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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Researchers at the DOE’s Berkeley Lab have developed a lithium-sulfur battery that could power an electric auto with a 300 mile range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Li/S battery is cheaper than the lithium-ion battery, does not have the overheating problems, is more environmentally benign, and is long lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The lab is now working to scale it commercially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://eetd.lbl.gov/newsletter/nl46/eetd-nl46-1-holistic.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://eetd.lbl.gov/newsletter/nl46/eetd-nl46-1-holistic.html</font></a>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Al Gore is sounding more hopeful on the prospects of dealing with climate change than he did a couple of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The dropping cost of solar power is one factor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/19/al-gore-climate-change-crisis/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/19/al-gore-climate-change-crisis/</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Cellulosic ethanol made from corn waste is no better than gasoline for carbon emissions, according to a new study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>If the study holds, biofuel from corn stover would not qualify as renewable under EPA guidelines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/20/corn-biofuels-gasoline-global-warming"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/20/corn-biofuels-gasoline-global-warming</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>New online tools are making available local projections for sea level rise, deforestation, water supply, and other climate related matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/20/climate-change-new-online-tools/7739415/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28USATODAY+-+News+Top+Stories%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/20/climate-change-new-online-tools/7739415/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28USATODAY+-+News+Top+Stories%29</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Net metering for rooftop solar and state renewable energy standards are under attack in several states by the Koch brothers, utilities, and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-solar-kochs-20140420,0,7412286.story#axzz2zP9yfShi"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-solar-kochs-20140420,0,7412286.story#axzz2zP9yfShi</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Koch brothers may want to protect their fossil fuel profits, and the utilities presumably want to continue to operate as they are accustomed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>If the Kochs and others like them cling to fossil fuels, we shall try to see we do not go down with them as seems to be their intent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>However, we need the utilities with us as part of the solution to our climate woes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Peter Sinclair assembles several stories on the threat that renewable energy poses (and is said to pose but does not) to traditional utilities’ business model, and the opportunities that managed distributed power generation offers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://climatecrocks.com/2014/04/21/utilities-transformation-or-die-off/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://climatecrocks.com/2014/04/21/utilities-transformation-or-die-off/</font></a><u><font color="#0000ff"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Not all Republicans oppose solar power, and others may discover that opposition is bad for their political future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://climatecrocks.com/2014/04/23/republicans-who-oppose-solar-will-be-wiped-out/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://climatecrocks.com/2014/04/23/republicans-who-oppose-solar-will-be-wiped-out/</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Can fossil fuel companies be sued for the damage they have done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Perhaps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A paper last fall documented the contributions of 84 companies to anthropogenic warming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A federal court found that individuals and groups had standing in global warming damage suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Groups of lawyers are at work, and some say that they are in a situation similar to that of early litigation against tobacco companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/179459/want-stop-climate-change-take-fossil-fuel-industry-court#"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.thenation.com/article/179459/want-stop-climate-change-take-fossil-fuel-industry-court#</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Jackfruit, smelly but nutritious, is the largest treeborne fruit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>It could replace wheat and corn crops endangered by climate disruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/23/jackfruit-miracle-crop-climate-change-food-security"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/23/jackfruit-miracle-crop-climate-change-food-security</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">8.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>“Declining coral reef health is threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of people living in the coastal tropics, according to a study by University of Queensland researchers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dying-coral-reefs-threaten-livelihood.html"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://phys.org/news/2014-04-dying-coral-reefs-threaten-livelihood.html</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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