Climate Change News Blog @newzblogz.com

ARMONK, N.Y. ? IBM Corp. is pledging that by 2012, it will have reduced its greenhouse gas footprint by 7 percent since 2005, primarily through energy conservation.

The technology company made the vow Thursday as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary "Climate Leaders" program, in which more than 100 companies have committed to reducing their output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

IBM's first such pledge was a 4 percent decrease from 2002 to 2005; the company says it achieved a 6.2 percent reduction.

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A little greyer, and with a new mission in life, al gore returned to capitol hill to testify before lawmakers about climate change.

"America is the natural leader of the world and our world faces a true planetary emergency," Al Gore testified.

Flanked by boxes containing 516-thousand letters calling for congressional action, the former Vice President discussed melting polar ice caps and stronger storms on the U.S. coasts.  He urged lawmakers to freeze carbon dioxide emissions and raise fuel efficiency standards on cars.

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ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) ? IBM Corp. is pledging that by 2012, it will have reduced its greenhouse gas footprint by 7 percent since 2005, primarily through energy conservation.

The technology company made the vow Thursday as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary "Climate Leaders" program, in which more than 100 companies have committed to reducing their output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

IBM's first such pledge was a 4 percent decrease from 2002 to 2005; the company says it achieved a 6.2 percent reduction.

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Re: Larry Smilgius? ?Don?t be soft-hearted? letter.

It is appropriate that the Riviera Golf Estate association?s ?ruling authority? should enforce the rules established for the ?health, safety and benefit of the majority.?

But, how does Paul Smith?s hobby of making dominoes infringe on anyone?s health, safety or benefit?

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress Wednesday to plead with lawmakers to fight global warming with moral courage while revealing nothing about whether he'll join the 2008 presidential race. The former vice president is a Democratic favorite for the presidential nomination even though he says he's not running. Fresh off a triumphant Hollywood appearance in which his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won two Oscars, Gore drew overflow crowds as he...

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Washington is a city that lies on the bank of the Potomac River. That is true whether you are looking at it or listening to it.

That was painfully apparent on March 16. It was the last day of Sunshine Week, a reform-minded push for government openness and truth ? and the Washington sky was dark and gloomy, first menacing and then delivering.

Soon Washington was awash in rain and sleet and a Bush administration reign of lies ? the last of which infuriated congressional Republicans every bit as much as the Democrats.

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WASHINGTON (AP) ? With concern growing about global warming, researchers said Wednesday they have developed a new system to track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Being able to determine where and when this major greenhouse gas increases or decreases should help in projecting future climate change and evaluating efforts to reduce releases of carbon. "This is a pretty exciting opportunity," said Richard Spinrad, head of research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It produces an unbiased, objective statement of carbon observations, he said, but doesn't favor any particular policy or economic model.

Tracking carbon dioxide release and absorption will improve understanding of its impact, he said, noting that one-third of the economy is weather and climate sensitive ranging from agriculture to transportation to insurance and real estate.

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Gore, who 20 years ago held the first hearings in Congress on global warming, testified before House panels today that it's not too late to deal with climate change. He has emerged as perhaps the leading spokesman on the issue because of his Oscar-winning documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

Later today, the former vice president will testify before a Senate committee that includes Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gore is among the Democratic favorites for the presidency, but has said he's not running.

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WASHINGTON ? Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress Wednesday to plead with lawmakers to fight global warming with moral courage while revealing nothing about whether he'll join the 2008 presidential race.

The former vice president is a Democratic favorite for the presidential nomination even though he says he's not running. Fresh off a triumphant Hollywood appearance in which his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won two Oscars, Gore drew overflow crowds as he testified before House and Senate panels about a "true planetary emergency."

He said the issue should not be partisan or political, but Gore faced skeptical Republicans who questioned his personal commitment to reducing energy usage and the science behind his film.

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The former vice president is a Democratic favorite for the presidential nomination even though he says he's not running. Fresh off a triumphant Hollywood appearance in which his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won two Oscars, Gore drew overflow crowds as he testified before House and Senate panels about a "true planetary emergency."

He said the issue should not be partisan or political, but Gore faced skeptical Republicans who questioned his personal commitment to reducing energy usage and the science behind his film.

"You're not just off a little, you're totally wrong," said Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the leading Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as he challenged Gore's conclusion that carbon dioxide emissions cause rising global temperatures.

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WASHINGTON The doors swung open, and he made his entrance with cameras clicking, the wooden politician denied the presidency and derided as "Ozone Man" was coming home to the Capitol. But this time they called him a movie star and likened him to a prophet.

Al Gore left Washington seven years ago bowed by the 2000 election and a little disgraced in the eyes of his party "Couldn't he at least have won his home state?"

But he returned Wednesday reincarnated: the subject of an Academy Award-winning film, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, a 58-year-old guy who, slightly grayed and a little puffy, can share a stage with Leonardo DiCaprio and still be the center of attention.

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Here's a quick pop quiz: How much fossil fuel is embedded in your food?

That's the question that quickly arises when Tim Crosby of 21 Acres farm near Woodinville, Wash., talks about the relationship between the food we eat, the fuel it takes to get it to us and climate change.

His conclusion: Eating locally produced food helps cut fuel and energy use and therefore helps reduce agriculture's effect - as well as our own individual effect - on climate change.

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ASPEN The Hotel Jerome's owners said theyve had enough with Aspens jungle of red tape and are selling the landmark in one to two months.

The hotel was originally to get a restoration. Construction was to last eight months. Instead, the Jerome, which was built in 1889, will close April 2 to May 25.

The hotel's owners, the Gaylord family of Oklahoma, had grown tired of the city's approval process, which began shortly after they bought the hotel for $33.7 million in June 2005.

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WASHINGTON - Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress Wednesday to plead with lawmakers to fight global warming with moral courage while revealing nothing about whether he'll join the 2008 presidential race.

The former vice president is a Democratic favorite for the presidential nomination even though he says he's not running. Fresh off a triumphant Hollywood appearance in which his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won two Oscars, Gore drew overflow crowds as he testified before House and Senate panels about a "true planetary emergency."

He said the issue should not be partisan or political, but Gore faced skeptical Republicans who questioned his personal commitment to reducing energy usage and the science behind his film.

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Early in February, the national news media informed America that the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had concluded the Earth had warmed and that human activity is very likely the cause.

There are two problems with this report. The first is that the U.N. document is a 21-page summary for policymakers, not the full report of close to 1,500 pages due to be released in May.

And the second problem, of much greater importance, is that while it is correct to state that the Earth has warmed slightly in recent years, many competent scientists from various parts of the globe dispute the claim that humans have caused it.

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The Washington State Fish and Wildlife Department is encouraging farmers to sign up to serve on a committee to deal with issues around snow goose management.

To put your name on a list, call the department's Mill Creek office at 425-775-1311 and ask to speak with the receptionist. Explain that you're a farmer suffering damages due to snow geese and that you want to sign up to be on a committee dealing with this issue.

Or send an e-mail to Enforcement at HEBNEGWH@dfw.wa.gov and supply your name, address and phone number and explain why you want to be on the committee.

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It was fascinating to read Dr. Hal Salwasser's commentary on the myriad connections between forests and climate (Capital Press, Feb. 9). Salwasser failed to clearly identify, however, what may turn out to be the most critical function of forests in helping us deal with the impacts of global warming - the ability of forests to store water and to release that water gradually as stream flow.

With snowpack predicted to shrink considerably in the West, the water reservoir function of forest soils will prove critical to mitigating the impact of climate change on water supply and dry season stream flow.

Those who created the national forest system recognized the importance of forests as reservoirs. That is why they made one of the two purposes of the national forest system maintaining "favorable conditions of flow" in streams and rivers. But the topic of how to best manage western forests to protect dry-season water supply has not been extensively studied. In fact, one could say that forestry schools like the one at Oregon State University, which Salwasser heads, have all but ignored the topic.

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Talk to the experts and this much quickly becomes clear: There is no status quo when it comes to Michigan and electricity. Things are changing, no matter what.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm talked about the issue in this year's state of the state address. The Michigan Legislature will soon debate the merits of at least two bills that would set minimum benchmarks for the amount of energy provided by renewable resources such as solar, biomass and wind energy.

And the group Environment Michigan recently released a provocative report that makes the case for pursuing an even more aggressive approach to mandating both the use of green power sources and conservation measures. The way activists see it, such a stepped-up approach makes sense on both environmental and economic grounds.

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Board president expects support from Schwarzenegger, environmentalists

Cecilia Parsons

Capital Press Staff Writer

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Washington is a city that lies on the bank of the Potomac River. That is true whether you are looking at it or listening to it.

That was painfully apparent on Friday, March 16. It was the last day of Sunshine Week, a reform-minded push for government openness and truth -- and the Washington sky was dark and gloomy, first menacing and then delivering.

Soon Washington was awash in rain and sleet and a Bush administration reign of lies -- the last of which infuriated congressional Republicans every bit as much as the Democrats.

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Population in the United States officially reached the 300 million mark last October but little fanfare accompanied that milestone as few seemed to think it was an occasion for celebration.

In fact, environmentalists and other special interest groups saw hazards in the population growth as something that means having more people around to consume the planet's resources and contribute to its spoiling in other ways.

Mostly, the news was briefly mentioned and just as promptly forgotten. There is a view, however, that a legitimate opportunity to celebrate was missed.

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WASHINGTON - The fight against global warming is getting an extra push from lobbyists and lawmakers in a series of efforts aimed at spurring Congress to take decisive steps to reverse the negative trend of climate change.

On Wednesday, former Vice President Al Gore, perhaps the most prominent advocate for climate change and author of the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," is to testify before two congressional environmental committees. He has promised to bring a mailbag of the nearly 300,000 postcards he has received since Christmas to help convince Congress the country is ready for federal action to curb the effects of global warming.

The star power of Gore's testimony may give the Senate and House the momentum necessary for lawmakers to meet self-imposed deadlines to bring an emissions-reduction bill to a vote. Several senators have pledged to push for action in this session of Congress, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has promised to have legislation on the floor by July 4.

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TELLURIDE - A rash of people in Telluride have reported effects consistent with ingestion of the so-called date-rape drugs, GHB or Rohypnol, or "roofies." But unlike most such reports, at least some of the victims in this case were men.

"I felt so terrible the next day, I just felt poisoned," one man said. "The tough thing for all of us is it's hard to remember anything about what happened."

Melanie Montoya, of the San Miguel Resource Center, said all of the victims reported nausea, vomiting, and extended periods of extreme confusion, and the onset of an extreme intoxifying effect within just minutes.

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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A plan to install 590 solar panels at AT&T Park is generating lots of positive public relations for the San Francisco Giants and for Pacific Gas & Electric.

But it turns out the public will be asked to pay the bill.

PG&E announced Tuesday that it inaccurately described the project a day earlier when it told the Mercury News that PG&E shareholders will pay the costs. Instead, the company, an investor-owned utility that is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission, will go to the PUC during its next "general rate case" in 2009 and ask for permission to bill PG&E's customers for the purchase, installation and maintenance of the panels.

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By beginning to investigate the Bush administration’s interference with scien?tists’ work on global warming, the Democratic Congress has embarked on a key task: restoring respect for science – and, more generally, for evidence and reason – in the federal government.

That we need such reform, and from Democrats, is a historic irony, because it’s the Republicans who often have tried to paint themselves as defenders of “sound science” against ideologically motivated attacks.

In the 1990s, conservatives such as Dinesh D’Souza, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Roger Kimball wrote best-selling jeremiads attacking postmodernist academics who, they insisted, were taking over universities and subverting the standards of scholarship.

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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CLAYCOMO, Mo. -- President Bush urged Congress on Tuesday to adopt energy legislation by the start of the summer driving season while downplaying his controversial call for expensive fuel economy increases.

Following his first tours of auto plants run by Detroit automakers since he became president in 2001, Bush called on Congress to quickly approve his "20 in 10" proposal, which would reduce the nation's gasoline usage 20 percent annually by 2017.

Five percent of that goal, or 8.5 billion gallons annually, would come from an average 4 percent annual increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. But Bush made no specific mention of raising CAFE mandates, which Detroit automakers oppose.

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CAPITOL HILL Former Vice President Al Gore brings his push for government action on global warming to Capitol Hill todayHis appearance comes less than a month after his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Academy Award.Gore has called the need for government action on climate issues "the overriding world challenge of our time."His appearance comes a day after executives of some of the country's largest electric utilities discussed the possibility of mandatory carbon emission limits to a...

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For a long time now - indeed, since the first Earth Day in 1970 - self-styled "environmentalists" have been warning the rest of us that our planet is spinning its way toward ecological Armageddon.

It's a depressing litany: Melting glaciers, rising temperatures, violent weather, crop failures - and nearly all of it, we're told, the fault of human beings engaged in such unforgivable activities as creating businesses, driving cars and ... well, breathing.

"We humans are about as subtle as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs," New Scientist magazine says. "The damage we do is increasing. ... We are heading for cataclysm." The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute finds "the key environmental indicators are increasingly negative." And Greenpeace predicts that "half the Earth's species are likely to disappear in the next 75 years."

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Here in the Pacific Northwest, where climate change is already making subtle shifts within the regions modified Mediterranean environment, its time to consider a future where all landscapes are virtually irrigation independent.

Over the past six years, mercurial winter weather patterns have left us with annual snow amounts that are either nonexistent or barely sufficient. Without these frozen reserves, water demands during the summer months can outstrip the supply.

When arid summers are combined with future winters that are likely to be both dryer and warmer, it makes sense to create waterwise gardens that strike some sort of balance on Mother Natures scale.

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Sometimes the most dangerous course of action is doing nothing.If we do nothing, then global climate changes already making their mark on our weather, glaciers and air quality will harm our environment in irrevocable and dire ways.Washington is especially vulnerable to climate change because of our dependence on snow pack for summer stream flows and because any rise in sea levels would threaten our many coastal communities.If greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, temperatures will rise by...

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      • John McCain. To many, the senator from Arizona's candidacy is a foregone conclusion, and his recent buddying up to Bush loyalists and other old adversaries suggests he's serious. He's a genuine hero with terror-fighting credentials and know-how in handling the media. Allies say he's the answer to the GOP independent-voter problem that exploded last week.

      • Rudolph "Rudy" Giuliani. He continually scores well in national polls, and GOP candidates across the land flew in the former mayor of New York as an anti-terror symbol. But he's given no indication thus far of wanting to run, and skeptics wonder how far his distinctly moderate Republicanism would play among hard-core GOP conservatives.

      • Mitt Romney. Perhaps no one benefited more from the collapsing political career of Virginia Sen. George Allen, which opened up a space in the party's conservative wing. Romney's ability to become governor of Massachusetts shows electability. His name and good looks are assets. Some wonder if his Mormon faith will play in places like South Carolina.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former White House official accused of improperly editing reports on global warming defended his editing changes Monday, saying they reflected views in a 2001 report by the National Academy of Sciences. House Democrats said the 181 changes made in three climate reports reflected a consistent attempt to emphasize the uncertainties surrounding the science of climate change and undercut the broad conclusions that man-made emissions are warming the earth. Philip Cooney, form...

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Maj. Paul Ouellette of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (the FWC) chaired the Wednesday-evening workshop. The FWC administers Florida boating laws. He gave a PowerPoint presentation that included reference to state statute 327.60(2), which prohibits local authorities from regulating the anchoring of non-live-aboard vessels in navigation. He added that "in navigation" means any vessel in the water. Marco Island Police Chief Roger Reinke was among many who spoke during the pub...

Hey, that suggests a possible solution to the city's possible Sunshine Law e-mail problems. The city council could pass an ordinance exempting the city from the state Sunshine Law statutes; same principal. Viva home rule!

So it goes.

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GENEVA (Reuters) - Many major rivers in the world are at risk of drying out because of climate change and dam construction, which could affect fresh water supplies and marine life, the global nature protection body WWF said on Tuesday.

In a report ahead of the March 22 ``World Water Day,'' the Swiss-based group identified 10 rivers, including the Nile, the Rio Grande and the Danube, as some of the worst victims of poor planning and inadequate protection.

``Rivers regularly no longer reach the sea, like the Indus in Pakistan, the Nile in Africa and the Rio Grande ... There are millions of people whose livelihoods are at risk,'' said Jamie Pittock, director of WWF's global freshwater program.

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WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' hold on his job grew more uncertain Monday as the Senate debated removing his authority to unilaterally name U.S. attorneys and the White House said it merely hoped he would survive the tumult.

Asked if Gonzales had contained the political damage from the firing of eight federal prosecutors, White House spokesman Tony Snow said, "I don't know."

Snow declined to predict how long Gonzales would stay in his job but reiterated President Bush's support of him.

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The drive to dislodge the Bush administration and Congress from their lethargic response to climate change is not likely to turn on the ice worm. A photogenic symbol of global warming was needed.

''Ice worms on glaciers have really gone down, but nobody cares about ice worms: The polar bear is a great charismatic species to which everyone is attracted, said George Divoky, the Seattle-based Arctic researcher who has gained renown by precise observation of the globe's shifting climate.

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will lead a three-day trade mission to Canada starting May 29, his office announced Monday.

Schwarzenegger, who has led similar missions to China, Japan, Israel and Mexico, will visit Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver to promote California trade and tourism. He also plans to meet with Canadian officials to discuss ways to curb global warming and deal with the effects of climate change.

Canada is California's second-largest trading partner, behind Mexico.

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Ex-official says changes in reports made to align views with Bush policy

11:25 PM CDT on Monday, March 19, 2007

Associated Press

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Pamplin Media Group, Mar 13, 2007 (4 Reader comments)

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OSLO (Reuters) - Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases can mute the worst impacts of global warming, such as water shortages for billions of people or extinction of almost half of Amazonian tree species, a draft U.N. report shows.

The report, due for release on April 6, foresees ever worsening damage to the planet as temperatures gain, including rising seas that could swamp low-lying Pacific island states or declining crop yields that could mean hunger for millions.

"The longer we go without action (to curb greenhouse gases) the more likely it is that some of the big feedbacks will kick in," Richard Betts, manager of the climate impacts research team at the British Met Office and Hadley Center.

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Havana – Bolivian President Evo Morales has added his voice to a chorus of speculative references to Fidel Castro's future, hinting the ailing Cuban leader could return to power within weeks.

Speaking during a meeting of potato farmers in Cochabamba on Sunday, Morales said Castro could make his return during an April 28 summit in Havana to commemorate the third anniversary of the alternative trade bloc known as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas.

"It will be the opportunity to see the return of Fidel Castro to the presidency of Cuba," Morales was quoted as saying in published reports.

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GENEVA The World Wide Fund for Nature is painting a bleak future for some of the world's greatest rivers.The group warns that pollution, global warming and out-of-control development could destroy a number of these iconic waterways, wipe out thousands of fish species and create widespread water shortages.The W-W-F says only 21 of Earth's 177 longest rivers run freely to the sea. The rest are impeded by dams and other construction, which are destroying habitats for migratory fish and other specie...

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BERLIN - The leader of Germany's governing Social Democrats criticized U.S. plans to locate a missile defense system in eastern Europe, insisting in an interview published Monday that "we need no new missiles in Europe."

The U.S. plan to place a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of its proposed missile defense shield has infuriated Russia and prompted some unease elsewhere in Europe.

"We need no new missiles in Europe," Kurt Beck, the chairman of the center-left Social Democrats, was quoted as saying in an interview with the mass-circulation Bild daily. The Social Democrats make up half of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition.

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WASHINGTON - One thing you learn early around here is that being impatient when it comes to getting legislation passed, particularly on a controversial topic, is a recipe for heartburn.

Take global warming.

For years, the environment has been one of those under-the-radar issues. There has always been a dedicated group of advocates and lawmakers - including California Sen. Barbara Boxer - out there pushing for cleaner air and water. Boxer, for example, has made environmental issues a cornerstone in each of her re-election campaigns.

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When climate scientist Andrew Weaver considers the idea of tinkering with Earth's air, water or sunlight to fight global warming, he remembers the lessons of a favorite children's book.

In the book, a cheese-loving king's castle is infested with mice. So the king brings in cats to get rid of the mice. Then the castle's overrun with cats, so he brings in dogs to get rid of them, then lions to get rid of the dogs, elephants to get rid of the lions, and finally, mice to get rid of the elephants.

That scenario in "The King, the Mice and the Cheese," by Nancy and Eric Gurney, should give scientists pause before taking extreme measures to mess with Mother Nature, says Weaver of the University of Victoria.

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BERLIN (AP) The United States objected to key parts of a discussion on climate change at a meeting between G-8 environmental officials and representatives from five influential developing nations, Germany's environment minister said.

The conference ended with consensus on several points, including a general acceptance of the scientific explanation for the causes of global warming and that industrialized nations need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions more than mandated by current agreements, said German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who hosted the meeting Saturday.

Officials also agreed that industrialized countries have been responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions in the past and for the need to help developing countries control their emissions today, Gabriel said.

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VIENNA, Austria (AP) It looks like a color-coded terror alert scale - and meteorologically speaking, that's exactly what it is. With climate change making conditions more unpredictable, national weather services from across the European Union have joined forces to create http://www.meteoalarm.eu - a new Web site providing up-to-the-minute information on "extreme weather" across the continent.

The initiative, managed by Austria's Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, is designed to give Europeans a single source for details on flash floods, severe thunderstorms, gale-force winds, heat waves, blizzards and other violent weather that poses a threat to life or property.

It also issues 24- and 48-hour warnings for heavy fog, extreme cold, forest fires and "coastal events" such as high waves or severe tides.

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VANCOUVER, B.C. - The premier of British Columbia wanted to bring coal-burning plants and offshore oil rigs to this lush province, so environmental groups were ready for a fight as he prepared his government's annual policy speech last month.

They were stunned when Premier Gordon Campbell delivered a list of green promises that surpassed their most ambitious dreams.

He would not only stop the growth in greenhouse gases in the province, he said, but also slash them by one-third. He would gut the coal plant plans, embrace wind power, lease hybrid cars for the government, squelch environmental pollution by the powerful oil and gas industry, and toughen car emission regulations.

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The coal industry faces a bleak future unless ways are developed on a commercial scale to capture and store carbon dioxide in the campaign against global warming, according to a recent study.

The report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says coal, which accounts for half of the country's electricity production, will remain the fuel of choice to produce electricity in the United States because it is relatively cheap and abundant.

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It is a recurrent attack that because all scientists don?t believe all aspects of the basic facts about global warming, then we (the global community) don?t need to take action. As a scientist for almost 30 years, I think three aspects of global warming are worth reiterating.

 ? The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which in 2005 the White House called ?the gold standard of objective scientific assessment,? issued a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science saying ?the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.?

 ? Most of the suggested actions have long-term benefits beyond reducing global warming by reducing the use of scarce resources and increasing quality of life for future generations.

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