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Auto Industry Leaders Speak Out Against Gas Tax 'Holiday'. By Sarah A. Webster, Detroit Free Press, May 2, 2008. "Automotive industry leaders have begun to speak out firmly against... [the McCain-Clinton gas tax 'holiday' idea]... [Chrysler CEO] Bob Nardelli, AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson and others say that the nation needs the high gas prices to encourage consumers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles -- which the federal government has mandated automakers build... 'You have to have alignment,' [said] Jim Press, the former Toyota... executive who [is now] a president and vice chairman [at Chrysler]... A day earlier, Jackson... told the Free Press that suspending the gas tax demonstrated 'zero intellectual honesty' and gave Americans 'confusing signals' about energy consumption. 'I've never heard of a plan that says, I want you to use less of something but I'm going to reduce the price,' said Jackson... 'It's like telling a heroin addict: You've got to deal with this heroin thing, but don't worry, I'm going to do everything I can to reduce the price of heroin. But, you really should do something about it.'"

Obama's Tightrope Walk on Gas Taxes. By Nick Timiraos, WSJ, May 2, 2008, subscription. "Sen. Barack Obama's argument that a gas-tax holiday makes no sense -- a stand that is winning plaudits from editorial boards and economists -- isn't always getting through to voters worried about rising gas prices. The presidential candidate has staked out a politically treacherous position by opposing the three-month suspension of the federal gas tax proposed last month by Sen. John McCain... and embraced by Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton... 'I'm here to tell you the truth,' Sen. Obama says in a new 60-second ad running in North Carolina and Indiana ahead of Tuesday's primaries. 'You're going to save about $25, $30, or half a tank of gas.'"

The McCain-Clinton Gas-Tax Holiday is Shameful Pandering. Commentary by Thomas L Friedman, NYTimes, April 30, 2008. "It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer's travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country... Good for Barack Obama for resisting this shameful pandering... The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious -- the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout."

Obama Plays It Straight. Posted by Charles Komanoff, Grist, April 27, 2008. "Campaigning in Indiana, Obama distanced himself from the gas tax 'holiday' proposed by Sen. John McCain... 'The only way we're going to lower gas prices over the long term is if we start using less oil,' Obama said in Anderson. McCain pounced, saying... that 'Americans need strong leadership that can deliver lower gas prices and a healthier economy, not Barack Obama's inexperience and indecision'... Sen. Hillary Clinton did likewise, unveiling a new ad calling for suspension of the gasoline tax -- a proposal first advanced by McCain on April 15. As U.S. political campaigns go, the contrast between McCain-Clinton's playing the gas-tax card and Obama's brave clarity couldn't be clearer... McCain has no clue. Clinton surely does, but can't pass up a chance to pander. 'Hillary Clinton knows it's time to act, take some of the windfall profits of big oil to pay to suspend the gas tax this summer, investigate the oil giants for price gouging and collusion,' her ad says. Right. Shadow-box at Big Oil while taxpayers and the climate absorb the punch." [Editor's note: Clinton's ad is included in the Grist link.]

Democrats Prepare Election-Year Fuel Relief Package. By Ian Talley, Stephen Power and Sarah Lueck, WSJ, May 2, 2008, subscription. "Top congressional Democrats are moving to unveil as early as next week a package of measures intended to mitigate high gas prices and present a sharper contrast to President Bush in the struggle to redefine energy policy. The proposals are expected to include temporarily halting the build-up of the nation's emergency oil stockpile, giving regulators greater authority to investigate and penalize oil companies that engage in price gouging, and seeking to discourage speculative trading in oil and gas markets, possibly by raising the collateral traders must provide. Democrats are likely to propose a temporary 'windfall-profits tax,' possibly of 25%, on major oil companies [who] would be exempt... if they invested profits in domestically produced renewable fuels or expanded refinery capacity or renewable electricity production. Democrats were discussing Thursday how the additional tax revenues might be used, with some advocating rebates for consumers and others backing additional investment in research and incentives for renewable energy."

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Small Car Sales Surge in U.S. By Bill Vlasic, NYTimes, May 2, 2008. "Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede. In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the U.S. was a compact or subcompact car during April... The switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles... has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large [SUVs] have dropped sharply. In another first, fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder models in popularity in April. 'It's easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed in the market in my 31 years here,' said George Pipas, chief sales analyst for [Ford]."

Bloomberg Gives Bicycles A Try. Posted by Andrew Posner, TreeHugger.com, April 29, 2008. "Perhaps because Mayor Bloomberg's plan for congestion pricing in New York City has failed, the Big Apple is now trying to make up for it by becoming more bicycle-friendly. As it is, 112,000 New Yorkers bicycle on an average day, an increase of 10% over the last decade. The proposal, which is part of a new Department of Transportation strategic plan [called Sustainable Streets], hopes to double that number by 2015, as well as 1) add 200 miles worth of new bicycle lanes between 2007 and 2009, 2) install 37 bicycle shelters and 5,000 bike parking racks by 2011, 3) install 15 additional miles of protected on-street bike lanes by 2010 and 30 miles from 2011 to 2015. Finally, 'to raise bike-consciousness in the city, the [DOT] and the nonprofit group Transportation Alternatives, are holding a competition to find the most bicycling-friendly employers in the city.'"

After Initial Promise, Commercial Hybrid Trucks Stall.By Matthew L. Wald, NYTimes, April 27, 2008. "Once upon a time, hybrids were going to rule commercial vehicles. In May 2003, when gasoline was $1.50 a gallon, FedEx was predicting that it would have 30,000 hybrids on the road in a few years. But today, all companies together have only about 300. On paper, commercial vehicles, not private cars, should be the 'killer app' for hybrid technology. Delivery trucks operate in stop-and-go traffic, where hybrids excel. Commercial vehicles drive many more hours a day than family cars do, going many more miles in a year and using more fuel for each mile, thus multiplying the opportunities for saving fuel. And with gasoline at about $3.50 a gallon, and diesel around $4, the shift to hybrids should go faster."

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British Supermarket Tesco Trials Carbon Labels. BBC, April 29, 2008. "Supermarket chain Tesco has announced that a range of its own brand products will carry labels showing the size of the goods' carbon footprints. Tesco said it would label 20 items, including light bulbs and potatoes, during a two-year trial of the scheme, which is operated by the Carbon Trust. Shoppers will be able to see how much carbon is emitted over the life of a product -- from manufacture to disposal. The store said it was introducing the labels in response to consumer demand... In order for products to carry the carbon reduction label, companies have to undertake a comprehensive carbon audit of the supply chains, and commit to further CO2 reductions over a two-year period."

Utahns Get Right with Polycarbonate Plastic. By Heather May, Salt Lake Tribune, April 28, 2008. "Utahns are making a run on stainless steel water bottles, glass baby bottles and BPA-free plastic bottles, sippy cups and pacifiers. Nationally, sales of BPA-free baby products are up five-fold over last year at Toys 'R' Us stores. [Bisphenol A or BPA is a chemical used in the production of the hard plastic, called polycarbonates, used for water and infant bottles and other food containers.] The concern... [was] prompted by recent news that... BPA could affect neural and behavioral development in fetuses, infants and children based on animal studies. Then Canada announced it would ban the import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles. Then Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us announced they would phase out baby bottles made with BPA... Nalgene said it would do the same with its water bottles... Todd Schultz [of Kirkham's Outdoor Products in South Salt Lake] said sales of Nalgene bottles have dropped off while sales of [slightly more expensive] stainless steel bottles... have doubled over last year."

Going Blue-Green. Commentary by Adam Werbach, SFChron, April 10, 2008. "After spending most of my life as a full-time environmentalist, I declared in 2004 that environmentalism was dead, unable to effectively work at the scale of the problems we faced. Since that time, I've been on a journey... to find the next stage of ideas that can help catalyze a new movement... I've come to see that you can eat locally, co-op grown, organic heirloom tomatoes and still be a bad person. Eating those tomatoes is only one small way to take care of yourself, your community and the planet. [They] are an entrance point, not an end. While I'll always be someone with green ideals, it's clear that we need a new mass movement... When you travel to countries that have been green for decades, such as Switzerland, there's already a color for this movement -- it's blue. I propose that we begin to adopt this blue movement here... [using] a platform that is a daily practice for most of us - shopping... Shopping is a regular activity for most people on the planet, and if trends continue, for virtually everyone... Engaging people as consumers, as people who shop, allows us the possibility of building a billion-person movement... Every product you buy should be a gateway to a personal sustainability practice." [Click here for a full text of this speech, which was made to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.]  Adam Werbach is the global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S and formerly served as the national president of the Sierra Club.

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New Government Website Provides Fuel Economy Information. Posted by Daniel Hall, CommonTragedies.com, April 29, 2008. "A new website, www.fueleconomy.gov, maintained by EPA and the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is probably of interest... An entire section is devoted to gas prices. Besides gas mileage tips, it gives fuel economy information for new and used cars and light trucks back to 1985. It also provides links to sites showing the cheapest gas in your area. It has historical gas price information and helps you compare gas prices in your area with other areas.  It also has information on tax incentives for purchasing hybrid, alternative fuel and electric vehicles. There's also an interactive component: you can report your the mileage for your own vehicle and see how it compares to the mileage others are getting. And you can get a detailed Energy Impact Score for a vehicle showing average mileage, petroleum consumption, pollution tally and safety information. You can also compare data on up to four vehicles."

Hearings Today in Senate on Administration Meddling in EPA Science. By H. Josef Hebert, AP, April 29, 2008. "[After 18 months of research, the General Accounting Office has issued a report which states that] the Bush administration is undermining the EPA's ability to determine health dangers of toxic chemicals by letting nonscientists have a bigger -- often secret -- role [in decision-making]. The administration's decision to give the Defense Department and other agencies an early role in the process adds to years of delay in acting on harmful chemicals and jeopardizes the program's credibility, the GAO concluded. At issue is the EPA's screening of chemicals used in everything from household products to rocket fuel to determine if they pose serious risk of cancer or other illnesses. A new review process begun by the White House in 2004 is adding more speed bumps for EPA scientists, the GAO said in its report, which will be the subject of a Senate Environment Committee hearing Tuesday. A formal policy effectively doubling the number of steps was adopted two weeks ago... GAO investigators said extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals."

Criticism From the Heart of Bush Country. Editorial, Houston Chronicle, April 27, 2008. "The Bush administration's hostility to the findings of government scientists manifested itself most visibly on the subject of climate change... [But] climate change, it turns out, is not the only issue on which the administration has tried, with great success, to elevate pro-business politics above scientific data supportive of alternative policies... Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona complained to Congress that when he tried to place important health information before the public, he was thwarted at every hand: Reports on stem cell research, secondhand smoke and the need for U.S. leadership in fighting widespread diseases abroad were all trashed for political reasons. Now the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that more than half of nearly 1,600 scientists with the EPA complained that political appointees opposed to effective environmental protection had interfered with their scientific work... Students in the U.S. routinely lag behind those in other developed nations on science and math tests. Is it any wonder, given the poor quality of science education in most schools and the lack of leadership in Washington?"

Regional EPA Administrator Ousted While Fighting Dow Chemical. Grist, May 2, 2008. "The Bush administration forced out the U.S. EPA's top Midwest regulator on Thursday, after months of contention over a pollution case involving Dow Chemical, the Chicago Tribune reports. Mary Gade, who was appointed by President Bush in 2006, had been tussling with Dow over plans to get the company to clean up extensive dioxin pollution that it dumped into Michigan waterways for decades. Dow asked EPA headquarters to intervene in the dispute, and top deputies to EPA chief Stephen Johnson repeatedly questioned Gade about the case. Then she was stripped of her authority and told to quit or be fired. 'There is no question this is about Dow,' Gade said. 'I stand behind what I did and what my staff did. I'm proud of what we did.'"

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In Dramatic Showdown, Kansas Governor Prevails on Veto of Kansas Coal Plants. By Scott Rothschild, Lawrence Journal, May 2, 2008. "[Kansas] Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of two coal-fired power plants survived a furious charge from legislative leaders on Thursday. In a dramatic showdown, the Kansas House voted 80-45, falling four votes short of the required two-thirds majority needed in the 125-member chamber to override the veto... Sebelius has rejected the two 700-megawatt coal-burning plants in southwest Kansas because of concerns over climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions, [among other things]… [House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls] said supporters of the plants weren't giving up. 'We have other options,' he said, but declined to say what they were... But State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, who supports the project, said the speaker's options were limited because he lacks the two-thirds majority to overturn Sebelius."

Corn Ethanol Losing Its Sheen in Washington... By Amanda Paulson, CSM, May 1, 2008. "America's love affair with corn-based ethanol is cooling -- at least in Washington... 'The solution to the issue of corn-fed ethanol is cellulosic ethanol,' President Bush told reporters Tuesday. But no large-scale, cost-effective cellulosic ethanol operations exist [though] research is under way and many scientists expect it to be available in commercial form within the next several years... Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) asked the federal government to halve the amount of [corn] ethanol that his state is supposed to use... Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) introduced legislation freezing the [that] mandate at current levels... The tax package that is reportedly a part of the farm bill... would cut the current 51-cent a gallon ethanol tax credit by 4 to 6 cents and would create a $1.01 a gallon tax credit for cellulosic ethanol [in] a signal of shifting support from key lawmakers, though critics note that the effect will largely be symbolic, especially since commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol doesn't yet exist. 'They're shifting the credit, but the [corn ethanol] mandate is still there,' says Sandra Schubert... [of] the Environmental Working Group."

...But Gets Green Light in Ottawa. By Mike De Souza, CanWest News, May 1, 2008. "The House of Commons [in Ottawa] is expected to give the green light in coming days to legislation that could boost Canadian production of [agriculture-based] ethanol. [The bill] would allow the government to [set] requirements to ensure all gasoline has an average renewable fuel content of 5% by 2010, and [all] diesel and heating oil [has] an average renewable fuel content of 2% by 2012... Despite [warnings], Canada's two largest political parties believe that ethanol should still be part of the solution... The Conservatives and the Liberals both pledged to introduce the 5% renewable fuel target in their campaign platforms from 2005 as part of their proposed environmental policies. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion even went further last year, calling for a 10% renewable fuel content target by 2010."

Republican Governor of Texas Rebuffs Bush on Corn-Based Ethanol. Editorial, HoustonChron, April 29, 2008. "Texas Gov. Rick Perry bit the bullet this week, calling for the EPA to reduce ethanol requirements by half for at least a year. He was hailed by such groups as the National Chicken Council and the [CEOs] of... Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson. His proposal was attacked by the American Farm Bureau and National Corn Growers Association. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas welcomed Perry's stand, while U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, criticized it for undermining the fight against air pollution. Perry's choice of sides is political: Unlike the Midwest bastion of corn farming and ethanol production, beef and chicken producers and the consumers of their products have a larger voice in Texas. In this case, Perry chose correctly. Diverting foodstuffs such as corn to make gasoline is pinning the public in an untenable position between soaring costs at the gas pump and the grocery store. Environmental writer Bill McKibben told the Chronicle editorial board Monday that, 'Corn ethanol is going to prove to be one of those historically bad ideas that we're still writing about 50 years from now -- a perfect example of why legislators may not be the best people to choose technologies'... In retrospect, it was folly to divert large quantities of a grain that feeds people and livestock and not anticipate rising prices and adverse effects throughout the economy, both at home and abroad."

'Sustainable' Palm Oil Just 'Snake Oil in Clever Disguise'. By Keithf, The Sietch Blog, April 28, 2008. "Ever get the feeling you've been had? It's an iconic quote from a punk legend, but as with all great sayings, it can be applied in many different places. This is one example: the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry talking shop if ever there was one and, like the ineffectual light-green environmental groups who 'fight' for changes to government policy and send out gleeful press releases whenever a corporation promises to behave itself, the RSPO are actually making things far worse than if the public were left to their own devices. Sustainable palm oil is simply snake oil in a clever disguise: it doesn't exist and it never will do. Here's how it works..."

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Amazon Deforestation Closely Tracks Food Prices. By Stuart Grudgings, Reuters, April 30, 2008. "Experts say deforestation in the Amazon closely tracks moves on global food markets... 'At the very edge of the agricultural frontier, it's very dynamic and that's why you get statistics for deforestation that swing wildly from one year to the next,' said Roberto Cavalcanti of Conservation International. 'A small shift in food prices can have a big impact on whether it's economical or not to move into the forest.' The governor of Mato Grosso, one of Brazil's biggest farming states, last week advocated more deforestation as a solution to the sharp rises in staples... 'There is no way to produce more food without occupying more land and taking down more trees,' [said] Blairo Maggi... Brazil's largest soybean producer... [But] Cavalcanti said the fact that fuel prices were also rising meant the food crisis was an opportunity for governments in Brazil and elsewhere to encourage farming in areas away from forests, where productivity is often low and costs high. 'By providing incentives for the use of these degraded areas, you could redirect the pressure,' he said."

Short-Term Pause in Warming Predicted for Europe and North America. By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, May 1, 2008. "After decades of research that sought, and found, evidence of a human influence on the earth's climate, climatologists are beginning to shift [their focus]: creating decade-long forecasts for climate... One of the first attempts to look ahead a decade... predicts a slight cooling of Europe and North America, probably related to shifting currents and patterns in the oceans... In a short paper published in the May 1 issue of the journal Nature, [the team that generated the forecast]... stressed that the pause in warming represented only a temporary blunting of the centuries of rising temperatures that scientists have projected if... heat-trapping gases continue accumulating in the atmosphere... It should... help the public and policy makers understand that a cool phase does not mean the overall theory of human-driven warming is flawed, [Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder] said. 'Too many think global warming means monotonic relentless warming everywhere year after year,' Dr. Trenberth said. 'It does not happen that way.'"

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Federal Court Ruling Forces Action on Polar Bear. By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, April 29, 2008. "Environmental groups just cheered a federal court ruling today that forces the Bush administration to decide by mid-May whether polar bears deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act because of Arctic impacts from the warming climate... 'Today's decision is a huge victory for the polar bear,' said Kassie Siegel... [of] the Center for Biological Diversity and lead author of the 2005 petition... seeking protection under the endangered species law. 'By May 15th the polar bear should receive the protections it deserves.' According to a news release from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which joined in the suit, the court rejected a request by the Interior Department for more time, saying: 'Defendants offer no specific facts that would justify the existing delay, much less further delay. To allow Defendants more time would violate the mandated listing deadlines under the ESA and congressional intent that time is of the essence in listing threatened species.' This is classic American environmental action, seeking leverage in existing laws to force governments to move on newly identified problems... Do you think this approach can work in the long run on an issue like climate change?"

Global Warming Adds to Seal Cull Debate. By Daina Lawrence, FT, April 29, 2008. "The fierce debate surrounding Canada's annual seal 'harvest' intensified last month when the E.U.  proposed a ban on importing seal products from [Canada], a move that would severely damage the cull. But the seal hunters face another obstacle... global warming... Recently, more attention has turned to what impact weather conditions are having on the seal population. Those against the hunt say it is not sustainable because volatile ice conditions are causing seals to die in greater numbers. Global Action Network claims the Canadian government's 'agenda to exterminate seals' comes at a time when climate change is 'causing the very habitat of the ice-breeding seals to disappear'. But the sealers [are of a different mind]. 'There is a huge difference between climate and weather,' says Jim Winter... of the Canadian Sealers' Association [who] describes claims that climate change is creating an unsustainable hunt as 'disingenuous at best and manipulative at the worst.'"

Salmon Decline Is a Wake-up Call. Commentary by Doug Howell, SeattleP-I, April 29, 2008. "It is hard to find the silver lining in a situation as dire as the collapse of wild salmon off the Oregon and California coasts... From the fishermen and suppliers to the restaurants and individuals who buy salmon at the market, it is another blow to our struggling economy. As families, communities and local businesses try to deal with the consequences of this year's fishery collapse, scientists are working to understand the causes. Rising to the top of that list -- the 800-pound gorilla in the room -- is global warming. As ocean temperatures rise, snow pack declines and rain patterns shift, global warming will continue to disrupt the delicate balance of aquatic ecosystems. The plight of wild salmon is an indication of global warming's increasing and over-arching threat. The sooner we take action the better the outcome for people and salmon." Doug Howell is regional executive director of National Wildlife Federation, Western Natural Resource Center, Seattle.

Preserving Arctic Fisheries Before Harvesting Them. By David Biello, SciAmerican, April 29, 2008. "In the wake of dramatically dwindling populations of salmon and other fish, U.S. officials are grappling with ways to cut their losses -- and stave off future damage. Over-fishing and environmental damage have decimated ocean inhabitants -- and climate change threatens to hurt them even more. Just this month, the Pacific Fishery Management Council in Portland, Ore., closed the coasts of California and Oregon to salmon fishing after observing an alarming drop in the species population there, which plummeted in just one river -- the Sacramento -- from hundreds of thousands in the 1990s to just about 58,000 this past fall. 'Historically, in many places in the world, what humankind has done is rushed into the ocean and harvested, trawled and discarded ocean fish until a fishery collapsed,' says Jim Ayers... of... Oceana. 'That is managing based on collapse'... Meanwhile, there is a new fishery of sorts opening in the Arctic, thanks to sea ice receding from the north coast of Alaska that is making way for new fish hangouts. Salmon, among other fish, are beginning to show up north of the Bering Strait as they migrate in search of cooler waters that are disappearing in the more southern parts of the ocean. The catch: commercial fishing boats will follow, unless all fishing north of the Bering Strait is banned as proposed by scientists, environmentalists and even the fishing industry itself."

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Report Warns That Weakest Will Suffer Most. By Paul Eccleston, London Daily Telegraph, April 29, 2008. "The world's poorest and most vulnerable children are being hit hardest by climate change, according to UNICEF, [and will] face a world in which disasters, violence and disease will become more intense. A new report from UNICEF UK [Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility, PDF 40 pp]... says access to clean water and food supplies will become harder, particularly in African and Asia. It calls on the government to make children a priority and says UK companies must play their part by cutting CO2 emissions and contributing more to the costs of adapting to climate change. The report claims the effects of climate change is already having an adverse impact on children's lives and is hampering many of the targets agreed at a UN Millennium Development Summit in 2000 -- on poverty, disease, health and education -- being achieved... Its publication is timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol."

London Gathering Hears Dire News on Warming Impacts. By Nigel Morris, London Independent, April 29, 2008. "As many as one billion people could lose their homes by 2050 because of the devastating impact of global warming, scientists and political leaders will be warned today [at a conference here organized by the Institute for Public Policy Research]. They will hear that the steady rise in temperatures across the planet could trigger mass migration on unprecedented levels. Hundreds of millions could be forced... on the move because of water shortages and crop failures in most of Africa, as well as in central and southern Asia and South America... There could also be an effect on levels of starvation and on food prices as agriculture struggles to cope with growing demand in increasingly arid conditions. Rising sea levels could also cause havoc with coastal communities in southern Asia, the Far East, the south Pacific islands and the Caribbean... North and west Africans could head towards Europe, while the southern border of the U.S. could come under renewed pressure from Central America. The conference will hear a warning from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that the developed world should start preparing for a huge movement of people caused by climate change."

Green Investing

Sweden's Carbon-Tax Solution Propelled it to Top-Ranking Green Country. By Gwladys Fouche, London Guardian, April 29, 2008. "In 2007 Sweden topped the list of countries that did the most to save the planet -- for the second year running -- according to... environmental group Germanwatch. Between 1990 and 2006 Sweden cut its CO2 by 9%, largely exceeding [its Kyoto Protocol] target... while enjoying economic growth of 44% in fixed prices... But 'this was not considered ambitious enough,' explains Emma Lindberg, a climate change expert at the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. 'So parliament decided to cut emissions by another 4% [below 1990 levels]'... The main reason for this success, say experts, is the introduction of a carbon tax in 1991…'Our carbon emissions would have been 20% higher without the carbon tax,' says the Swedish environment minister, Andreas Carlgren."   

Private Equity Firm KKR Teams with Green Group in First Such Union. By Marc Gunther, Fortune, May 1, 2008. "Private equity firms are renowned -- and occasionally denounced -- for squeezing costs out of companies they buy... their critics allege [by often]... exploiting workers, avoiding taxes and polluting the planet... [That background] provides a useful context for Thursday's announcement of a partnership between Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the world's leading buyout firms, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Their 'green portfolio' partnership -- the first between a big private equity fund and an environmental group -- is intended to measure and improve the environmental performance of KKR's U.S. companies... If even a handful of [KKR's many] companies adopt greener practices, that will matter."

Gore's Investment Company Creates a New $683 Million New 'Green' Fund. By Fiona Harvey, FT, April 30, 2008. "[Generation Investment Management], headed by Al Gore [and managed by David Blood, former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management], has closed a new $683 million fund to invest in early-stage environmental companies and has mounted a robust defence of green investing. The Climate Solutions Fund will be one of the biggest in the growing market for investment funds with an environmental slant. The fund will be focused on equity investments in small companies in four sectors: renewable energy; energy efficiency technologies; energy from biofuels and biomass; and the carbon trading markets. This is the second fund from Generation... The first, the Global Equity Strategy Fund, has $2.2 billion invested in large companies the company judges have 'sustainable' businesses, from an environmental, social and economic viewpoint. Mr Blood said he expected that fund to be worth $5 billion within two years, based on commitments from interested investors... 'The fact we were able to raise $683 million was extraordinary, so our experience is that it has not really been a problem [raising funds despite what is] generally a difficult environment,' he [added]."

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An Alaskan Tradition: Wagering on the Moment the River Ice Breaks Up. By Robert Lee Holtz, WSJ, March 7, 2008, subsciption. "Every winter since 1917, people in Nenana, a village 55 miles southwest of Fairbanks, have wagered on the exact moment that the ice breaks up on the nearby Tanana River... The Nenana Ice Classic has given [scientists] a rare, reliable climate history that has documented to the minute the onset of the annual thaw as it shifted across 91 years. By this measure, spring comes to central Alaska 10 days earlier than in 1960... In Nenana, climatology is folk art. There are no laser altimeters, seismometers or strain gauges to monitor the ice flow. Instead, there is a 26-foot-high pyramid of painted spruce logs anchored in the crust of river ice. When the ice breaks up, the contraption collapses. A trip wire triggers a siren and stops a clock on shore... Winners last year shared a jackpot of $303,272."