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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>Japan is levying a new tax on major carbon emitters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The proceeds will go to developing green initiatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-energy-japan-tax-idUSBRE8990G520121010?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/2012/10/10/us-energy-japan-tax-idUSBRE8990G520121010?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>Strictly speaking, Japan seems to have introduced an emissions tax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>“Carbon tax” should be used to refer to a tax levied on carbon fuels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Wikipedia explains, and gives a rundown on carbon tax adoptions (a bit out of date).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax</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>Arizona State’s Hestia system maps carbon emissions down to the level of individual buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It uses models and databases rather than direct measurement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Many cities (my home town of Jacksonville, FL, among them) have resisted developing carbon emission footprints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Hestia may help bring them out of the closet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19875516"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19875516</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>NOAA calculates that increased Arctic heating could result in increased extreme weather—such as storms, heat waves, and floods—in the US and Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20121010_arcticwinds.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20121010_arcticwinds.html</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A second study at Duke focuses on the summer pattern of increasing drought in some areas and heavy rainfall in others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/news/weather-making-high-pressure-systems-predicted-to-intensify"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/news/weather-making-high-pressure-systems-predicted-to-intensify</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Thanks to Climate Progress for bringing these studies to my attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Joe Romm adds that Munich Re is releasing a study saying that the US is more at immediate risk than other regions for extreme weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2012/10/10/weather-disasters-climate-change-munich-re-report/1622845/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2012/10/10/weather-disasters-climate-change-munich-re-report/1622845/</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A large majority of Americans agree that climate change is behind recent extreme weather, according to a new Yale poll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/extreme-weather-public-opinion-September-2012/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/extreme-weather-public-opinion-September-2012/</font></a></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>Antarctic sea ice is at a record high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
(That’s not going to spur revisions of global warming theory, though.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121013-antarctica-sea-ice-record-high-science-global-warming/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121013-antarctica-sea-ice-record-high-science-global-warming/</font></a></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>The US has set aside 280,000 acres for solar development in 6 states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Projects in the 17 new areas need not seek approval on a case by case basis.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://ecowatch.org/2012/roadmap-solar-energy/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://ecowatch.org/2012/roadmap-solar-energy/</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
</font></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In 2009 congress set a goal for 2015 of 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy from federal land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We just achieved the goal in projects approved, and the new program of solar development promises much more to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49393980/ns/us_news-environment/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49393980/ns/us_news-environment/</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>More than 120 Florida scientists and county officials have jointly requested that President Obama and Governor Romney address sea level rise in their third debate, scheduled to be held in Florida.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/Florida-Experts-Letter-to-Presidential-Candidates-to-Address-Sea-Level-Rise.pdf"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/Florida-Experts-Letter-to-Presidential-Candidates-to-Address-Sea-Level-Rise.pdf</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The included map portrays a sea level rise of a foot by 2060.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>That is excessively conservative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>
The Miami-Dade Climate Change Task Force in 2007 estimated at least 1.5 feet of rise by 2050, and more recent estimates tend to be larger and quicker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The letter uses the Corps of Engineers’ figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>At least no one can argue that it is inflated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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