The Right And The Climate
Climate change legislation has been dying in the Senate for months now, but Harry Reid’s decision to finally admit as much — in the midst of an endless East Coast heat wave, no less — has supporters of cap-and-trade casting about for somebody to blame. They’ve blamed the Obama administration, for prioritizing health care reform over an energy bill. They’ve blamed the American people, for being too concerned with economic issues to grapple with longer-term threats. And they’ve blamed figures like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, erstwhile supporters of cap-and-trade who have steadily backpedaled away from it.
But most of all, they’ve blamed conservatives — for pressuring Republican lawmakers to abandon legislation they once supported, and for closing ranks against any attempt to tax and regulate our way to a lower-carbon economy. Read more
World Of Wonder
BESIDE THE sea is the place to be this weekend as Dún Laoghaire celebrates the 10th Festival of World Cultures.
Singers, dancers and musicians have been pouring in from around the globe all week. Participants from more than 30 countries will take part in concerts, workshops, markets and carnivals, with free and ticketed events for all ages.
Festival manager Olga Barry says: “It’s a world culture festival but for Dún Laoghaire, it’s a community festival too.” She said the town expects to welcome over 220,000 visitors over the weekend.
The festival opened last night in true world culture style with Irish sean-nós performers, Canadian Inuit throat singers and Norwegian ’yoikers’. Read more
Scientific Expertise Lacking Among ‘Doubters’ Of Climate Change
The small number of scientists who are unconvinced that human beings have contributed significantly to climate change have far less expertise and prominence in climate research compared with scientists who are convinced, according to a study led by Stanford researchers.
In a quantitative assessment – the first of its kind to address this issue – the team analyzed the number of research papers published by more than 900 climate researchers and the number of times their work was cited by other scientists.
“These are standard academic metrics used when universities are making hiring or tenure decisions,” said William Anderegg, lead author of a paper published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.
Expertise was evaluated by the number of papers on climate research written by each individual, with a minimum of 20 required to be included in the analysis. Climate researchers who are convinced of human-caused climate change had on average about twice as many publications as the unconvinced, said Anderegg, a doctoral candidate in biology. Read more
Kita-Kyushu To Develop Solar Panel Recycling System
A five-year project is getting under way here to develop a low-cost recycling system for used solar panels.
Old solar panels are usually discarded, leading to concerns that they will fill up disposal sites and lead to illegal dumping in the future.
A low-cost recycling system has yet to be established because solar panel construction is mostly proprietary and panels are difficult to disassemble.
The Kitakyushu Foundation for the Advancement of Industry, Science and Technology will serve as the core organization of the project, city officials said Wednesday.
Other participants include Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, Shinryo Corp., a recycling business based in Kita-Kyushu, and the University of Kitakyushu. Read more
Lifestyle Changes Raise Water Demand, Says Welsh Water
Changes in lifestyles in recent years have been blamed for putting increasing pressure on water supplies.
Welsh Water says the main culprits are garden sprinklers and the huge children’s paddling pools that are increasingly common in back gardens.
People are being advised to use water wisely although no restrictions are expected this summer.
Welsh Water operations director Peter Perry said reservoir levels were satisfactory at around 72% capacity.
“Demand is up. We’ve seen in some areas, in the tourist areas, an 80% increase in demand over the last few weeks,” he said.
“I think it’s a range of things. Garden watering is a big draw on us. A sprinkler in an hour uses as much water as a family of four for one day. Read more