Alternative Energy Update: Tens of thousands of people joined 2000 marches and rallies in over 175 countries to call for a move beyond fossil fuels

"Dr. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and one of the speakers at the Moving Planet rally in NYC, has spent his career studying the climatic changes under way on our planet. One of his key points, which unfortunately has not yet entered the popular consciousness, is that we simply cannot afford to extract and burn all the fossil fuels in the earth. Many people worry about when we will run out of oil or coal. But the real worry is what will happen to our climate if emissions from all that oil and coal are released into the atmosphere. Instead of worrying about when we'll run out, we should be talking about how to keep as many fossil fuels in the ground as possible.

Many people profit from selling oil, removing mountaintops to get at coal seams, and extracting crude bitumen from tar sands. Some ignore or belittle scientific research that doesn't conform to business as usual, and use the political system to ensure that no substantive action is taken to alter this unsustainable path. But eventually the obvious will no longer be deniable, even to those who profit from the status quo: we have to move beyond fossil fuels."

Charles Scott: Moving Planet: I believe that when there is more money to be made in alternative energy than fossil fuels, the arguments we hear today against taking action to address climate change will disappear. That's why it is so important for the U.S. to eliminate the massive subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, which stifle innovation and provide an unfair advantage over alternative energy solutions like wind and solar.
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Climate Change Update: Northeast Climate Science Center to study how climate change affects ecosystems, from the Great Lakes to Maine down to Missouri

“The nationwide network of Climate Science Centers will provide the scientific talent and commitment necessary for understanding how climate change and other landscape stressors will change the face of the United States,” said US Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar in a statement.

Last month, the state’s Climate Change Adaptation Advisory Committee released a report that suggested temperatures in Massachusetts by end of this century could spike to 90 degrees or more for 30 to 60 days every summer, ocean temperatures could be on average 8 degrees warmer, and winters are likely to have more rain and less snow.

And next month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release a major new study on the effects of climate change in recent years and what the latest evidence shows is likely to happen in coming decades.

UMass-Amherst and its partners will study climate impacts on water resources, agriculture and grazing, fish and wildlife, forest resilience, invasive species, protecting migratory fish and waterfowl, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, flood management, and water quality."
New center to study climate change opens - Metro Desk - Local news updates from The Boston Globe: "
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Alternative Energy Update: Companies that help solve the energy problems will be among the future Googles and Apples.

"If there is one sector you can count on, it will be alternative energy: clean energy, energy storage, energy conservation, and the smart grid. The world’s population will surpass 7 billion people this year. More importantly, the number of people considered to be middle class is growing at a rapid rate, mostly due to improving quality of living in China and South Asia. Those new middle class want motorized vehicles and air conditioning. The demand for energy will be ramping quickly.

At the same time it’s becoming more expensive to dig energy out of the ground. Dependence upon foreign supplies of oil is becoming more of concern. Coal is considered to be four letter word, and nuclear has many hurdles. Conventional solar panels and wind turbines are only expected to make a small impact in the next twenty years.

As if this isn’t enough, concern over CO2 production pressures us to limit coal burning, or at least clean up its emissions.

It’s a perfect storm. Energy demand growth + resource constraints + global warming/C02

Mankind has no option but to deal with this."
The Next Google Could Come From The Clean Energy Sector - Seeking Alpha:
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Climate Change Update: Remember, in the new era of climate change, you too may need help someday.

INSIGHTS: Climate Change Lessons From Africa: "Land degradation and poor soils are basic causes of Africa's low food production. Growing trees amid farm fields - so-called "inter-cropping" - counters these problems. Trees retain soil moisture, provide mulch (with fallen leaves), limit erosion, add coolness, and more.

Dubbed "Evergreen Agriculture" by the World Agroforestry Center, this approach is doubling crop yields in parts of Niger, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Malawi. And it's cheap: famers can grow trees by themselves.

It's in our interest to encourage such solutions. Not only because it is morally right, but because lessons learned in Africa - one of the first places climate extremes are being felt - can teach our own farmers how to cope with climate change tomorrow.

That's why it's essential to reject calls on Capitol Hill to end foreign aid. Foreign aid accounts for only one percent of the federal budget (not the 25 percent most Americans think it does).

Cutting aid will not cure our deficit, but it will deprive hungry people of the help they need to help themselves."

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Tip: Communicate Effectively by Emotional Intelligence (The ability to deal w/ other’s emotions & reactions to understand & manage your own reactions)

There’s a new online tool to help employers improve mental health in the workplace. “Managing Emotions” was developed by mental health researchers and commissioned by the Great-West Life Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace; it provides an assessment of emotional intelligence in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to deal with other people’s emotions and reactions, to understand and manage your own reactions, and to communicate effectively—skills that are crucial for maintaining a psychologically healthy workplace.

The launch is timely for Canadian employers, following the federal government’s announcement in June to fund the creation of the voluntary National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace, expected to be released in summer 2012. Once completed, the voluntary standard will provide organizations with tools to achieve measurable improvement in psychological health and safety for Canadian employees."

Note: According to Statistics Canada (2003), approximately 20% of Canadian workers experience a stress-related illness every year, and it has been estimated that 10% of the Canadian working population have a diagnosable mental illness, resulting in billions of dollars every year in workplace losses.
Web tool assesses emotional intelligence in the workplace | Benefits Canada: "
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Ways to Mitigate Climate Change: Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies will speed investment and growth of renewable energy industries

"Bliss Baker, spokesperson for the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, said G20 countries have made little real progress in eliminating those types of subsidies since 2009. “As we strive to develop alternatives to oil we must recognize that alternative fuels are not competing on a level playing field,” he said in a statement. “These massive multi-billion dollar crude oil subsidies completely outweigh current biofuel incentives and are a serious obstacle to the development of cleaner, greener alternatives. Oil has a huge competitive advantage financed by global taxpayers. It is time for the G20 to show leadership and reverse this practice of never-ending subsidies to Big Oil. They must put their money where their mouth is and invest in renewable alternatives.”"

Note: The International Energy Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development again came out in favor of eliminating fossil fuel subsidies worldwide on Oct. 4 with the release of the first Inventory of Estimated Budgetary Support and Tax Expenditures for Fossil Fuels. Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies will speed investment and growth of renewable energy industries, but policymakers often do not have clear information on the policies currently enacted, according to the groups. With this in mind, the inventory was created to assist governments’ understanding of fossil fuel policies. The inventory currently covers 24 countries and 250 mechanisms and will be expanded in the future to include more.

Ethanol Producer Magazine | EthanolProducer.com:
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Climate Change Update: China world's biggest CO2 emitter will meet near-term goals to fight Climate Change

"China is set to not only meet its Cancun Agreement emissions intensity pledge, but is likely to go beyond it," the independent research group said, referring to the December 2010 global climate change accord."However, at the same time, largely due to faster than expected economic growth, emissions in 2020 are likely to be higher than previous estimates."

The study underscores the uncertain value of global pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions meant to meet the international goal of no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature rise over pre-industrial levels which most scientists agree is required to avoid potentially catastrophic climate events.

"We're heading toward a warming of well over three degrees at present unless there are major improvements in the pledges," said Bill Hare, the director of Climate Analytics, a research group based in Germany that took part in the study.

China's concrete steps to curb carbon emissions go further than the pledges made by other big polluter nations such as the United States, the world's second-largest CO2 emitter, said Hare."
China climate goals run against growth: report | Reuters:
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