people on urban trips and fits into a single parking space with two other CityCars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://cp.media.mit.edu/research/54-citycar"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://cp.media.mit.edu/research/54-citycar</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Take a look at the electric bicycle at the end of the second video.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Honda’s electric Fit will become available for lease this month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It has a longer range, better acceleration, and a lower charging time than other comparable cars and comes with free collision insurance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-autos-honda-fit-20120629,0,2557048.story"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-autos-honda-fit-20120629,0,2557048.story</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Princeton’s Michael Oppenheimer observes that the current fires in the southwest are the image of the kind of climate we are creating; a link at the end of the article observes the same for the heat wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2E8HSHDB20120629?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2E8HSHDB20120629?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0</font></a></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>A challenge to the court ruling upholding the EPA’s power to regulate carbon emissions is so unlikely to succeed that it may not be offered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/06/27/1"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/06/27/1</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The chances of a carbon tax appear to be rising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-emissions-court-idUSBRE85R0C120120628?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-emissions-court-idUSBRE85R0C120120628?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Much is at stake in this year’s elections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Exxon Mobil and the other fossil fuel interests are spending billions to drag us into their kind of future.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Rooftop retail solar power in Germany is now coming in at $2.24 per watt installed, about half of the US price (though component prices are similar).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Complications abound in the comparison; for once, the chain of responses to the article illuminates it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/German-Solar-Installations-Coming-in-at-2.24-Per-Watt-Installed-U.S-at-4/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/German-Solar-Installations-Coming-in-at-2.24-Per-Watt-Installed-U.S-at-4/</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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