Tuesday, May 06, 2014

WIMS Environmental HotSheet 5/6/14

National / International News

 

<> USGCRP Releases National Climate Assessment, Launches New Website - Today, delivering on the legal mandate and the President's Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released the Third National Climate Assessment, the most comprehensive, authoritative, transparent scientific report on U.S. climate change impacts ever generated.

<> "We find no evidence that it's [climate change] a high priority for Americans" -- Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll, said in an interview. "They are much more concerned about more proximate issues such as jobs and the economy."

<> UN chief warns still 'too many sitting on the fence', urges bold leadership on climate change - May 5, 2014 – With the ominous and costly impacts of climate change profoundly evident, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today that too many stakeholders are still "sitting on the fence", and he challenged participants at a climate conference in Abu Dhabi to help him build persuasive political arguments to convince policymakers that the time for bold action is now.

<> Siemens presents the Study: "Connecting Possibilities – Scenarios for Optimizing Energy Systems" - The study covers individual scenarios of Europe, Russia, USA, China, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea to make it clear that there is huge savings potential when it comes to sustainable, secure and, above all, cost-efficient energy supplies.

<> NWF Sues State Dept. to Uncover New England Tar Sands Pipeline Proposal Documents - State Department Has Failed to Comply With FOIA Request for Almost Two Years. . .

<> Introducing ACEEE's new and improved State and Local Policy Database - The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) new State and Local Policy Database includes comprehensive information on energy efficiency policies currently implemented at the state and local level.

<> Senator Jay Rockefeller initiative to advance the commercial deployment of clean coal technologies - Charting a broader path for the future of West Virginia coal—while recognizing the need to limit greenhouse gas emissions -- two bills introduced by Rockefeller — the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Deployment Act of 2014 and the Expanding Carbon Capture through Enhanced Oil Recovery Act of 2014

<> UN partners with private sector to map disaster risks for local communities - New technologies that enable communities to visualize disaster risk and take action, are to be made available for cities worldwide as a result of collaboration between Esri and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

<> USDA Announces Effort to Cut Energy Costs for Farmers, Ranchers, Rural Small Businesses - May 5, 2014 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is seeking applications from rural small businesses and agricultural producers for funding to make energy efficiency improvements. . .

<> 12 minutes of mesmerizing climate models - If you're a nerd for climate science, you won't want to miss this TED talk by Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist and climate modeler at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.. . .

<> Report: Who's in Danger? - A new report from the Environmental Justice and Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (co-sponsored by Coming Clean and the Center for Effective Government) answers that question -- More than 134 million Americans live in the danger zones around 3,433 facilities

<> GWP Launches New Global Strategy: Towards 2020 - The strategy, Towards 2020, outlines a new direction for the Global Water Partnership (GWP) with the goals of catalyzing change, sharing knowledge, and strengthening partnerships for a water secure world.

<> HOT articles in Green Chemistry - Take a look at the latest selection, which are free for you to read for the next four weeks! Polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a reusable solvent medium for an asymmetric organocatalytic Michael addition.

<> Following the Money: Energy Dollars Hard at Work on Capitol Hill - Is the alternative energy industry losing the influence-peddling war to fossil fuels? Perhaps you caught the editorial in Sunday's New York Times. . .

 

U.S. Appeals Court Environmental Decisions

 

<> Monroe Energy, LLC v. U.S. EPA - 5/6/14. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Case No. 13-1265. The case involves challenges the 2013 Renewable Fuel Standards issued pursuant to section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7545(o). Petitioners contends that the rule must be vacated and the Panel denied the petition for review.

 

Federal Register Highlights 

The following is an alert of Environmental Federal Register announcements that may be of interest for: Tuesday, May 6, 2014.  (Click here to access today's complete Federal Register index with links to complete announcements).

 

1. Nothing We're Tracking Today (click for the complete Energy & EPA announcements)