Japan moves to phase out nuclear energy

September 14, 2012, www.aljazeera.com| “A panel of the Japanese cabinet has called for phasing out of nuclear power over the next three decades in a major shift for Japan as it overhauls energy policy following the Fukushima disaster last year.  ‘Based on facing the reality of this grave accident and by learning lessons from the accident, the government has decided to review the national energy strategy from scratch,’ the policy document said on Friday.”

Judith Green shared a link.
Japan moves to phase out nuclear energy
www.aljazeera.com
Cabinet calls for “society that does not depend on nuclear energy” in 30 years, citing last year’s Fukushima disaster.

Campaign cuts Norway’s palm oil consumption 64%

July 25, 2012, news.mongabay.com | “A campaign run by environmental activists has helped lead to a 87 percent reduction in palm oil use by eight major food companies in Norway, reports Rainforest Foundation Norway, which led the effort.”

Judith Green shared a link
“Campaign cuts Norway’s palm oil consumption 64%
news.mongabay.com
A campaign run by environmental activists has helped lead to a 87 percent reduction in palm oil use by eight major”

  • Robert Brothers, Good Vibrations like this.

A Conceptual Framework for US Army Corps of Engineers Water and Related Land Resources Implemented Studies PDF

The good news in all this is that The Army Corp of Engineers is beings “guided” to adjust their world view to move away from the over 30 year old single federal objective based on national economic development, subject to an environmental p

rotection constraint; and into the concept of “Integrated Water Resources Management” (IWRM)

Although this report is from February 2012, it is only now being released to the public for comment. There are instructions in the forward for comments. (Time frameworks are more elastic in the realm of consciousness raising.)

Although it is good for insomnia, I actually find it interesting, albeit somewhat dry. ( 54 p. pdf) I wonder what effect it would have if lots of people begin taking notice and make comments.

Institute Of Water Resources Visiting Scholar Program

“Towards Integrated Water Resources Management
A Conceptual Framework for U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers Water and Related
Land Resources Implementation Studies
2012-VSP-01

“Finally, new imperatives for collaborative planning will highlight, not mask, differences among decision
participants in the identification of planning problems, opportunities, and preferred solutions. This in
turn will highlight differences of view about the meaning of the federal interest and how multi-objective
plan formulation and multi-criteria evaluation can be used in federal budgeting decisions and financing
responsibilities for the different actions included in a preferred alternative. At the same time, the
collaborative planning requirements may demand a new set of skills and new decision processes
throughout the Corps hierarchy.”

http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/iwrreports/2012-VSP-01.pdf
www.iwr.usace.army.mil
COMMENTS:
    • Shalahnia Riversong ‎…the collaborative planning requirements may demand a new set of skills and new decision processes throughout the Corps hierarchy.

      What a concept!
    • Shalahnia Riversong Good For Earth because:

      The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE, also sometimes shortened to CoE) is a U.S. federal agency under the Department of Defense and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel,[3] making it the world’s largest public engineering, design, and construction management agency. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, USACE is involved in a wide range of public works throughout the world. The Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U.S. hydropower capacity. ~ from Wikipedia
    • Robert Brothers ‎~ Great intro to a little known but very powerful public agency!

      And they are actually considering welcoming diverse opinions!

      “new imperatives for collaborative planning will highlight, not mask, differences among decision participants”

    • Shalahnia Riversong These are only guidelines by scholars, but yes, from what I read, they are considering diverse opinions, How The Corp responds, is left to be seen.

Europe’s New CO2 Emission Targets ‘Toughest in the World’

July 13, 2012, http://www.ens-newswire.com| “The European Commission Wednesday proposed further cuts to carbon dioxide, CO2, emissions from new cars and vans by 2020. The proposals move the European Union toward its stated goal of cutting overall greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and moving towards decarbonizing the transport sector to minimize climate change.”

The proposals move the European Union toward its stated goal of cutting overall greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020
Europe’s Proposed New CO2 Emission Targets ‘Toughest in the World’
  • Rangusa Tarandusa, Jonathan Hill, and Shalahnia Riversong like this.

Media Connecting The Dots On U.S. Storms, Heat And Wildfires: ‘This Is What Global Warming Looks Like’

July 3, 2012, thinkprogress.org | “The US is getting hit with powerful extreme weather events this summer.  With all these events occurring simultaneously, climate scientists are being more blunt than ever — and journalists are finally connecting the dots in their stories. In the last few days, we’ve seen a number of excellent pieces making the connection between these events and climate change.”

“~ Mainstream media recognition of Global Warming is finally happening!
Media Connecting The Dots On U.S. Storms, Heat And Wildfires: ‘This Is What Global Warming Looks Lik
thinkprogress.org
Who’s connecting the dots on the extraordinary bout of extreme weather events hitting the U.S.? No, it’s not the “liberal” media. It’s Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report, the popular conservative news aggregation site. Here’s the Drudge Report highlighting a fantastic story from the Associated Press t…”
  • Ann Agranoff, Regina Siegel, Good Vibrations, and Emilianne Slaydon like this.

Two Years After BP Oil Spill, RESTORE Act Becomes Law

June 29, 2012, www.care2.com | “Two years, two months, and nine days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon off the coast of Louisiana, the RESTORE Act is on it’s way to becoming law. Thanks to the hard work of Senators in several Gulf Coast states, the Act was included in the final version of the Highway Bill, and was today passed by both chambers of Congress.”

~ Win-Win for Planet and People: fines paid by BP for Gulf spill will go towards ecological and economic restoration.
Two Years After BP Oil Spill, RESTORE Act Becomes Law
www.care2.com
The Act was included in the final version of the Highway Bill, and was today passed by both chambers of Congress.
  • Peggy Bradley Bowers, Sharon Morgan, Good Vibrations, and Lesley Labbe like this.

Federal Court Upholds EPA’s Global Warming Rules

June 26, 2012, www.nytimes.com | “A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the first-ever regulations aimed at reducing the gases blamed for global warming, handing down perhaps the most significant decision on the issue since a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases could be controlled as air pollutants. ”

“~ FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS EPA’s GLOBAL WARMING RULES. No one expected this “complete slam-dunk,” Michael Gerrard, Columbia University.
“EPA is not required to re-prove the existence of the atom every time it approaches a scientific question.” — Three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., including one Ronald Reagan appointee.”
  • Ann Agranoff, Mariette Low, Good Vibrations, and Tara K Woolstenhulme like this.

Universal Support in Rio for Phase-Down of HFCs for Climate Protection

June 25, 2012, www.enn.com | “While Rio+20 was disappointing on many fronts, the efforts to reduce short-lived climate pollutants moved forward with the final declaration, The Future We Want, supporting the phase down of factory-made super-greenhouse gases HFCs.  Further progress came when former President Bill Clinton and New York Mayor Bloomberg announced that their C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a coalition of 59 major cities around the world, was joining forces with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.”

“Universal Support in Rio for Phase-Down of HFCs for Climate Protection
www.enn.com
ENN.com: Environmental News Network — Know Your Environment”
  • Jeremy Dion, Good Vibrations, and Martita Rivera like this.

Energy efficiency programs earn governments more tax revenue, federal study says

June 25, 2012, www.edmontonjournal.com | “A new report says provinces that promote energy efficiency may forfeit some tax revenue from lower sales of fuel and electricity, but will make up for the loss – and more – through competitive economies that help fill their treasuries.”

Robert Brothers shared a link.

Thanks to EI Eco Newsfeed http://www.facebook.com/EIEcoNewsfeed, for posting this!
Energy efficiency programs earn governments more tax revenue, federal study says
www.edmontonjournal.com
A new report says provinces that promote energy efficiency may forfeit some tax revenue from lower sales of fuel and electricity, but will make up for the loss – and more – through competitive economies that help fill their treasuries.
  • Kamaljeet Singh Haripur, Martita Rivera, Good Vibrations, and Jeavonna Chapman like this.

US Announces Partnership with CEOs of Major Companies To Reduce Deforestation through Sustainable Agriculture

June 24, 2012, adpartners.org | “The United States Government announced it would partner with companies of the Consumer Goods Forum, representing more than 400 companies and brands operating with combined annual revenues of over US$3.1 trillion, to support the Forum’s pledge to achieve zero net deforestation in their supply chains by 2020.”

Bella Bell shared a link.
“Positive news from Rio+20…
Rio+20 Press Release – US Announces Partnership with CEOs of Major Companies to Reduce Deforestation Through Sustainable Agriculture
adpartners.org
Carbon credits using market driven solutions for saving forests”
  • COMMENTS:

GoodNews FortheEarth ‎ “400 major food corporations pledge to get their soy, palm oil, paper, beef, etc. in ways that do not contribute to deforestation. Companies include Coca Cola and Unilever.
Thanks Bella Bell, for finding this good news buried amidst all the rest!